Saturday 8 th September Ancy Le Franc

Awoke to another stonker with temperatures set to rise to 90 degrees again today. Tea and toast for breakfast on the basis that we would have lunch out today. We took the steeds despite the mere 600m distance to the town centre and chateau. 9€ each entry and in we went.

 

The chateau is not the most dramatic externally and being a perfect square, the frontage did not blow you away.

The inner courtyard however was just lovely striking in the symmetry of the square. The alcoved corners designed to smoothe the harshness of the square with a sublime subtlety.

It was quite lovely but the pristinely raked white gravel floor accentuated the heat within this inner sanctum. Apparently the ground floor of the chateau was occupied by Germans during the second world war. I just thought, " it must have been bloody hot in those thick woollen uniforms and long leather jackboots"

We spent a delightful couple of hours exploring parts of the chateau accessible to the public. Stunning decor , reputedly some of the most important renaissance work in France, the walls made to look like wallpaper but actually a staggering paint job with stencils. The incredibly beautiful ceramic floor tiles, ridiculous library and every ceiling, an ornate work of art. The irony and little glimpse of the ridiculous farce that was the French aristocracy of the time was that some of the rooms had been decorated and dedicated to a visit by the French king. His initials carved into wall decor and his coats of arms inlaid in rooms laid out for his bedroom and reception room at such a great cost that it put the chateau owner in massive debt for the rest of his life.

Sadly the king changed his plans and did not turn up. The village however pretended that he did so as to uphold the respect of the family and so there are paintings and ceramics to commemorate the visit that never took place.

The gardens exposed the links with masons with the symbolic pyramid used for the water fountain and hence the rather odd choice of potted palm trees bordering the path.

We strolled round the village and up to the church, unusually for French villages, on the edge of town. Clearly with its position it was a fortified building and very much par of the towns defences. We climbed some old overgrown steps to a signposted viewpoint. It felt like we were the first humans up these 100steps in a very long time. The view however, was terrific and made it worthwhile.

As we came bouncing down the steps, the unthinkable happened.

I suddenly realized my foot had landed about 18 inches from a sunbathing viper. I froze. It's head was still and not in the strike position. I sensed a bead of sweat running ever so slowly down the middle of my back as i very slowly lifted my foot away.

Collette cried "oh my god" as she became aware of my predicament. At a foot long, it was clearly a baby, " the mother won't be far" offered the crew! " that failed to calm me. Two bloody vipers in two days, it was all getting too much for me so after quickly negotiating my way past the killer, we were out of there and back down to the hotel for a drink.

French restaurants have great value menu of the days during the week so we chose to eat here at the weekend. I normally get a pichet of rose for about 6€ for lunch but this place only did bottles. This was gonna be a biggy lunch, I sensed, but after the viper incident and such a near miss, what the hell!

Lunch was superb, one of the best we have had in France. Collette had melon and smoked duck fillet starter, I had lentil salad with smoked salmon. Both brilliant served with a savoury choux selection.

Clo had a fillet of Dover sole with orange glazed carrots and rice. I had a slab of charolais cow with an eppoise cheese sauce with stuffed aubergine and spaghetti. Again both outstanding.

Next course was a plate of 3 regional cheeses including two produced at our next port of call, st florentine. Served with a green salad and fresh walnuts, just gorgeous.

Dessert for Collette was toasted brioche with 3 fresh fruits, and I had a raspberry tart thing. Another delight.

Coffee to finish a great 3hour lunch. The restaurant had been packed when we sat down and was empty by our cheese course, we had not been rushed and the only bugger was the wine, a burgoyne rose which was very nice but also a very nice 22€ price. Hefty but the meal at 24€ a head was brilliant value as far as we were concerned so whilst disappointed no house pichets at 6 € our usual lunchtime drink, we were satisfied customers as we drifted back to Doucette and I had almost forgotten the snake incident.

Back at base, the youngsters were drifting in for the evening. So often the halte fluviales double up as a good meeting place at weekends and evenings for local teenagers. These guys had electric extension reels and I sort of feared the worse. They needed a marina socket for the mains box and loads more cable. They were good kids and were clearly trying to get far enough away from the boats so as not too cause us inconvenience. I helped them sort things out and whilst we sat on the poop watching the sunset and considering just how much difference there was between the 22€ rose and this 3€ bottle, they started with the rap crap.

I lit the cob and put the last bits of rabbit and a couple of merguez sausages on for a light supper bite. I had suggested to Collette we could watch some tv for the first time since the Olympics so we went down below as darkness fell. I had to watch the x factor. No more tv for another two months minimum now! I had forgotten just how bad this program is and what it says about British tv these days. Grotesque! Thankfully the rabbit was not!

The kids rap was a vague distant base drum thudding which we could hardly hear. I was impressed that at 11, they lowered the volume noticeably. They were decent kids and I liked them. I knew that in the morning they would have cleaned up and left no sign of their fun and frolics.

A little tipsy and tired from the rose soaking, we bedded.

 

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