We had a great drive from Annecy to Beaune. It was warm and sunny. The countryside was beautiful. We did some school work and had fun drawing pictures and looking at the view whilst in the car. We arrived at the cottage our friends Ben and Lavina were staying in Beaune at around 3pm.
Their cottage was gorgeous. It had an old cottage garden that was a little overgrown but full of character. It had little stone paths all through it that you could follow to different sections of the garden. We had heaps of fun playing in our own little "secret garden". The cottage was actually in a little village called Chaudenay de Ville just outside of Beaune. There is only about six houses in the village, a church, a cemetery and a mayors office.
Dad and Ben drove to a little village about ten minutes away to catch the last part of the TDF on the tv in a pub. Looks like Cadel can't win back to back but that's ok - we all should be proud of him - maybe top 10 - but that's still amazing. We have had a ball following him and all the other Aussies.
We went out to dinner in Beaune. We explored the old part of town. We went to a little restaurant which was recommended to us by an Aussie couple we met in Annecy. They were from Jervis Bay!! Anyway, this was a big French restaurant night out and we got dressed up. The restaurant was called Le Petite Paradis. It was in Rue de Paridis, in Beaune. we found out later it is highly recommended on Trip Advisor. We tried many French dishes like a chicken terrine and duck. Between all of us we had prawns, rabbit, duck, chicken, fish, beef and some veggies and quinoa! Of course we had to have dessert. We had some white chocolate mousse, pear and nutella tiramisu, apricot tart and blueberry icecream. Mum, Dad, Ben and Lavina also sampled some local French wine, we sampled some local coka (coca cola)! It was a lovely night out.
On day two of Beaune firstly dad went to a local patisserie and bought some pastries for breakfast. Yum. Later we drove through the amazing countryside for about an hour to an old chateau (castle). The castle was called Abby de Fontenay. We got tickets and then we went inside. The buildings were amazing. There was fountains, lots of grass and heaps and heaps of houses.
First we went to The Dovecote and the Kennel. The dovecote possibly dates back from the 12th or 13th century. That's around 800 years old. The Dukes of Burgundy, who normally hunted in the forest, lived here.
Then we moved on and went into the Abby Church. The construction of the church began in 1139 and was consecrated by Pope Euginie III. The original porch was demolished in the 18th century. Behind the statue of Our Lady of Fontenay there is a door which led to the monks cemetery (The Door of the Dead). The floor of the cemetery is just dirt and grit.
Then we went to the Great Garden. The garden had a small circular pond and a small fountain. The fountain had steps that led you up to a chair. Half of the steps were closed off but it still looked amazing.
After that we went into the Dormitory. The dormitory had an amazing roof that looked like the bottom of a boat. There was a rule that the brethren had to sleep in a communal dormitory. They slept on straw mattresses.
Then we went on and we went and checked out the paddle wheel. The paddle wheel turns under the force of flowing water and generates energy. To do this the water must spin the wheel and the wheel lifts a wooden log that has a weight on the end that cuts wood or breaks rocks or forges steel.
The castle was amazingly beautiful and Elodie was surprised that it was so big. The castle was extraordinary.
Later we left and drove to Pierrefonds just north of Paris. It took us about 4 hours to drive because we drove through a lot of little country roads through beautiful countryside in the Burgoigne and Champagne regions of France. We saw lots of vineyards. We also saw a lot of war cemeteries and memorials nearer to Pierrefonds in the area just north of Paris. Rows and rows of crosses where soldiers were buried. That was incredible but sad. This area was a major theatre of war during the second world war.
When we finally arrived at Pierrefonds we were very excited because we saw the Pierrefonds castle - which is the Camelot castle in the TV series Merlin. We checked in to our little boutique Hotel - Hotel Beaudin built in 1830. We had a lovely room with plenty of comfy beds. We were excited and keen to explore Merlin's castle tomorrow.
Au Revoir xxx
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