Weeks 31 & 32

Week 31

Preparing for holidays! Heading off to see Frank & Pam again, at Saint-Georges-Motel in Normandy, France.

Week 32

Now, this is difficult, trying to gather my thoughts.... So, I have decided to take the easy way out and just shove up a lot of pictures and see what I can remember...

First stop, Ypres

We waited for the (daily!) Memorial Service at 2000hrs - very moving, as were the names on all the walls! Janny was surprised at the number of Australians who died and/or were involved - obviously not included in Dutch history lessons. We told Janny's Mum when we got home and she said - "yes, the Dutch stayed "neutral" in WWI and had hoped for the same in WWII, but....

Sunday at Saint-Georges-Motel

Host and tour guide, Frank. - ably assisted by Pam. 

Our familiar spot in the sun... (but we didn't have as much, this year)

Bill, the dog... (who gave us a good barking to until we went to meet the owners).

BBQ at the neighbours... (French Style eating has a certain "protocol", even for BBQ's - remember last year when we brought White Sausages - horrors!! mon dieu!? Well we did it again this year just as a joke).

The house of Patrick and Dani used to be the English High Commissioner's Summer House - it is just perfect and has GREEN grass because he has his own well/spring - people otherwise are not allowed to water their lawns due to water restrictions.

The entree/aperitif course...

The "cheese" course...of course.

We were also getting a bit blurry by this stage... it was a mixture of French, Dutch and English but I don't think we stopped laughing all night.

Walls, walls everywhere...

I think I mentioned it last year. All the houses are enclosed with high walls and gates.

The French equivalent of "An Englishman's home is his castle" might well be " What goes on behind my walls... is none of your business".

These are just a few.... including an old one depicting how they used to be built.

Frank assured us that "everyone" was away for the August Holidays - but we didn't see many people last year, either!

I didn't do as much walking this year, but I did manage to find the remnants of yet another wall, or at least a gate, in the middle of the forest. For no apparent reason that I could see - a relic of the past.

Tuesday, 8th of August. A visit to Vaux le Vicomte Castle

Shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia:

(perhaps the most interesting bit is the arrest).

History

Fouquet

Once a small château between the royal residences of Vincennes and Fontainebleau, the estate of Vaux-le-Vicomte was purchased in 1641 by Nicolas Fouquet, an ambitious 26-year-old member of the Parlement of Paris. Fouquet was an avid patron of the arts, attracting many artists with his generosity.

When Fouquet became King Louis XIV's superintendant of finances in 1657, he commissioned Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre to renovate his estate and garden to match his grand ambition. Fouquet’s artistic and cultivated personality subsequently brought out the best in the three.

To secure the necessary grounds for the elaborate plans for Vaux-le-Vicomte’s garden and castle, Fouquet purchased and demolished three villages. The displaced villagers were then employed in the upkeep and maintenance of the gardens. It was said to have employed 18 thousand workers and cost as much as 16 million livres.

The château and its patron became for a short time a focus for fine feasts, literature and arts. The poet Jean de La Fontaine and the playwright Molière were among the artists close to Fouquet. At the inauguration of Vaux-le-Vicomte, a Molière play was performed, along with a dinner event organized by François Vatel and an impressive firework show.

Fête and arrest[

Colbert

The château was lavish, refined and dazzling to behold, but those characteristics proved tragic for its owner: the king had Fouquet arrested shortly after a famous fête that took place on 17 August 1661, where Molière's play 'Les Fâcheux' debuted. The celebration had been too impressive and the superintendent's home too luxurious. Fouquet's intentions were to flatter the king: part of Vaux-le-Vicomte was actually constructed specifically for the king, but Fouquet's plan backfired. Jean-Baptiste Colbert led the king to believe that his minister's magnificence was funded by the misappropriation of public funds. Colbert, who then replaced Fouquet as superintendent of finances, arrested him. Later, Voltaire was to sum up the famous fête: "On 17 August, at six in the evening Fouquet was the King of France: at two in the morning he was nobody." La Fontaine wrote describing the fête and shortly afterwards penned his Elégie aux nymphes de Vaux.

After Fouquet

After Fouquet was arrested and imprisoned for life and his wife exiled, Vaux-le-Vicomte was placed under sequestration. The king seized, confiscated or purchased 120 tapestries, the statues and all the orange trees from Vaux-le-Vicomte. He then sent the team of artists (Le Vau, Le Nôtre and Le Brun) to design what would be a much larger project than Vaux-le-Vicomte, the palace and gardens of Versailles.

Madame Fouquet recovered her property 10 years later and retired there with her eldest son. In 1705, after the death of her husband and son, she decided to put Vaux-le-Vicomte up for sale.

And so to the present day. It is owned privately and funded by allowing visitors - 600,000 a year at present.

A visitor...

The workers quarters and stables...

The kitchen staff dining room

We hired a cart to get around the gardens...

My notes on the day...

Very grand, and included the thrill seekers drive through some outskirts of Paris, enhanced by a heavy downpour. Some 90 minutes drive from the peaceful village of Saint-Georges-Motel. All three passengers remained outwardly calm so as not to further upset the driver. She deserved a medal, or at least a cold beer, at the end of the day.

Our preferred French beer

Wednesday 9th of August

A quiet day, collecting blackberries...(I'm sure we did some shopping, eating and drinking as well).

Thursday,10th of August

Vernon (on the Seine River)

Fortresses on both sides of the river to stop the invaders coming up the river to Paris (30kms away).

Even a "Make Giverny Great Again" Poster

Fortress on the other side...

An old mill, restored by the town. The bridge used to be sited here.

Frank (aka Fronck in these parts) performed his magic with fish in batter and potato cakes. The locals like them too, apparently.

Friday, 11th of August...
A visit to a local sailing club. Our tour guide was trying to provide a "boating" theme...

And in the afternoon, we tried Jeu de Boule...after a pie for lunch!

Then out for a real French Restaurant meal in Dreux.

Saturday, 12th of August

We had so enjoyed the Jeu de Boule, that we did it again and then some more shopping, eating and drinking!

Sunday, 13th of August

And then, suddenly, it was time to go...

After a totally relaxing week...

Somehow, I managed to book a night in a hotel at Port en Bessin.....for a week later! No harm done, except to my ego. Although it went unsaid, I think we both knew it was time to head for home. A step closer and sure to have hotel room we headed for Le Havre and found a reasonable hotel and underground car park near the docks.

During the day and on the way to Port en Bessin, we had driven along the D-Day beaches of Normandy. It really was a moving experience for us. At this time of the year, it was overrun with tourists (like us!). The highlight was the 360-degree movie show at Arromanches-les-Bains.

http://www.arromanches360.com/visit/360deg-cinema

We both came away in tears, trying not to be too obvious behind the hankies.

Le Havre impressed me as a place that I would like to see more of. They are celebrating 500 years of existence at the moment. Maybe that will be our first stop next year - hoping we get an invitation, of course!!

The further travels of Ben

While we were doing that, he was doing this....

(Interrail Through The Balkans) with long-time friend Elianne.

https://trips.lonelyplanet.com/s/txm4re

 He finished up in Hamburg and is now back at work at this year's Lowlands (Music) Festival, as I write!

My Pumpkins and Zoey...

and of course, the boat...

...but that belongs in next week's not-to-be-missed edition about installing a Compost Toilet!