France 2 - 5th October - 10th October

Sunday 2nd October
A big day of travel.  Up at 6.30am to walk in light drizzle to the train station for our TGV Lyria to Paris.  Arriving on time, we have to walk from Gare de Lyon to Gare du Bercy where we have an hour and 1/2 to wait for our train onwards to Auxerre.  Grab a bite to eat at the station while we wait and we are entertained by a couple of guys playing the 'station' piano.



The train to Auxerre is busy and we nab the 'bar' seating in the middle of the carriage for the 2 hour trip to Auxerre.  We make the tight change in Laroche-Migennes and arrive at 5.20pm

Following the map we make our way over the river Yonne and into the old town and with not too much trouble find our Airbnb apartment where Claire is waiting for us.  She shows us arounds then leaves us to it.
Once again the views out of the windows both into the distance and the street below are amazing.

Once we are settled we seek some food out in the town. Being Sunday it is very quiet but we find a restaurant that is open and busy and on the way home pass the Cathedral, spectacularly lit.

Monday 3 October

Pick up a hire car and visit Avallon

The statue of Vauban created by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who is famous for building the Statue of Liberty

Vezelay, a town built on a hill and said to be one of the most beautiful in France.

Wednesday 5th October
a look around Auxerre

6 October

left apartment at 7am for walk to the station and train to Paris.

Arriving at Bercy we walked to Gare de Lyon and caught the RER to Gare du Nord for the Eurostar.

All goes well and we connect with our 11.15 Eurostar to London.

In London catch the tube to Paddington and make our final connection to our train to Bristol.

Pick up the car from Andy's and drive the 45 minutes to our holiday let near Cheltenham, stopping on the way for some ready meals.

Awesome barn conversion, plenty of room and super comfortable for 3 nights.

7 October.

kids spent the day playing outside and going for walks while I organised our stuff and re-packed all the bags.

8 October

Aaron set off after lunch for Bristol and a rugby match. Kids and I went for a long walk.

9th October
packed up and drove on to Wales and our next house sit in Llandygai.
Met our lovely host Antonia and went out for a nice walk around the area with her and Bwana.
Lovely evening with dinner and wine and fresh picked blackberry crumble

Monday 10th
Kids and I took Bwana for a long walk around Penryn Castle after breakfast then we all went off to Bangor for a look around, a coffee and some groceries.
On our return Antonia was ready to set off so we took Bwana off for another walk while she left, then home again for more games of hide and seek and some time organising the school folders for the term.

Guedelon 4 October

Today we fulfilled our reason for coming to France and visited Guédelon Castle, a 25 year project in the forest in Treigny  Burgundy, where a team of crasfts  people, enthusiasts and volunteers are building a medieval castle using only the tools, materials and techniques from the 13^th century. 

This amazing historial and archeological project is fascinating to observe and with a bit of imagination to see past the other tourists, gives you a real insight into the sights and sounds of such a site in the 1200’s.  

All the materials are sourced from the surrounding area which was chosen for its oak forest and sandstone quarry. Everything in the ‘village’ around the castle itself is created by hand, on site and you can really see the interdependence between all the different crafts in action. When a quarry worker broke his axe, he simply headed straight off to the carpenters for a new handle.  All the rope is made by hand on specially made machines built by the carpenters and blacksmiths, the tiles for the roof and floor are made from from clay dug out of the ground and fired in a wood fired kiln built into a mound nearby. Paints and dyes are made from natural materials and plants found in the forest.

The site lacked the sheer volume of workers that must have been employed for such an endeavour in the real 13th Century and therefore the bustle and noise that must have accompanied it. Nonetheless the steady clunks of the mason's hammers and the creak of the ropes pulling baskets of mortar up to the towers, along with the clang from the smithy and the rumble of the horse and cart as various load are delivered around the site provides the necessary background to bring the value of this project to life. 

http://www.guedelon.fr/en/