Chateau Valencay - most pretty chateau that we saw in France. This was one we didn't mean to end up at. We went for an afternoon drive after the 'non French railway man' incident and 'world's biggest steak for lunch' and found that it was the one that captivated us the most. I would love to live there. I would love to work there - but only for the weddings. It was the most romantic spot we saw (note - still no ring in finger when we got home, hmm...)
Miss Lilly, who was our unexpected treasure in St Aignan. Where else can you buy a round for 8 people for 12.8 Euro? She spoke no English, I spoke no French (to the point of embarrassment and almost would have been ripped off for 65Euro if she wasn't so nice). We passed 3 evenings (I think) there, one with Ken and Walt and Douglas, the English man who renovated our St Aignan house and was hysterical with stories of the police.
St Aignan Place de Paix on market day. ie, the day we hightailed it out of there. The charcuterie man parked his truck inches from our front door and we sat absorbed through breakfast trying to work out what he was selling (from our breakfast table looking at the wrong side of his truck). St Aignan in the mist, with the church steeple and the markets, is like the apitome of unexpected in France. It was fab to be able to watch the croissant seller set up her wares outside our window, wait for her to get her coffee and tabac and then go 6 steps outside to buy a croissant (keep the change).
Our crappy Paris (the second time) hotel room. Smelly, noisy, down right depressing and disappointing, it had the best window to sit and gawk at passing traffic. This pic was taken while waiting for Jen to arrive (after 1 year apart). We also ended up with Kate and Chris who were unexpected (and hungover) and before we knew it, we knew half the hotel and all the staff.
The strike. Somehow on our third day back in Paris, we ended up at a cafe near Notre Dame, but on the other side of the river, watching the strike march (the first one) walk past. It was more like a stage show than a political exhibition. Music, performance, drums, singing. We sat for an hour an a half, the very first people passing us as we sat down and they were still marching past when we left an hour and a half later. Chris said he was impressed because Paris knows how to protest in style. He was less impressed with the 2 hour tourist bus to get home because the metro had stopped running.
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