While we were staying in Paris, we were invited to the most incredible place we had been thus far. Joan's freind, a real Count, invited us all to his chateau in Canisy, western France. So, early one morning during our October stay, Gene and I - along with Crook and Robin and their friend Mark - packed overnight bags and headed for the train station to get tickets for the Castle.

We had to take the subway, then walk quite a ways to get there, and once we'd arrived, found that we didn't have much time before the 1pm train departed. So we grabbed a croissant and juice at a concession in the station, while Gene and Crook paid for the tickets...

Gene surprised me with a cute little stuffed bear to take along - I named him Claude du Bonjour as he seemed very French. See him in my coat pocket? Hi Claude!! Bon Voyage!

While we waited, we watched a gentleman feeding pigeons right beside us in the station.

Claude and I enjoyed the ride on the train. I was so surprised that we could be moving so fast and have such a smooth ride. The French countryside was beautiful. Crook, Robin, and Mark took naps while Claude and I watched the towns go by - it was our first train ride in France...

Our trip took about an hour and a half.

Our driver, Chris, was waiting for us with the bus when we arrived. The town was so small, more like a village, that the narrow roads leading to the estate took about 45 minutes to negotiate. We wound our way through more beautiful rolling farmland dotted with buildings all over which were hundreds of years old, until we reached the chateau - we saw no new architecture at all. Then suddenly before us stretched an amazing piece of work...

Gene took this picure from the "backyard" by the lake. If you look at the turret closest to you, the large open window on the third floor was our room for the night. It was the Count's grandmother's bedroom. Just to the left of that window is our bathroom window from which I took the picture to the right.

We were awed at the size and beauty of all the rooms, but I have to admit I thought we had the best room of all. It was full of splendid things with a bathroom to one side and private lavatory on the other.

Doesn't Gene look like he belongs here?
This was the view from our doorway...

And this was the view from Granny's bed.  For the record, it was the best night of sleep I got the whole trip, and there were no ghosts which appeared, despite the stories we had heard!

When I walked to our bedroom window, the view took my breath away. I could not believe there existed such a place as this, built over seven hundred years ago and so beautifully preserved. It was like stepping into a fairy tale. I thought of King Arthur, of Rapunzel...