Sunday, May 25, 2014

19th Century French Country Living


We had been in transit almost 24 hours when we entered the tree lined drive of our first destination, Chateau De Beaulieu.  After spending a long afternoon at Gare St. Lazare in Paris waiting for our train to Valognes we were happy to see  Eddie and Sharon from the Chateau  waiting for us at the station.  We will stay here for 3 nights and Eddie, a retired British Royal Marine Lieutenant Colonel will guide us through the historic WWII Normandy sites.  We settled in quickly, had a hearty dinner and after a  glass of wine were fighting to keep our eyes open and our sleeepy heads from bobbing as we watched the pre-tour video.  Fortunately this is a familiar routine to our hosts and they understood our need for an early bedtime.


                                           Our hosts and tour guides, Sharon and Eddie

                                               Our blue room had a seaside theme

Sharon had given us a little bit of the Chateau's history during dinner including the fact that Nazi officers had lived there during the WWII occupation of France.  I couldn't help but wonder what the walls might say if they could speak now!  I did my best to look past this sad fact and  appreciate the beauty of this gracious home, built in the early 1800s, and the gorgeous landscape that greeted me out the window that first morning.




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