Burlingham2017Italy&France

Well, the day began with short goodbyes as we left the beautiful wedding chateau and had to say goodbye to Aimee, Justin, and the girls as well as other fun guests we had met.  We were hoping to make it to the brunch they offered but it was served late and we had to leave to get Alyssa to Paris. Traffic got worse and worse and we were unable to get to Alyssa to Orly until an hour before her flight! This was not good!!!  The lesson learned:  LISTEN TO ELVA who had begged and conjoled to leave an hour or so earlier than we did.  Mom knows best!!?? Meanwhile, our friend, Christophe, had kindly waited and drove us to his home in Champeaux--we then turned on our phones after about 2 hours to learn that Alyssa had missed her flight!  What should she do?  After trying in vain to reach her, and lo and behold, a ring at the door and there she was!! The Charpentiers were wonderful in opening their home to all of us and feeding us all! Christophe and I drove A...

Bastille Day!! After getting ready, We drove to Limoges to meet up with  Brad and Linda and Kaitlin.  Everyone must have been celebrating at home because the place was pretty closed down.  We managed to have a great day walking down to the gare (train station), having lunch together at one of the rare places open and then taking a tiny train tourist tour and then fun in the park! Home for a grilled steak dinner, wine and trivial pursuit as the sun went down!

So this morning we woke up in this very rustic old farmhouse (converted barn in which we are staying): Built, evidently, in 1672 with unique beams in the living room and a great place for the girls to enjoy their aunt and us  So we took a walk in the morning off to St. Matthieu to help get everything set up at the wedding chateau! Had a wonderful time seeing the bride and groom, meeting Benoit's father and sisters and seeing Jan and Mitzi; then home for some games and wine and duck terrine for dinner.  All told, a wonderful day.

Today we would get to see our kids and grand kids!!  How fast can we travel from the Loire Valley to little St. Claud, France and Aimee and Justin and Kalea and Siena!! We made our last trip down those step 20 steps and headed out. With a cool, cloudy day ahead of us, we stopped by Chateau Chaumont and briefly toured the garden exhibition  and the chateau  which was magnificent The chateau garden flowers featured pinks, purples and blues--gorgeous! A rose Elva loved--fragrant and beutiful And then a 2 hour trip to St. Claud--a tiny little town where we would be staying in a gite--a little house with all of us... but where was the house ? Was it here ? or here ? or here ? or here ? at last, it was here--the Gatehouse gite! Yes, it was so hidden that we happened on to you only by God's grace alone!!!!  And with the whole family together, what a great place it has turned out to be !

A day of relaxation, wine tasting and a wonderful dinner all started at our beautiful little place In the morning, Steve and Elva walked along the Loire river in the town of Amboise. And we tasted wine and cheese at a cave in Amboise, met a lovely couple from Brittany and were invited to the play performed at the Chateau d'Amboise that evening . . .  starting at 10:30 pm  (Fat chance of us going--anyone who knows Elva knows that she would be fast asleep by then!) . . After the wine tasting, while walking into the town of Amboise, we realized that our wine guy had a leading role in the play It was moving along into the afternoon and we knew that we would be having a special dinner tonight so we picked up an excellent quiche with duck and something and Elva got an amazing lemon tart with meringue which we had for lunch . . . We rested, relaxed and read our books back at our little chateau until dinner at the Chateau de Pray at 7:00 pm.  We were the ...