Welsand's in London

Another Visit to Paris and the French Countryside

This trip included Jeremy, Sophie, myself and Jeremy's mom Patty and her sister Karen. The goal was to see the main sights in Paris and to visit the house and area in Parcay (central France) that Patty and Karen lived for three years when their father was in the military, 40 years ago this May...

On Sunday, April 1 we adventured to Paris again on the Eurostar. This time we actually had first class tickets which Jeremy's mom Patty had secured for us in the US (they were actually $1 cheaper than coach!). What a difference! The seats are more roomy, which was great for us since we had 4 adults and one child (who shared a bit of all 4 of our seats). Lunch and drinks were included. The meal was actually good, and so nice to have all drinks provided. It really helped make the 3-hour trip fly by. When we got to Paris it was sunny and beautiful. We had our metro tickets left over from our last trip and being familiar with the system we got to our hotel quite quickly. This trip we stayed at a Hilton Hotel which was clean, and spacious for Paris standards. After we got settled into our rooms and had a little break it was time to venture into the city.

Jeremy, Sophie and I decided to try a museum we didn't get to during our last trip, while Patty and her sister Karen we all about the shopping. Unfortunately for us the museum queue was even longer this time! We decided that since it was such a beautiful day standing in line for 1-2 hours to go inside the museum was not the best idea, so we enjoyed a stroll around Paris with no itinerary (Jeremy's favorite approach). So we casually made our way through the city enjoying the atmosphere of Paris and a well missed friend in London, the sun. We met up with Patty and Karen at Notre Dame and headed to dinner. Last time in Paris we ate at a great Italian restaurant (American size portions) with Jeremy's sister and her husband called PastaPapa. The gnocchi was the best I had ever had, it was the only dish we ordered that night that we completely finished. Thus, after all our raving about the restaurant Patty and Karen wanted to try it too! Again, another completely delicious meal!

On Monday after a traditional French breakfast at a cafe near our hotel, we went to see the Arc de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower. It was another gorgeous sunny day and seeing both sites again were enjoyable. At the Eiffel Tower we took some time for Sophie to enjoy a carousel and ice cream. She was very happy!

Patty, Karen, Sophie and I made our way back to the hotel to collect our luggage while Jeremy went to get our rental car. Amazingly he got the car and made it to the hotel without incident or getting lost. Next it was time to get through Paris to the freeway and make our way into the countryside via car! This was only our second time renting a car in Europe, but thankfully we drive on the same side as the French. Jeremy did an excellent job with the aggressive driving! I was a bit stressed of course being in the front and responsible for map reading until Jeremy clearly realized I was struggling and Karen kicked in and saved the day. We did go around the round-a-bout at the Arc de Triumph and even though Jeremy knew where to exit he wanted to go around one complete time just to do so. What an experience! Six lanes of road going around in a circle with no clear boundaries--WOW! We did make it out of the city nicely and onto the Peripherique (the main freeway that circles the outside of the city). We stuck to the main freeway and were surprised by the 10 Euro toll when we exited. There was not very much scenery to enjoy along the way of the freeway, it looked just like any freeway in the US so we decided to exit and go on smaller roads the rest of the way. This was a great decision! Not only did we avoid more tolls, but it was a slower going ride with quaint towns, better scenery, and overall more relaxing. We stopped for lunch halfway in the town of Orlean. After a decent and fulfilling lunch we continued onto towards the Chateau du Boisrenault in Buzancais which Karen found online and booked for us. What a nice change from the city! The Chateau was very quaint and had lots of character, very French! Fabulous being in the French countryside on my birthday (April 3). Jeremy, Patty, Sophie and I shared a room as did Karen and Joel. What a great experience. We stayed in the Veronique room and Karen and Joel in the Elfie (you can view all on their website). Our room had a balcony that overlooked a field, very peaceful views complete with shutters that we did close to keep in the heat and the sunlight out. In the morning, we enjoyed the breakfast of croissants, french bread, coffee/tea/chocolate.

The mission on Tuesday was to drive to Parcay to see the house that Patty and Karen lived for three years. This was Joel's (Karen son) third trip to the area so he knew his way around the roads well and Karen had visited the house several years ago, and gotten a personal tour of the house and grounds from the current owners. Unfortunately the owners were out of town on the day we visited so we were not able to get into the gates. We still had decent views of the house. We walked around the immediate area. Karen and Patty reminisced about what things had changed, what was still the same, and the many memories they had while living there. It was a great experience to see and hear all these stories of their childhood. I hope we documented it well with photos and videos. Four generations of the Loisel family have now walked in that French area. This was a very special part of the trip, very sentimental!

Next, we made our way to Chateau de Valencay. Patty had visited this on a fieldtrip when she was in school in France. Château de Valençay is a residence of the d'Estampes and Talleyrand-Perigord families. The manor was praised as "one of the most beautiful on earth" by George Sand, who also noted that "no king has owned a more picturesque park". Patty wanted to see this as adult. It was much different than she had remembered, but a large portion of the Chateau was under construction. It was an enjoyable nonetheless. The grounds were gorgeous! Flowers, fountains, and French all rolled into one experience.

After the Chateau de Valencay we went back to the Chateau du Boisenrault to relax and freshen up for dinner. Eating in France has been challenging and that night was no exemption. Several restaurants were recommended to us by the Chateau. It is hard to please all, but we looked for something affordable, accepting of children, and close by. We drove into the villages nearby and after an hour, stopping at three restaurants, losing each other at one point (way to go Joel...) we finally agreed upon a restaurant. Ordering was an interesting experience. The menus were all in French as they should be, and all of us knew some French, some of us more than others, it was a bit of a struggle. I made a huge error of asking if they had any other vegetarian options than just the salad and cheese plate. I'm sure I looked like a deer in headlights during their entire explanation and then just got a salad anyway and no cheese plate, which is what I wanted as well. Oh well. Patty I think got the worst meal of all. She ordered a sausage, but it was a sausage that turned out to be so vial that Jeremy couldn't even swallow his bite of it. It was obviously a specific type of sausage, like strong cheese and marmite, that has to grow on you. So Patty and I were a bit hungry after dinner. Karen, Joel, and Jeremy had palatable meals thankfully. And, while there were several other couples and individuals in the restaurant, it was so quiet in there that we were by far the loudest people there, though we were trying hard not to be "typical" loud Americans. Sorry with no background music or other people speaking this was impossible. Joel works in Italy and had brought some wine with him to France which we shared that evening. For me, the wine made up for the terrible dinner I had. Cheers Joel!

Plans for Wednesday finalized as Jeremy, Sophie, Patty and I heading back to Paris for another night and Karen and Joel making their way back to La Fredda, the agriturismo in Italy where Joel works. We were all glad that this decision was made.

Jeremy, Sophie, Patty and I took all back roads back into Paris which was about 5 hours, stopping at one town along the way to do some shopping which then turned into a "find a potty for Sophie" experience. We stopped at an Italian restaurant for lunch which was good and reliable. Then we made our way right back into Paris. This time I had to step up and read the map, Karen was not with to assist and Patty was clear that she would be of no help reading the map. Jeremy did an awesome job again of maneuvering the aggressive driving that is in Paris. He even got me to a specific store that I saw on the way out of the city. I hopped out, ran in for my purchase, while he found a way to stay nearby with the car. Fantastic! We did the Arc de Triumph round-a-bout again, and a few others and we made it safely back to the Hilton and thankfully they had a room that would fit us all. Sophie fell asleep right outside the city, and Jeremy was able to successfully carry her from the car up to the room and she kept sleeping. Patty was tired and wanted to stay in the room and rest as well so they stayed and Jeremy and I went out. We were on a mission to buy Sophie a French handbag. In each country we have visited, we have purchased her something the country is well known for, well in Paris we felt it was the handbag. After a snack stop for some French dessert we made our way down Champs d'Elysées, a main shopping area in hunt for a handbag. We were not having much success so we took the metro to a store that we prayed was still open near the Louvre. We walked by this store three separate times while in the city and each time it had been closed, but alas it was open! Sophie got a gorgeous red Lancaster handbag, mommy one in black to match, and Grandma got one for birthday gift as well! A nice afternoon of shopping. Since, we had promised Patty to bring back some dinner to the room, Jeremy and I decided to make it easy and headed to PastaPapa again. And, to make sure the meal didn't get cold we hopped in a cab and enjoyed a hot meal of gnocchi and meat ravioli at the hotel.

The next day we got up, enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel. It seemed like we might have an extra 45 minutes or so that morning so I asked Jeremy to drive me to a shopping area to pick up a few last minute gifts. As we got in the car and were making our way to the shopping area, we realized that driving was taking way more time than expected. Jeremy had to get the rental car back at a certain time, we had to be at the train station at a specific time, and clearly any wrong turns would be pushing it. So the last minute shopping pit stop was aborted and we went right to the train station. Jeremy dropped Patty, Sophie and me with the luggage at the Paris du Nord station to take the Eurostar back to London at noon. Thank god we did this. Jeremy got the car back in time, we all got on the Eurostar successfully and enjoyed a nice train ride back to London. We had an extra seat for Sophie this time, another great meal, nice sunshine, and we were heading back to English speaking territory. Ah, how nice it was to be back in home territory in London. France is fabulous and overall we had a great trip!

To see more photos from this trip please visit our Shutterfly account. Cheers!

posted by Chris @ 1:59 PM