Country Roads – Days 19 & 20, 3rd/4th May

A cool Chateau somewhere in Lorraine

Di is more a morning person, me, a night owl. This morning I awoke to the sound of roaring. Di had cranked up the wall mounted, three speed, turbo charged, mega blast, hair roast 2000 after a shower. The walls shook, the windows rattled and I grabbed hold of the doona lest the vortex created suck it off. Or so it seemed to me in my morning delirium.

It works both ways of course, some days prior in Wintzfelden, Di had crashed and I, after blogging for awhile decided to read before retiring.   Once switched on, the bed side lamp started making a loud tink, tink, tink sound like a tin roof heating up or a car engine cooling down.  It was so bright I could’ve read with sun glasses and so hot that the damp book pages (from previously reported rains) started steaming – I think I got sun burn.  Needless to say Di woke up and then had to put up with a half hours further tink,  tink, tink as the bloody thing cooled down.

We spent a casual Thursday in Nancy; following an art nouveau trail through the old city, walking through the park and along the canal, and enjoying buskers and walkers-by in the great “Stanislas” square (Stanislaw was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania 1710 – 1740).

At dinner we met a couple from Langres halfway between Dijon and Nancy.  They were great fun and very keen to engage but didn’t speak any English.  Our French confidence grew commensurate with our wine consumption and in opposite measure to our coherence.  Somehow we car-smashed our way through two hours of French conversation.   Something must have worked OK because they paid for our coffees – but perhaps that was for the entertainment value (dinner and a show)?

Lovely town, lots of history, very proud of their Joan of Arc.

This morning we rose early to breakfast and hit the road before having to pay extra parking fees.  Breakfast in the Stanislas square then off in the vague direction of Reims.  We took the slow backwater roads to enjoy the scenery (something brun hilder of the GPS really couldn’t get her head around – kept aiming us back at tollways).

We came across this incredible chateau (top) in the middle of nowhere and thought we’d wander in – as you do – felt a little weird, like trespassing.  It was open, and served lunch, so we had the most delightful time dining on (very small amounts of ) exquisite French cuisine whilst looking out over the Chateau’s stunning grounds;  Muese river, massive old deciduous trees a couple of chapels and a (2 hour) garden walk.  Twas pretty nice.   Two old blokes dining in the corner opened a bottle of red to breath whilst they polished off a bottle of champagne and a bottle of white.  They were settling in for a long, enjoyable and very expensive afternoon.

The Chateau was used for an army field hospital during the battle of Verdun in WWI.  Legend has it that the composer Ravel, serving as an army ambulance driver, came into the Chateau, saw the piano there and played for some troops.

Verdun

Thus inspired we headed due north to Verdun and the memorial their.  There are crosses for all those who died and beneath the memorial, visible through glass portals, are all the bones they were able to collect whilst cleaning up after the war.  About 2.4M died at Verdun.  It’s hard not to be moved by so much death.

Hit the highway to arrive in Reims around half seven.  Tomorrow – Champagne!