We have just completed a truly wonderful week in our rather huge French gite,which was our first experience in rural France. Our flight down from Prague went well; our £10 flight on Skye Europe actually left the tarmac and landed without a hitch - you could hear our collective sighs of relief! We also collected the Megane Lease car at the airport and managed our first ride (210 k)from Orly Airport to Monnaie - only hitch was our little detour into Paris! However we live to tell the tale!
Our gite was actually a gentleman farmer's chateaux¨from the 1700's, called Les Belles Ruries, and a lovely piece of land she is. The photos probably give you a better description.
We spent our week walking the farm trails through the forest of the property, checking out the French castles of the Loire region(Chambord was the only one we toured interiorly), and hunting down French delicacies (nougat, hazelnut praline, roquefort and camembert cheeses, french wine and morrello cherries) our Aussie wines still stack up well! But they have it for cheese, petit fours, bread; and tarts of every description.
Thumbs up to Amboise and Azay Le Rideau for its castles and meandering cobbled stone streets and little boutiques of food and clothing, Chinon for its views of the Loire and Cher rivers, Villandry for its wonderful garden, Beaumont Le Ronce for its creperie, Ballan Mire for its houses and pretty roses, to our gentle and very tall French gentleman host, Mr Hubert Duthoo (80 years approx)and his cleaner Lucienne - list goes on!
We also thought the rural French people to be largely very helpful and charming - but our French is not improving! Lots of gesturing and animation eventually soughted it out.
More from the Dordogne, 378ks south, coming up. Weather is cooling, but okay for travelling, warming up again soon
Val, Cheryl and Marcelle - also thanking the people who gave us their comments and feedback, great to hear from you! xxxxx
