Many of the sites we walked through we had seen in the previous two days, but we learnt a lot we didn't know and had things pointed out that we would have overlooked, such as the bullet holes in the building from the French Resistance fighters. It would have been better to do the tour first, but we didn't have time on the Sunday, and we had planned to do it they day before, but the heavy rain wasn't conducive to a walking tour.
We got back early afternoon, just a few minutes before Lauren and Lee who had done the tour on their honeymoon. A final pack up and clean, and we had to lug our bags back down the three flights of stairs, plus all the ones to the Metro.
We had planned on the 4.36 train but when we went to buy the tickets, the machine would only take French credit cards, so we had to stand in line for 20 minutes, which meant we were too late and had to wait for the train an hour later. It was an express train and very comfortable and within a short time we were at Chateau Thierry.
The parents of a French volunteer had visited Cambodia a few weeks earlier and invited all of us to their 250 year old home. Greta and Jacques were unbelievable hosts and we had a wonderful couple of days with them.
Their 250 year old house
From the train station we went to the American World War 1 monument just out of the town. Now, Americans don't do things in halves, and this monument is huge and in a commanding site over the town. The land around it is owned by the USA, and they supply a caretaker to keep the beautiful grounds maintained. It was very inspiring and we also enjoyed the view out over the champagne vines.
The American monument
From here we travelled to their house which is in the little village of Bonneil, about 8 kilometres from Chateau Thierry with two other villages in between.
We had a delightful evening with them, and before we knew it, it was quite late. Their house was fascinating. They bought it as a ruin thirty years ago and still haven't finished doing it up. They believe it may have originally been three houses, and it is quite big, and something like a rabbit warren with different levels and so many rooms.
The next morning Greta took us to see Chateau Thierry. The Chateau, or castle, is mostly a ruin with some outer walls still remaining. But it dates back to 923 and has a gate that Joan of Arc road through. We enjoyed walking through the narrow winding streets of the town and seeing the real French countryside.
One of the gates of Chateau Thierry
So we were in the Champagne district of France, where should we go after lunch? To a champagne cellar of course. And these were fascinating. The caves were made in the 12th century and were actually a quarry for a lot of the rock used in the town and parts of the castle. We had a guided tour (in English) explaining the history of the caves and the method of making champagne. And a taste at the end of course.
Champagne grapes
We saw some more of the town, and it was time to head back to the village and another wonderful evening with Greta and Jacques.
This morning by the time we had breakfast and once again repacked everything, there was just enough time to walk up the road through the champagne vines and see the view back down to the village, plus a quick look at the ancient church in the village. Unfortunately as in a lot of the villages, there is no money to maintain this ancient church so their futures are bleak as there are just so many ancient buildings in France.
The village looking back from the grapevines
We caught a train back to Paris and navigated with full bags through the Metro and to the train to Versailles.
And that was where the afternoon went, exploring this magnificent castle and the equally splendid gardens. Although both are so huge it would be impossible to cover all of it in one day let a lone an afternoon, we did see quite a lot and were quite awestruck by the opulence.
It was a late evening out for dinner, and we saw many restaurants as we walked. We finally chose one with reasonable prices that was jam packed with locals, always a good sign. And we weren't let down as we all enjoyed our dinners.
We have not had internet for two days, so it was nice to be able to be back in touch.
No comments:
Post a Comment