Thursday 5th
Getting Phillipa out of the bathroom in under an hour is no mean feat - and that still leaves hairdrying time! But somehow we manage to get on the road by 9.30 - fortified with lots of scrumptious coffee and bread for us and croissants and hot chocolate for her. Tony is still looking tired and obviously isn’t relishing driving again today - but the plan is to just take it easy. There’s lots to look at along the way - the Loire is arguably the prettiest part of France - though I would still opt for Provence…. The Loire is a little too perfect for me…. Perfect “Grape fields” as Katie’s boyfriend Sam calls them, perfect river, perfect farms and Chateaux….boy are there perfect chateaus!. Every little village seems to boast one, beautifully proportioned, whether a “small” residence of some 20 or 30 rooms - or a virtual palace with hundreds of rooms. After a while you stop oohing and aahing because they are so commonplace - as we said in 2005 - it’s easy to get Chateaud out! At lunchtime though we stop after seeing a sign saying - “Chateau Ancien”. It’s in a little town called Lapallises, and we’re expecting it to be a ruin, as so many now are. But there it is in its palatial grounds….a genuine 14th century Chateau - and it’s stunning. It’s closed for lunch ( like everything else in France) but it’s too good to miss so we sit at the little Auberge next door and eat Croque monsieur ( a fancy way of saying toasted cheese and ham) and kill time until it opens for the afternoon. It’s very impressive, doubly so because it has been in the same family since 1430 - obviously they’re waiting for a real estate boom to cash in! Phillipa is more than impressed and decides she could quite easily live in a chateau, despite the hundred rooms that need heating, and the drafts, and creaking floorboards. Not me - a sprawling single level Provence house with French doors leading to the pool will do just fine….my needs are simple - Hehehe. Tony grabs a cat nap in the car while we bask in the sunshine and talk luxury. I try to take a picture of a clearly middle ages Weber barbecue and ancient plastic chairs. I just love the incongruity. By this time it’s gone 3 o’clock and we’ve covered only 150kms today. But before we take off Phlip has to use the public toilet - and goes through culture shock at her first confrontation with an old French style “jump” where you squat on a chine base with specified footholds and pee into a hole in the floor. I think it takes her several hours to get over the event…. She’s shuddering as she tells us, but everybody should experience it once….I’ve just never been able to master it without wetting my feet and anything else in the general vicinity.
We’re following the Loire as far as we can, which means we’re heading northeast. It’s such a pretty river, in sharp contrast to the Rhone, and there is always something to see. Tomorrow we will head due north, stop at Fontainebleu, and then head for Paris. I have bookmarked a little place called La Charite Sur Loire for tonight’s stay; mainly because I love the name, and it is on the river. Too often places with pretty names fail to live up to expectation….but not this time. La Charite ( can’t do the accent, sorry) sur Loire is as pretty a town as you could ever imagine. Founded in the 7th Century it runs from a hilltop right down to the edge of the Loire. Part of it is even on an island in the Loire and you cross by an old stone Bridge. Take a look at it here http://www.ville-la-charite-sur-loire.fr/anglais/reflets.htm ( I don’t know why I didn’t think of hyperlinks earlier in this blog.)
We are overwhelmed. We knew nothing about it at all except that it is on the river - and the Loire is very beautiful - with sandy banks, ancient bridges mainly beautiful weather. We walk around the ancient town. Around every corner there is something new/old to see. How has this stunning little place stayed a secret for so long? It’s only a little smaller than Uzes but the river is a plus. The tourist centre books us into a cheap hotel which turns out to be a doss house! No way is our Philly staying there - even Tony turns up his nose, and it takes a lot for him to do that. But right across the street is a charming little hotel called Un Mille et un Feuilles. We check in with the lovely Yves - a charming man who slows down his French and encourages my answers. I’ve managed to talk ONLY French outside the family while I have been here - and everyone so far has understood me….though I think I did call my husband my chestnut at one stage and got some funny looks.
For 41 euros we get a lovely double room…though the bathroom is behind concertina vinyl doors with a plastic shower unit. Philly pays 53euros for a mini suite in the attic. She’s in the George Sand Suite. And we finally discover that La Charite is a book town, and our hotel is where the writers stay….I tell Yves how appropriate it is, and he asks about script writing. But I’m more interested in hearing about his town. In this tiny town there are fifteen book shops and there is a book festival every year. Everything about it is charming. And the hotel’s name Un Mille et un Feuilles is explained to mean. A Feuille is a leaf or a layer of something. In this case it means pages or leaves in a book…but it could be pastry as in MilleFueille pastry ( to die for….literally if you’re a diabetic.) Yves saves us a table for dinner and we dine in style on Escargots…totally delicious ( Philly is now a snails addict) and chicken livers cooked in cream with white wine mushrooms. Escargots are local cuisine in the Bourgogne region and they are huge. The chicken livers are so delicate and melt in the mouth. Crème Brulee to finish and a bottle of Pouilly Fume - which is expensive even here. The Loire is famous for it’s two major white wines - Sancennes and Pouilly - from the towns of the same name. It’s exceptional and stays on our palate seductively. We want another bottle but that would blow the budget - and it’s already extraordinarily tight. Instead we go out for a walk and the most spectacular sunset is starting. WE grab the car and cross over to the island and hold our breath at the fabulous display the sleepy sun puts on for us before its bedtime. This truly is a magic spot and I say a little prayer that I will see it again, though I know it’s not likely. The two days of driving have felt like a mini holiday of their own - and there’s still Paris to come, with just Beloved and I in the city we love more than anywhere else. No too shabby at all.
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