Journey Through France, Part 1

Hey all,

Hired a car in Chatres so we could drive through the French countryside, see some Chateau that are pretty tricky to get to without a car (even though warned repeatedly that the Loire valley was flat and “very boring, very boring” by the lady on the desk at the monastery in Chartres).  The car proved a little stressful for both of us for the first few hours due to constant repetition of conversations such as:

K: “Babe, you're on the wrong side of the road again!”
B: “F***!”
…...
K: “I think you want to turn left here.”
B: “Ok”
K: “THE OTHER LANE THE OTHER LANE THE OTHER LANE!”
B: “OH MY GOD WE'RE GOING TO DIE!”
…..
K: “What is that car doing OH MY GOD WE'RE HEADING INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC.”
B: “OH S**T OH S**T!”

K also drove a few times over the coming days which involved less of the above conversations, mainly because after the first couple of minutes I kept my eyes closed, frantically clutching a Rosary.  But apart from that kind of thing the first day was fairly straightforward – we stopped at  Chateaudun, mainly to stop driving for a moment and let our adrenalin levels subside a bit, but also to wander around – it is one of many grandiose old house/castle/statements of wealth/power that litter France and make the chopper views of the Tour so nice to watch.

Apart from K and myself no-one was there – which is one of the advantages of travelling at this time of the year – a nice change from Italy in summer, if a little eerie – the disadvantage was that although there were FIVE staff in the gift shop they wouldn't let us in to the medieval tower that the whole thing was built around because there were only two of us – but a nice place to explore together – lovely sunny day, though freezing.

Got to Blois, late, got stuck forever in a traffic jam where K actually got out of the car and walked faster than I could drive - eventually found a park, then a hotel, then wandered around the town for a bit in the night then basically collapsed into bed.  In the morning we walked up to Chateau Royal Blois, the chateau that kind of dominates this town from certain angles – they seem to have these magnificent huge Chateaus all over the place, even in the middle of the French equivalent of Rutherglen.

It was again beautiful – also a little less cold and intimidating than the previous day as it had paintings inside – did not feel barren.  It included a painting by Ary Scheffer – who I know of because of this painting he did of Paolo and Francesca in Hell, a very witty painting: due to the fact that they are being punished for sinful passions he got away with what is a fairly racy image of a couple who don't really look that much like they are in hell so much as exhausted and post-coital – Dante and Virgil are looking on so you know the whole thing is From the Classics and is not just lusty nude bodies but is, in fact, Morally Edifying.  But if you look closely at the painting you will see that Dante and Virgil are both staring directly at Francesca's (admittedly very shapely) ass.  Which you don't notice because basically, as a viewer, you do the same.  A clever painter: “Yeah, I know I can get away with this because it is From the Classics and is Morally Edifying but you know why you are looking at it and I know why you are looking at it and I will even paint two people in the painting itself who are supposed to be being Morally Edified but are in fact just copping a perve and you won't even notice them copping a perve because you will be too busy copping a perve yourself.  So there.”

Photos.  1.  The ancient tower thing that the rest of Chateaudun is built around, but that we could not get in to because we were the only people there.  2.  Fossils in the rocks which made the stairs.  3.  The level of up-close detail is simply fantatstic.  4.  Chateau Royal Blois towering over the rest of Blois at night.  5.  The courtyard of Royal Blois.  6.  A gargoyle.  7.  K inside a room at Royal Blois.  8. The light from the windows in the chapel hitting the wall.  9.  The view over Blois from the Chateau.

Cheers, B.