A Visit to Chateau

When our friend Libby received the first group email and realized that we were in Beaune – merely an hour away -she invited us to come spend the night in their lovely – and amazingly restored – French farmhouse.

She and Don spend every summer here in Le Vernay, a tiny hameau (hamlet) that is part of the tiny village of Chateau. They are about a 10 minute drive outside Cluny. The view from the stone balcony includes (very) green rolling hills, Charolais (white) cows renowned for their beef, and hedgerows. Completely beautiful and utterly peaceful. An amazing location to just relax and empty your mind.

Not that they have “just relaxed” since they bought this place. According the them, rustic would have been an upgrade when they purchased it in the early 2000’s. They have made their farmhouse a true retreat. Gorgeous rehabilitated stone walls hold up amazing ancient, rough-hewn wood beams. They added bedrooms, 2 baths and a kitchen with modern appliances. The Barn Room has flooring that looks like the cows distressed it – they didn’t. Outdoors, Libby has created a lovely garden with annuals and perennials and a few lovely roses, including one named after a good friend – The Nimet. The garden was the setting for two delightful lunches prepared by Don, the family chef.

We ended up staying with Don & Libby for three nights, enjoying every minute of it. LuLu, too, knew she was in heaven – a glorious grassy lawn where lots of frolics could take place and more people to fawn over her! What’s not to like? Don and Libby took us to a flea market where Donna managed to restrain most of her impulses. We visited Brancion, a charming tiny Medieval village with a fortified feudal chateau and a Romanesque church. The Church, Église Saint Pierre was in the process of being restored and some lovely frescoes were discovered in the process. Next on to Chapaize, which has another amazing Romanesque church.

Don and Libby have made many good friends in their French neighborhood and we were delighted to be invited to dinner with them – which included a tour of Nimet’s garden of over 300 roses, two ponds and some very lively courting frogs! Our time in Chateau was a lovely respite and we are so grateful to have been invited.

A note about Donna’s ability to speak French. It waxes and wanes… When she is on a roll and thinking in French, it is easy easy easy. She feels little hesitation, even when she is unsure of a vocabulary word or verb conjugation. At other times, the brain just doesn’t seem to click in and the French is merely a translation of what she is thinking in English. One word at a time, it comes out haltingly. She is reading novels in French at present, and while she doesn’t recognize all the vocabulary, especially idiomatic phrases, context clues help! Reading in French does get the brain clicking in a different mode. And, it must be said, that most people who ask where we are from are very complimentary of her French speaking ability. Which is lovely and encouraging!

While we were in Beaune we began thinking about how to get LuLu her IPP (International Pet Passport). She was ahead of the game.

Our days have been organized often by a single objective. While this is may just be lunch, three time we tried to find a bank interested in our opening an account and earlier this week we took LuLu to the vet. Banks: You have to make an appointment to discuss it, but a lengthy discussion is involved in making or trying to make the appointment. Apparently there is a currency dispute among nations and the hands of banks are tied and an American without an address here—forget it!  Veterinarian: Coming up in the Lyon chapter! Watch this space.

Next we will go to Lyon. Will we ever get a French bank account? Who knows? Can we manage without one? Again – who knows?

Donna, Sam & LuLu

June 18, 2019