We left Chisseaux after a very nice breakfast and chat with our hostess. We were going to make a stop at Chaumont, then Fontainbleu and then if our luck held out with directions and traffic, Chantilly (which is north of Paris near where we were spending our final night).
Chaumont is a beautiful but small chateau in a small town on the Loire River. We had to hike up the a long but steady cement path to the chateau which sits on the bluff overlooking the river. The chateau itself is small and very intimate. There was no one there - we were able to look through it without a group of people in our pictures (which was really nice). Parts of the chateau were closed off but you could see a number of rooms - all furnished. It was very well preserved and we were able to see it inside an hour. We then went over and looked around at the stable. Chaumont is where Diane d'Poiters went after Catherine threw her out of Chennenceau. I did a Patricia - I tried all the doors to see if I could open them and I also tried a dark stairway - no luck.
We decided to take a country road instead of getting on a freeway. It was a nice relaxing drive but before we got to Orleans, we decided to get on the freeway. The day was getting away from us and we still had a lot we wanted to do.
We found Fontainbleu with very little trouble. The mappy directions were pretty good and we were clipping right along. Since it is a major site, it is well marked. We were able to find parking right across the street and since it was Monday, it was free (I love free especially with the value of the dollar against the euro right now!).
Fontainbleau is a much smaller and less crowded Versailles. We did the audio tour which we were able to do in a hour. It clearly needed some restoration and they were starting to work on it. It was nice that we did not have to wade through people to see everything and in fact, I even took some pictures where there are no people in it!
One of the coolest things was that this chateau had some original furniture and paintings in it. It was used by Napolean and was the sight of his abdication (or at least his first one) when he quit and left for St. Helena. The staircase in the front is curved and really great. We also took a "two chicks do Paris" picture in front of it. There were rooms of priceless artifacts.
I tried to get to the gardens but the directions the woman in the ticket booth told me were wrong. The gate was locked and I was not able to make her understand the problem. (I don't the french words for "the stupid gate is locked and I cannot get it opened"). So I only got to see the gardens from the inside of the chateau. Next time when I come back with Burns, I will see the grounds . They look pretty nice.
We left Fontainbleau and got lost almost immediately. The mappy directions were not so clear and I had trouble following them, especially since I had a map that well . . sucked! We were on the wrong roads but the next thing I knew we were on the right road (and we did not even make any turns - go figure). We headed towards Paris, hoping we would miss the traffic and make it before Chantilly closed.
Well, needless to say, we did not make it. We stopped at the French version of 7-11 and grabbed some lunch (bagette and cheese for me). Then we headed towards the big ugly city. Mappy got us very, very, very lost and we ended up in what we thought was the suburb of Paris. We turned around and retraced our steps only to be in the middle of the mess. The French drivers sure don't want to let people in to merge. Also, the signs did not match the mappy and directions and that map we had should have been tossed out the window!
After 90 minutes of frustration, we finally found the way out of the city traffic. But we were not going to make it to Chantilly before it closed, so we decided to head towards Senlis (pronounced Sonlees) to find out B&B. I had also read it is a great little medieval walled city. I also wanted to find our B&B before dark. I really hated hunting in the dark for these places.
We pulled into Senlis and tried following the directions from the B&B. We made a wrong turn down a very narrow, cobbled street and it appeared we were heading to a dead end. So we stopped and we asked these very cute little girls "Ou est Rue de Repulic?" All I heard was "a gauche, a droite" and they waived their arms. They were about 7 or 8. So we went "gauche and droite" more than 1 or 2 times and found our way (I think we just got really lucky and it was a really small town).
We drove down these very narrow streets. Thank goodness we had a small car because there were a few times I was doubting whether or not we would make the turns even in the small car. We parked the car and found our B&B with little problem. It was on a side street. The owners had a cute little dog with a cork screw tail who was very friendly. The wife ran the B&B and husband worked for a company in Seattle doing screens for private planes (the kind that you and I cannot even afford to look at let alone buy). They were very nice. Sylvaine showed us our room which was on the second floor. The only problem was the stairway (metal green stairs) did not have a railing to hang onto so it was a bit dicey get up and down. We managed. The room was large with old timbers running through the ceiling. The bathroom which was next door had a shower which was part of the bathroom. In other words, the shower, sink, and toilet were all open and together. The sink was interesting. It had an on/off switch which looked like an old shower faucet but the problem was it was on the side of the sink so it wasn't very obvious. It took a bit to figure it out.
After settling in, we walked around the city for a bit. It was dark so the pictures are not great. The walled part of the city is very obvious. We ate crepes at a little restaurant which appeared to be filled with locals. Then we headed back to the B&B. We had a long day tomorrow. Sylvaine's husband (I never did catch his name) gave us a map showing us how to get to the airport and a map showing us where the rental car return was
I am really sad to be leaving France but I am not anxious to get home. I know I have a lot of work to do and I miss Doug and "the kids". It will also be nice to not have to mess with the French showers and washers/dryers!
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