Sancerre and Guédelon

 I know nothing about wine, but I have discovered Sancerre (white, although I am sure the red also lovely) while in Paris.  When Pierre saw that we would be near Sancerre we decided we should pay a visit.  I even bought a poster that has a bottle of Sancerre AND a goat on it!

 Sancerre is perched up on a hill and surrounded by vineyards.

Sancerre was also the site of the infamous Siege of Sancerre (1572–1573) during the Wars of Religion where the Huguenot population held out for nearly eight months against the Catholic forces of the king. The siege was one of the last times in European history where slings (trebuchet), the "Arquebuses of Sancerre", were used in warfare.

 

 Our next stop was Guédelon where some crazy people are building a fortified castle and pretending like they are living in the Middle Ages.  They are only using building techniques and tools from the Middle Ages.  

After an archaeological study of a nearby château revealed the traces of a chateau fort from the Middle Ages, the chateau owner came up with the idea of Guédelon.

 

 They have done a lot of research to see how things used to be done.  This human hamster wheel helps to pull heavy material to the builders.  How did builders really work in the 13th century?

 

 

 The blacksmiths makes all of the tools used on the site.

 These are roof tiles.  Thet will, of course, be fired in a kiln fueled by wood.

 There is a cabin where material is dyed and paint is made to paint designs on the inside of the castle walls.

 One sunny moment on a cold, rainy day.

 The girls participated in a stone carving workshop.  It was hard work.

 

The building began in 1998 and they expect to complete the project sometime around 2023.  We learned a lot.  This place makes Upper Canada village look like the space age.

Zoo de Beauval and Bourges

Sylvia has an upcoming exposé on pandas, so we thought we would visit Zoo de Beauval, which is the only zoo in France with pandas.

I am not a huge fan of zoos, but this one seemed well run.

The pandas were up and eating.  They need to eat a lot of bamboo!  They also have koalas; the only one who was awake was very cute.

Exotic North American animal

Grandparents, guess what Sylvia bought with some of her birthday money?

We stopped in the town of Bourges to check things out and to eat some dinner. 

Who was Jacques Coeur?

In about 1429 he formed a commercial partnership with two brothers named Godard; and in 1432 he was at Damascus, buying and bartering, and transporting the wares of the Levant—gall-nuts, wools and silks, mohair, brocades and carpets—to the interior of France by way of Narbonne. In the same year he established himself at Montpellier, and there began the gigantic operations which have made him illustrious among financiers. Details are wanting; but it is certain that in a few years he placed his country in a position to contend fairly well with the great trading republics of Italy, and acquired such a reputation as to be able, mere trader as he was, to render material assistance to the knights of Rhodes and to Venice itself.

In 1449, the great trader's glory was at its height. He had represented France in three embassies, and had supplied goods for the war which had ousted the English from Normandy. He was invested with various offices of state, and possessed the most colossal fortune that had ever been amassed by a private Frenchman. The sea was covered with his ships; he had 300 managers in his employ, and business houses in all the chief cities of France. He had built houses and chapels, and had founded colleges in Paris, Montpellier and Bourges. The house in Bourges was exceptionally magnificent and remains today one of the finest monuments of the Middle Ages in France. He also built there the sacristy of the cathedral and a sepulchral chapel for his family.

 

We also visited the cathedral in Bourges.

Château de Chambord

Chateau de Chambord was built to be a hunting lodge, but it is really an extravagant chateau.  It is 156 metres long and 56 meters tall with 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces, and 426 rooms.  The estate covers 5440 hectares, the same area as Inner Paris, and is surrounded by a wall 32 km long with six gates.

We signed up for an educational tour and we were very glad we did.  "Frère Thomas" kept the kids laughing and running as he taught them about the history of the castle.  He turned everything I thought I knew about French education on its head.  He stayed in the character of a monk from the Renaissance and had the kids hanging on his every word.  He also had props--a map, a secret message, ...

The young King Francois I was 25 years old in 1519 when he initiated the building of Chambord.  Francis I reigned for 32 years, during which he spent only 72 days at Chambord and never saw his project completed.  His son, Henry II and Louis XIV continued building the chateau.

In the centre of the keep is the famous double spiral staircase.  The staircase comprises two concentric spiral flights of stairs that wind independently around a hollow central column, so if two people each take one flight they can see each other through the openings in the central column but they will never meet.  Some think that Leonardo da Vinci designed the staircase.  He was friends with Francois I and stayed in another of his castles that was nearby.

Our guide had the boys take one staircase and the girls take the other.  There was much stopping and giggling at the windows.

Staircase in the courtyard

François Roi de France

In the King's bedroom Frère Thomas had the girls practice curtsying and the boys practice bowing.

There are lots of walking and biking trails on the grounds.  Unfortunately, it was too rainy for us to take advantage of the opportunity.  Thanks to the great tour guide, the girls will not forget this visit.

Goats!

 The girls have three Thursdays off in May (and we have just returned from a two week break).  The principal sent a note home reminding parents that the Thursdays off did not mean that the students had the Fridays off.  Despite the note from the principal, we decided to "faire le pont" and take a long weekend.

 We have visited and stayed on a couple of diary farms, and for some reason I thought it would be fabulous to visit a goat farm.  I kept talking about it and finally Pierre found the perfect place.

 They had 75 goats.  I was surprised by how big the goats were.  They were definitely a different breed than I had seen before.  Their backs were up to my waist.  They also didn't seem to have the devil-like slit pupils that most goats do, but maybe that was just because we were in a dark barn.  We watched them feed and milk the goats.

 I am not a big city girl and all of this green did me a world of good. 

 We ate dinner and breakfast here and it was delicious.  We all enjoyed lots of goat cheese and Pierre even had some chevreau.

 We stayed in an old farm building that had been renovated into family hotel rooms.

Just outside our door we found these beautiful yellow and pink snails. 

Green!

Exposé on Marie Curie = Proud Mama

Lillian chose to do an extra credit exposé on Marie Curie.  She worked very hard writing her paper and preparing her poster.  Pierre even took her to the Marie Curie musem where you can see her laboratory.  The idea of giving her presentation was really stressing Lillian out.  Good news!  She did it!  Bravo!

When she came home and said she wanted to do an exposé, I did not know exactly what she meant.  Because it was extra credit, the teacher sent home no info.  I quizzed Lil for awhile and then figured out that because we are dealing with the French education system that a rigid formula must exist.  I Googled and came up with several things that explained it all to me.  The one below was the best one I found.  So, if you are in CM1 (grade 4) and have an exposé, read up.

TGIF!

Biking in Vodelpark

 Our last day in Amsterdam it rained.  I was quite sure I could do without biking in the rain.  Lillian was sure that she needed to bike.  Because I try to be a good mother, I folded and I am glad I did.

 We asked for helmets when we rented the bikes and they gave us the only four they had.  They fit--more or less.  In Amsterdam everyone rides bikes and almost nobody wears a helmet.  These cargo bikes are so cool.

 Another cool play structure in Vondelpark.

 My hands were numb and and I was getting whiney (even more than usual), so we turned in the bikes and got me some coffee. 

 Hot chocolate!

This coffee shop was right next to two (one British and one American) book stores.  We picked up some reading material for the train and headed to the station.

Owls!

I thank my trip planner for a fabulous Spring Break.