64/3 at the end of the line

Tuesday 17th.
YAY! The rain has stopped at last. It’s not exactly a Provence day but there is at least a watery sun trying to break through the pale grey sky. We really get a move on this morning, determined to get out before the weather has a chance to change it’s mind. We had hoped to go to Versailles for a day - but it’s cost prohibitive - so I guess we will just have to come back again some day. I do love Paris, but not sure I would want to live permanently here. When I ask Beloved where in the world he would live if money was no object - he immediately says Perth - and I feel guilty once again that circumstances made me sell our house there and move east. But there was, and is, nothing I can do about it.
We have decided to take the metro to the end of the line and see what’s there. Since it’s called Chateau de Vincennes we are figuring there is a pretty good chance there will be a chateau - duh! Not only that but the stairs from the metro come up literally in front of the front gate to the Chateau. This place is largely 16th and 17th century - almost new - hehehehe - But the oldest parts date back to the 14th century….which is the 1300s for those that get confused. The original Dunjon ) no…it’s not a prison… was the home of King Charles v - before all the Louis’ came to power. It’s the oldest royal residence in France - possibly the world. The Chapel is a sister to Paris’ famous St Chapelle….. Complete with the same round stained glass window which is so famous. It’s funny - because the queues go for miles in Paris to get into St Chapelle on the Ile de Cite…..and for just 1 euro 70 ( about $2.50) you can hop the train to the end of the line and be the only one looking. Just 5 miles out of Paris Vincennes is supposed to be a very crowded suburb - but you’d never know it. The same wide boulevards greet you, and having the chateau in the middle of the town gives it an air of space and time. Because so much of Paris and its surrounds dates back 4-5 hundred years, there’s a uniformity of design, so the suburbs look like extensions of the city rather than Melbourne suburbs which are a mish mash of styles and often quite ugly. If I were to come here to live I would live in Vincennes and catch the metro into the city each day….Magic. We spend a leisurely few hours wandering around the chateau grounds….much of it is still in use as government offices…and drink beer at a nearby café, sitting out in the watery sunshine. It’s so relaxing and when we take the train home we feel refreshed and relaxed. It’s amazing what you can find at the end of a train line!