World Tour

July 9 Sunday World Cup Final France vs. Italy We got up and had some porridge with goats milk - good stuff. The night before we enjoyed fresh bread (we did meet in the boulagerie/bakery afterall), sausages, coleslaw, salad and pate in crute (pate wrapped in puff pastry), we had sorbet with calvados poured on top for dessert - fabulous. David's parents had left super early and we all just sat around the kitchen table and chatted some more. Before bed that night David brought up the idea of spending a second night with them - this time in the room his parent's would be leaving in the morning. If we stayed we would go to the local bar and watch the final match of the World Cup. This got Jon's attenttion! He would also try again to reach his friend at his chateaux in hopes of getting us in for a personal tour. We had originally planned to make a beeline for Cherbourg and the ferry for England since we had agreed to meet up with Rory, Jon's friend, at his home in Dorset on July 13th and we weren't quite sure how long it would take to get there. We would be silly to say no to such a generous offer from such kind people. It was an easy decision to make to stay another night! Once we had showered and moved our things into the main house, we started some laundry and headed toward the village. We were storing our bikes in the stable - stall #7 I believe. One of the great things about the property is that the previous owners had left behind some great period pieces such as a wheel barrow, what appears to be a separator in the fromaggiary, and other bits and pieces in the carriage house, and stables. Oh, and I should mention that the last owner from whom David and Ruan bought the property from was an elderly woman with about 10 dogs that were indoor/outdoor mostly big dogs so I'm sure you can imagine what a state the place was in although you certainly can't tell from all the work that's put into it thus far. David and Ruan actually received an round of applause at the town meeting as the new owners of the place - apparently it had received a bad reputation as it had become run down over the years. We drove into the village and stopped at the bar. It was quiet for now but we were assured that come game time it would be elbow room only. We met the owner and bartender John-Phillipe who was a soft spoken kind man who spoke very good english. We had a coffee and Jon had his Orangina. We had Jake and Jasper along for the ride and they were greeted by Romeo who lives at the bar. Jake and Jasper are indoor/outdoor dogs. Jake is older and Jasper, who was abandoned in the woods which we all find incredulous as he is such a character and as cute as can be is about 5 months old! He's still quite a puppy and runs and jumps around the yard in the carefree way that only a puppy can do. Both dogs are super intelligent, friendly and obedient. Jon and I do miss our cats so we were thrilled to be giving all sorts of love to those dogs that we would have otherwised lavished on our cats! Before leaving for the bar David was able to get a hold of Pierre Arnold De Romanet at his chateaux and we made a date for mid afternoon. David had some work to do and Jon and I were behind on our journals so we decided to head back to the manor. I'm not sure what happened - just got to talking I suppose, but I don't think any of us got as much done as we had intended! Before we knew it we were running late for our date at the chateaux. We piled back into the car, dogs and all, and zipped down the lane. The inside of the chateaux is just as stunning as the outside. Jon really liked the fact that of all of the chateauxs that we visited this one is actually being inhabited by its owner. Jean Pierre was a very gracious host and we learned a lot about the history of the chateaux, his family, and France. He made us feel very comfortable and at home so it seemed natural, for example, to be sitting in the grand salon chatting or later when we all had drinks in the dining room. Thinking back on it now and knowing the history of the chateaux - it really is like a dream. Jon and Pierre Arnold made a real connection beginning when we were in the grand salon and he noticed Jon's Suunto watch that I given him for his birthday. Pierre Arnold brought out his own Suunto and they compared the watch functions and discussed the different ways that they had used their watches while David, Ruan, and I looked on - I don't know where the dogs were. When we moved into the dining room and Jon saw some golf clubs - the tour was put on hold while the two of them talked about golfing. Turns out they both use Ping clubs. Within a matter of seconds the two of them were huddled around the golf bag talking about the pros and cons of different clubs, how their made, what their made of, and so on while, once again, David, Ruan and I looked on. Jon had the putter out and was in his putting stance, marvelling at how similar Pierre Arnold's putter was to his own. Then came the driver, and the lob wedge. Pierre Arnold showed us his golf club bag umbrella - it sticks in the bag like a golf club and comes out just enough to unfold and open up to cover just the top of the umbrella. They talked about different courses in europe, of course St. Andrews came up. Throughout our visit David and I were taking picture. Unfortunately the batteries in my camera were dying and the ones I did take kind of sucked. David has a great digital camera and was able to copy his photos over to our memory card which was great. What a great experience - and the day wasn't over yet! After we left the chateaux we headed for the bar but it was closed until 1945 - we had arrived 1830 thinking we were late. With a little extra time we headed back to the manor to find the cd that had Queen's "We are the Champions" on it, we were pretty hopeful that we would be playing it at the bar tonight. We got back to the bar just as the game was beginning. Now the bar isn't very big but apparently is a popular one since it was already full and people were standing outside watching from the sidewalk. We shouldered our way in, and ordered some drinks. Ruan claimed a spot at the end of the bar and (somehow) David, Jon and I ended up sharing a table with two other gentlemen. Later we would find out that Ruan was helping John-Phillipe by drying glasses as they came out of the washer. It was perfect - we were directly in front of the plasma screen TV. There were guys there with no shirts on - chests, stomachs, and faces painted to show their team spirit for France. Why is it that so often it's the guys who really should keep their shirts on that do the body painting!? Ah well, what can you do? There was singing, cheering and jeering and many "Ooo, la la('s)" and whistling going about. The beer flowed and by half time someone had brought out a drum. As the game went on things started to look grim and it appeared that it might all end in penalty kicks. Unfortunately, Zidane was red carded off the field for head-butting a guy on the Italian team. Things really quieted down in the bar after that and as anyone who watched the game knows - France lost. The atmosphere in the bar was totally deflated as people wandered out. We stopped off at another bar on the way home in hopes of getting a kebab sandwich which are very popular. I've seen stands, booths and take away shops selling the kebab sandwich but have yet to try one. The kitchen was closed but the bar tender was able to cook up some frites. We went home and had a late meal of bread, goats milk butter, frites, sausages and salad. We went into the formal dining which is currently being used as a family room/TV room/Living room. Jasper sat between Jon and I and before long as snoozing, occasionally rolling from side to side and stretching a leg out onto our laps. Pretty soon Jon's eye's were growing heavy and we all decided to call it a night. Jon and I were planning to leave the next day and David had to return to London for business tomorrow afternoon. I don't think I mentioned that David and Ruan are ex-pats from England. What a treat to be sleeping in a bed! We were asleep within seconds of hitting the pillow.