A few weeks ago we traveled to France for a mini vacation, a relatively short and inexpensive trip from Israel. Jason's childhood friend Shannon lives in Paris with her husband, their two sons, dog and cat. We arrived late on Thursday night and spent Friday doing errands in their neighborhood and had a lovely lunch with Shannon. We were in wine and cheese heaven!
Friday afternoon we all left for Shannon's father-in-law's "country house" about an hour and a half outside of Paris. "House" is a bit of an understatement. The 16th century chateau sits on 30 acres of rolling French countryside. It was in ruins when he purchased it about 15 years ago. After 8 years of renovation, the building is beautifully restored in the original style (the law in France, but he would have done it anyway), but with modern conveniences.
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| Chateau Daniel |
We spent the first hour wandering around in shock. The two fireplaces alone are practically bigger than our apartment. One of my favorite parts of the house was the tiny door that lead into the kitchen from the stairwell. They kept the original size of the door frame - people were smaller in the 1500s! Our room (or should I say suite) was right out of a movie. The shower had 6 shower heads. The bed had 6 pillows.
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| Any more pillows and we'd have to find another bed! |
Saturday morning we all went to the nearby town to the farmers' market. It was awesome. Produce, meat, seafood and cheese - lots and lots of cheese! Everything was beautiful and everything was displayed like it art. Jason and I were in heaven. We could have stayed there all day, but it was raining and cold and we had the kids with us. I was lucky enough to get to use all these delicious ingredients to make lunch and dinner in the fabulously equipped French kitchen.
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| Fresh and local veggies - displayed the French way |
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| CHEESE!!!!!! |
The house also has a beautiful stable. The 5 resident horses are trained for dressage and other carriage racing events. The horses train every day and we were lucky enough to go on a training ride. Shannon's father-in-law took us all over the place - through the village, down muddy carriage roads, through fields. The scenery was gorgeous and even though it was raining on and off, we had a blast! I think our grins say it all.
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| Horse stable - the other house |
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| Our ride :) |
Sunday was beautiful and we had a really relaxing day hanging out with everyone. It was great to spend time with friends and take a much needed break from our everyday lives.
Sunday night it was back to Paris. Jason and I took a long bike ride through the huge park (Bois de Boulogne) near Shannon's house. We stumbled on a beautiful garden and enjoyed the spectacular spring evening.
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| Shakespeare Garden in Bois de Boulogne |
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| Jason's borrowed bike - it was like driving a Mercedes |
Monday morning we dropped the boys off at school and played tourists for the day. The obligatory visit to the Eifel tower, a museum visit (the Quai Branly), a stroll through Montmartre, lunch at a creperie, a climb up Sacre Couer Basilica (Sacred Heart) for a great view of the city, and coffee and pastries at a cafe. Paris is beautiful. We found everyone to be friendly and helpful. We would highly recommend a visit and we can't wait to go back.
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| The view from Sacre Coeur (can you spot the Eifel Tower?) |
Looks amazing, and how fortunate that you had access to a fully equipped kitchen so you could taste the produce instead of just looking!
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