Part 5


~ the castle at canisy ~

Betty and Claude eat lunch...



While we were staying in Paris, we were invited to the most incredible place we had been thus far. Joan's freind, a real Count, invited us all to his chateau in Canisy, western France. So, early one morning during our October stay, Gene and I - along with Crook and Robin and their friend Mark - packed overnight bags and headed for the train station to get tickets for the Castle.

feeding the birds

We had to take the subway, then walk quite a ways to get there, and once we'd arrived, found that we didn't have much time before the 1pm train departed. So we grabbed a croissant and juice at a concession in the station, while Gene and Crook paid for the tickets...

Gene surprised me with a cute little stuffed bear to take along - I named him Claude du Bonjour as he seemed very French. See him in my coat pocket? Hi Claude!! Bon Voyage!

While we waited, we watched a gentleman feeding pigeons right beside us in the station.

Claude and I enjoyed the ride on the train. I was so surprised that we could be moving so fast and have such a smooth ride. The French countryside was beautiful. Crook, Robin, and Mark took naps while Claude and I watched the towns go by - it was our first train ride in France...

Our trip took about an hour and a half.

whee!!!!!!

Our driver, Chris, was waiting for us with the bus when we arrived. The town was so small, more like a village, that the narrow roads leading to the estate took about 45 minutes to negotiate. We wound our way through more beautiful rolling farmland dotted with buildings all over which were hundreds of years old, until we reached the chateau - we saw no new architecture at all. Then suddenly before us stretched an amazing piece of work...

honey we're home...

As the bus drew nearer to the gate, we could see we were being greeted by a rather unusual "landing party" indeed!

the castle guards greet us

Joan, her son Gabe, Maureen (JD's amazing sister) and Joan's friend Adrian (not pictured yet) served champagne upon our disembarking, and treated us to a royal tour of the grounds.

the rear facade




Gene took this picure from the "backyard" by the lake. If you look at the turret closest to you, the large open window on the third floor was our room for the night. It was the Count's grandmother's bedroom. Just to the left of that window is our bathroom window from which I took the picture to the right.view from the throne

We were awed at the size and beauty of all the rooms, but I have to admit I thought we had the best room of all. It was full of splendid things with a bathroom to one side and private lavatory on the other.



Doesn't Gene look like he belongs here?
This was the view from our doorway...

Big Wayne in our big room



And this was the view from Granny's bed.  For the record, it was the best night of sleep I got the whole trip, and there were no ghosts which appeared, despite the stories we had heard!wiggle my toes...




When I walked to our bedroom window, the view took my breath away. I could not believe there existed such a place as this, built over seven hundred years ago and so beautifully preserved. It was like stepping into a fairy tale. I thought of King Arthur, of Rapunzel...


Our view from the bedroom looked like this...

is this a painting?
Isn't this just like a painting?

We took a tour of the underground "dungeon" later, just to calm my fears regarding the possibility of ghosties. Robin took this photo along the way - we were actually "mugging" for the camera - we actually did not see anything. But when Crook and Robin sent us this photo, guess what we saw in the picture with us!!!! This shot was taken with a digital camera, so there should have been no develpomental anomalies. What do you think the haze at the forefront is????

what ghost???????


Gene and I spent the rest of the afternoon walking the grounds and all through the halls, then we were told to get dressed for dinner. For that, we proceeded to the dining room for an unbelievable feast of huge proportions. Gene could hardly get us all to sit still for this "family" portrait. See if you can name everyone!

chow time on the ranch

From left to right:  Richard Shindell and his new son, Adrian, Joan, Gabriel, Robin,
JD (behind the candles),Crook, Maureen, Chris, Mark, me,
and Gene!


After dinner, we bundled up and took a long stroll around the spacious grounds.
The moon was full and the night was a magical perfect final note to an absolutely perfect day.sometimes the night is like...  the moon over Canisy

Goodnight, Canisy!
Adieu...


Go now to Part 1 - We begin...

Part 2 - Prague :Havel's Palace

Part 3 - Munich, Zurich, Ghent, Reims

Part 4 - Hamburg, Paris

Part 5 - the Castle at Canisy

Part 6 - Bath (UK)

Part 7 - London

Part 8 - Belfast

Part 9 - Dublin

Part 10 - Our tour bus and "the gang"

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