tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

Monday morning we checked out of La Lanterne after having some coffee. We picked up some sandwiches and pastries at the boulangerie before hitting the road. We took the autoroute since we wanted to stop by La Rochelle, along the coast, before continuing on to our Chateau.

The toll roads are certainly not cheap in France, but they do get you where you want to go.

We arrived at La Rochelle and figured we had about an hour to wander around.

We found a parking spot and headed down to the water to check out the town, which I had heard was beautiful. I suppose it is more attractive when the water level is higher. It was incredibly low, showing off all the muck instead of the pretty sea.

The old port:

We wandered around the shops and picked up some more sandwiches and pastries. I think I prefer the countryside to the seaside.

We found some decent gelato:

And that was it for our visit to La Rochelle!

We were very excited to head to our next destination: Chateau de Tennessus.

Chateau Tennessus is a 14th century chateau that was purchased by an English couple who have spent 15 years renovating it and turning it into a B&B. It was phenomenal, in every sense.

It was incredibly surreal to have just been traipsing around ruined castles, trying to imagine what it would have been like to live in them way back when…walking up tiny winding staircases and wondering, ‘How on earth were they able to go up and down these narrow steps all the time?!‘ and then actually having to do it to get up the three stories to our room!

Speaking of which, our room, The Sentinel. This is a view from the door:

And a view from the bathroom door. There is a little kitchenette behind the table in the back corner which stored our breakfast supplies and coffee pot (they brought up fresh bread and croissants in the morning) so we could enjoy breakfast in bed.

Since the next morning would be Aaron’s birthday, Philippa, the owner, comped us a petite bottle of champagne, which was very sweet. (The gesture, not the champagne…)

Our room was on the top floor of the keep (which is the oldest part of the chateau) and we could also get up to the roof.

Which is where we had a picnic with the wine and food we bought at the Hypermarche in Parthenay before reaching the chateau.

The chateau is surrounded by a working farm, and it was so serene and peaceful. All you could hear were the occasional cow’s mooing. I loved all the sheep (but didn’t see any border collies!)

We didn’t do too much but explore the grounds and the chateau and go to sleep.

The next morning was Aaron’s birthday. It was so amazing to wake up in the morning and remember we were in a castle. We took our coffee on the roof as well.

We spent more time relaxing on the grounds and playing with their two labs. They have a younger lab who loved to chase the frisbee (and chase the ducks in the moat…) and an older lab who liked to retrieve huge giant stones from the moat and drag them around, expecting us to…toss them for him? It was a bit bizarre. Anywhere, here are more pictures of the chateau.

The King in his bed.

The great room – which is where the other rooms get served their breakfasts in the morning.

View from the courtyard.

I loved all the roses.

In the courtyard.

We never pulled the drawbridge up, but I think they let you if you want.

The King in his throne.

I just kept walking around our room saying, “I can’t believe we are sleeping in a castle tonight!”

The weather was perfect, as well.

The birthday boy.

I still can’t get over how wild it was to have been wandering through ruined castles, and the next night sleeping in a restored castle. It was such an amazing experience (if you like castles) and I’m so glad we were able to do it. I wouldn’t mind going back and renting it out with a bunch of family and friends and just relaxing for a week. Maybe when it’s warm enough to swim in the pool….

There are many more pictures of the rest of the grounds, the pool, and the garden (as well as the rest of our trip) in our Flickr set.

Around 11 we needed to push off and head to Paris. We planned to drop Pepe le Peugot at the Sixt office at Orly airport and then take the train into Paris to finish off the last two nights of our trip. We took the autoroute again (and at great expense again) and stopped at the Autogrille for some lunch. I love that they serve mini bottles of wine, plates of cheese and plates of prosciutto in their buffet. I could eat that every day and be happy.

We found Orly without incident and dropped the keys in the return box. It was a bit of a hike to get to the Orlyval train which connected us with the RER B to get us into Paris, but we managed to get seats on the RER. We got off at Luxembourg and walked to our B&B…