Day 7 - June 22, 2007 Trip to Chateau Montmelian
Friday proved to be another exciting day in France. We were up early to head to the train station to catch a train to Fountainebleu, France.
The train station was a very busy place with at least 5 tracks ending in the station, unlike stations in most American cities. The trains pull in and then leave heading backwards!
We all got on a train that was not very fancy, compared to the Bullet Train. It was very bumpy and loud and we had a blast on it.
Kevin's girls went to sleep on the train and didn't seem bothered with the roughness of the ride and the noise. It was amazing to watch them. It was almost impossible to take photos from the moving train but I did get a few of the French Countryside.
When we arrived in Fountainebleu, we boarded a city bus which took us about 2 blocks from the car rental office. It was drizzling a little that day but we didn't let it hinder us from renting 3 cars and heading to Thomery.
Thomery is a neat little town with a church in the center of it. It was locked and we didn't get to go inside. That was a disappointment but we took a lot of photos of the outside. We used that stop to visit le toilette! We had a good time joking about the door that kept locking.
We drove into the more modern part of town and found a McDonald's to eat. They are rather expensive, compaired to the ones in the states but the food taste better. Maybe that was due to the fact that we were hungry! (grin)
The major reason for our trip to Fountainebleu and Thomery was to visit the Estate of our ancestors. Chateau Montmelian was owned by the Larpenteurs who came to American from France, during the exile of Napoleon. They had been good friends with Napoleon and we afraid for their safety once he was arrested. Napoleon visited the Chateau many times.
The Chateau is now owned by two Polish brothers who sublet appartments to students. We were unable to go inside it but took a lot of photos of the outdoors and the grounds. It was so pretty and would be a wonderful place to live.
We headed back to Paris and then met one of Carole and Randy's friends, Mario, for lunch. Mario is a profession chef and he took us to a fancy restaurant and helped everyone order. That was a brave thing for him to do, and I'm sure he's still laughing at the experience. Someone ended up with a whole fish (eyes and all), snails, and raw beef. I went the safe route and ordered chicken and potatoes! It was fun and we enjoyed the whole experience.
The funniest thing was when they asked dad if he wanted coffee. He thought he'd use his "limited" French and asked for a Demitasse. When they brought him a tiny teacup with at least an inch of coffee in it, he asked where the rest of it was! Carole told him that a demitasse is a very small amount of strong coffee and that's what he'd ordered!! He'll order coffee au lait the next time. We all laughed at him.
Day 7 was a good day!! Thank you Carole!!!
The train station was a very busy place with at least 5 tracks ending in the station, unlike stations in most American cities. The trains pull in and then leave heading backwards!
We all got on a train that was not very fancy, compared to the Bullet Train. It was very bumpy and loud and we had a blast on it.
Kevin's girls went to sleep on the train and didn't seem bothered with the roughness of the ride and the noise. It was amazing to watch them. It was almost impossible to take photos from the moving train but I did get a few of the French Countryside.
When we arrived in Fountainebleu, we boarded a city bus which took us about 2 blocks from the car rental office. It was drizzling a little that day but we didn't let it hinder us from renting 3 cars and heading to Thomery.
Thomery is a neat little town with a church in the center of it. It was locked and we didn't get to go inside. That was a disappointment but we took a lot of photos of the outside. We used that stop to visit le toilette! We had a good time joking about the door that kept locking.
We drove into the more modern part of town and found a McDonald's to eat. They are rather expensive, compaired to the ones in the states but the food taste better. Maybe that was due to the fact that we were hungry! (grin)
The major reason for our trip to Fountainebleu and Thomery was to visit the Estate of our ancestors. Chateau Montmelian was owned by the Larpenteurs who came to American from France, during the exile of Napoleon. They had been good friends with Napoleon and we afraid for their safety once he was arrested. Napoleon visited the Chateau many times.
The Chateau is now owned by two Polish brothers who sublet appartments to students. We were unable to go inside it but took a lot of photos of the outdoors and the grounds. It was so pretty and would be a wonderful place to live.
We headed back to Paris and then met one of Carole and Randy's friends, Mario, for lunch. Mario is a profession chef and he took us to a fancy restaurant and helped everyone order. That was a brave thing for him to do, and I'm sure he's still laughing at the experience. Someone ended up with a whole fish (eyes and all), snails, and raw beef. I went the safe route and ordered chicken and potatoes! It was fun and we enjoyed the whole experience.
The funniest thing was when they asked dad if he wanted coffee. He thought he'd use his "limited" French and asked for a Demitasse. When they brought him a tiny teacup with at least an inch of coffee in it, he asked where the rest of it was! Carole told him that a demitasse is a very small amount of strong coffee and that's what he'd ordered!! He'll order coffee au lait the next time. We all laughed at him.
Day 7 was a good day!! Thank you Carole!!!
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