Our alarm went off at 8:30 and there was no way we were getting up then after our night last night. We slept for 30 more minutes and went into the dining room for breakfast. The two other couples staying in the chateau sat down for breakfast at the same time we did. Both of the couples were French so they talked to each other, but Chris and I sat there in an awkward silence (we were all at the same table). I had a feeling that they probably spoke some English, and I would later find out they did, they just didn’t talk to us!
Regis came in and served us all freshly baked croissants. I waited for the rest of breakfast, but that was it! We took a cue from the French couples and put jam on the croissants, which was delicious! We ended up having that same flavor of jam at every bed and breakfast we went to and I think it was apple. I never asked and now that I’m back in the U.S. I want to know. I’m thinking about emailing Regis and asking him. Normandy is known for its cider so there was a small glass of apple juice/cider at each place setting, along with a little bowl of vanilla yogurt. The other couples mixed in jam with their yogurt but I did not have it. There was also a mini crème brulee at our plates. Dessert for breakfast? It was good, but all the sweetness gave us stomachaches. We were really surprised that this was all there was to breakfast. In Italy we had all kinds of meats, fruit and tarts for breakfast—really a lot of food.
I was sad that we had to leave this beautiful place so soon. Normally we would not spend just one night in a hotel, but we were really covering a lot of ground this time. It was raining outside, but still beautiful. White geese were wandering around the 600 acres that made up the Chateau de Bouceel.
As we were saying goodbye to Regis he showed us around the chateau and told us some fascinating stories. The Germans arrested his father during the war in the very lobby we were standing in—and his father had drawn a picture book depicting the whole scene. The book was of course in the lobby for us to look at and was fascinating. The lobby:
Regis also told us about the American cemetery that was a few kilometers down the road and about a soldier’s grave that he takes care of. The soldier’s name is George Wicks and he was from Wisconsin. There is no special reason Regis puts fresh flowers on George’s grave, he just adopted it because he thought it would be a nice thing to do. A few years ago, one of his American hotel guests promised to find George Wicks’ family and tell them what Regis was doing for George’s grave because he was to touched by Regis’ story. A few months after that, Regis was on the phone with George Wicks’ nephew in Wisconsin!
We left the chateau, but not without saying goodbye to Titi. I made Chris hold her because I make him hold all cats, even though he’s very allergic. We almost lost this picture as you can tell by the part that is cut off, but you can still see the Chris and Titi! Titi is so cuddly and actually fell asleep in my arms as I was holding her. I forgot to mention yesterday that Titi was a stray that wandered onto the Regis’ property because someone had cut off Titi’s whiskers. I guess when you do that to a cat they get very confused and can’t find their way around:(
On our way to the American cemetery we drove through the town of Saint James.
We made it to the American Cemetery and of course it was so so green and tranquil.
There are 4,410 graves here and another 498 names of missing soldiers inscribed on a wall. We never found George Wick’s grave, but we didn’t see any others with flowers, so we knew it was really special what Regis was doing.
We left the cemetery on a back road to drive to our next hotel in the Loire Valley. Regis suggested we take the old road to see some interesting sites and avoid the autoroute. We did this for a while and the scenery was rolling green hills and houses and buildings that you just knew were so old.
We drove through the Foret de Berce (forest), which was surprisingly un-forest like because of all the logging! I have never seen so many trees on the ground. I wondered, why are all these trees being cut down? It would become a daily recurring theme on our trip—trees cut down EVERYWHERE. By the end of our trip I was starting to worry that someday soon France will run out of mature trees!
After a few hours (and some stops at autogrille’s once we got back on the autoroute) we made it to our next hotel, the Chateau de Reignac, in the Loire Valley.
This was also a chateau but a much larger one—the Loire Valley is the home of all the grand chateaux and so to be able to stay in one is a real treat. Our room was at the very top up some very steep and narrow stairs.
This chateau was nice, but it really didn’t compare to the Chateau de Bouceel. I was afraid that we had started on such a high note and that nothing would compare. This room was the most expensive room we were staying in the whole trip so I really had high hopes for it. I think I just wished the room were more in the character of the rest of the chateau.
It was about 3:30 so we had time to go to one chateau that day. We went to Chenonceau, which was only about 25 minutes away.
The grounds of the chateau were not as green and colorful with flowers as it was still cold, but you could see the potential.
The chateau itself was built in 1521 standing in the River Cher, which I think is the most magnificent part of it. We were a bit disappointed with the inside because it was clearly old, but they had decorated with fresh flowers and things that you wouldn’t expect to see in a “museum”. The chateau is privately owned, maybe that’s why. Several of the fireplaces were burning wood and there was fresh cut wood in the kitchen as if someone was ready to cook. Just not what we were expecting for a historical place.
It was getting late so we decided to go to the town of Loches for food. This charming medieval town was a really neat place.
Our favorite was the Cathedral of St-Ours. This was an environmentally friendly cathedral because they used compact fluorescents and waterless toilets! It was really cool to see someone mixing such a historical building with eco-friendly ideas.
We actually ate at an Italian restaurant that night because there was not much open and what was open was full. I did get my crème brulee, however!
To see the rest of our pictures from Day 2 click
here
