As I couldn't get onto the internet during the holiday, these blogs are out of sinc. But anyway here goes.
Saturday 10th July
Arrival at Le Chateau!
What a fine decision was the purchase of the Sat. Nav. with the European maps. It made getting to our destination a lot less stressful, for me anyway.
We were awakened from slumber in our little pink cabin by one of the actresses from “Hello, Hello”, (I kid you not!) announcing that it was 7.15am and that we would be arriving at 8.15am. They certainly manage to cram a large number of people on that ferry. Our car was on deck four and I think there was also a deck five. The decks were on a lift mechanism and the front of ours was lowered to allow us to roll off easily. The traffic was very quiet at this early hour on a Saturday which made the transition of driving on the right easier. Also the roads seem very well laid out and there are lots of dual carriage ways.
I am sad to say that we stopped after about a hour and a bit at a McDonalds for breakfast and as we had had nothing to eat the night before except an apple and some crisps and grapes it was like nectar.
The Sat. Nav. brought us right to the Chateau de Tredion and it was even more beautiful than in the pictures on the internet. The sun was shining on the water in the moat which was covered in water lilies and the surrounding grounds looked stunning. Sadly though we had arrived very early and had little chance of checking in until the afternoon.
We decided to go to a local café/restaurant for lunch. Looks like no one really speaks too much English here and we paid an extortionate €30 for drinks, two fishy salads and two enormous “sandwich du jambon et du beurre”. Iona’s sandwich was almost bigger than she was. One would have easily been enough for Sam and Iona – in fact two would have been enough for all of us. Ah well you live and learn.
After lunch there was still no sign of our receptionist, so we went to a Supermarket to shop for tea and breakfast for the next couple of days. I was slightly worried that there would be no room in the car for the shopping, but all was well. A French supermarket is very different to those in Tenerife in that there are almost exclusively French products on the shelves. Try as I might I could not find any cheese that would remotely resemble cheddar which was a major “catastrophie” as Iona will not eat any other cheese. France is still as patriotic as ever.
On our return we were able to check into our little apartment and it is small but quaint. Part of our apartment is in one of the turrets – the kitchen to be precise, so it is round. The children’s bedroom is up a wooden staircase into the roof and our “bedroom” is a small mezzanine just off the living room. The bathroom is tiny with part of the bath recessed into the wall at one end. Anyone taller than Alan (five foot eight and three quarters!!) would not be able to stand up in the bath. There is a shower, but it can only be used as a hose for hosing oneself down. Sadly the laundry was indeed compulsory at €17 each for the week! Oh well! The only positive thing to say about our checking in was that I managed to carry it out almost exclusively in French!
As expected the TV has not one English or indeed any other language channel for the benefit of le touriste. The general French attitude seems to be “if you don’t speak French – tough”. But for all that, the site is very beautiful and the area looks really interesting.
Arrival at Le Chateau!
What a fine decision was the purchase of the Sat. Nav. with the European maps. It made getting to our destination a lot less stressful, for me anyway.
We were awakened from slumber in our little pink cabin by one of the actresses from “Hello, Hello”, (I kid you not!) announcing that it was 7.15am and that we would be arriving at 8.15am. They certainly manage to cram a large number of people on that ferry. Our car was on deck four and I think there was also a deck five. The decks were on a lift mechanism and the front of ours was lowered to allow us to roll off easily. The traffic was very quiet at this early hour on a Saturday which made the transition of driving on the right easier. Also the roads seem very well laid out and there are lots of dual carriage ways.
I am sad to say that we stopped after about a hour and a bit at a McDonalds for breakfast and as we had had nothing to eat the night before except an apple and some crisps and grapes it was like nectar.
The Sat. Nav. brought us right to the Chateau de Tredion and it was even more beautiful than in the pictures on the internet. The sun was shining on the water in the moat which was covered in water lilies and the surrounding grounds looked stunning. Sadly though we had arrived very early and had little chance of checking in until the afternoon.
We decided to go to a local café/restaurant for lunch. Looks like no one really speaks too much English here and we paid an extortionate €30 for drinks, two fishy salads and two enormous “sandwich du jambon et du beurre”. Iona’s sandwich was almost bigger than she was. One would have easily been enough for Sam and Iona – in fact two would have been enough for all of us. Ah well you live and learn.
After lunch there was still no sign of our receptionist, so we went to a Supermarket to shop for tea and breakfast for the next couple of days. I was slightly worried that there would be no room in the car for the shopping, but all was well. A French supermarket is very different to those in Tenerife in that there are almost exclusively French products on the shelves. Try as I might I could not find any cheese that would remotely resemble cheddar which was a major “catastrophie” as Iona will not eat any other cheese. France is still as patriotic as ever.
On our return we were able to check into our little apartment and it is small but quaint. Part of our apartment is in one of the turrets – the kitchen to be precise, so it is round. The children’s bedroom is up a wooden staircase into the roof and our “bedroom” is a small mezzanine just off the living room. The bathroom is tiny with part of the bath recessed into the wall at one end. Anyone taller than Alan (five foot eight and three quarters!!) would not be able to stand up in the bath. There is a shower, but it can only be used as a hose for hosing oneself down. Sadly the laundry was indeed compulsory at €17 each for the week! Oh well! The only positive thing to say about our checking in was that I managed to carry it out almost exclusively in French!
As expected the TV has not one English or indeed any other language channel for the benefit of le touriste. The general French attitude seems to be “if you don’t speak French – tough”. But for all that, the site is very beautiful and the area looks really interesting.
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