keeping Up With The Jones's

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As the sunrises and I sit having my first cay of the day I’ve got used to hearing a rustling in the woods as my small friend wanders down to the entrance to the farm on his daily pilgrimage for the arrival of his bestest friend, Sion the sheep. No matter how many times I tell him that it will be days yet he just shakes his head and plods off anyway....at least we know where he is!



Woolly says – I was working on the principle that he might arrive early and wanted to make sure I didn’t miss him. Having popped back to the farm house for my lunch I saw Jo holding the emergency phone, ‘is it him! Where is he?’ I screamed, I saw Fiona and Jo jump into the car and galloped after them.



The happiness on his face as we drove the short distance to Tocane and pulled up alongside Suzy and her owners Jen and Glenn to see Sion bouncing round in equal glee made our hearts feel good.



Woolly says – Having shown everyone round the farm and introduced Sion to the goats, chickens, dogs and the rest of the live stock I instructed him on how we collected eggs and showed the work I had been doing on clearing the barn. With so much to catch up on and share we climbed into the deckchairs and sat basking in the sunshine comparing our adventures and pictures of drain covers and toilets.



We could hear them chattering away with barely a pause for breath, although the humans had as much to discuss and catch up on as well, the afternoon passed to quickly as we swopped news.



Woolly says – with the sun setting and a huge curry feast consumed we made the most of every moment with our plans for the future and how Sion and I would be even more famous one day with our super group and our plan for world domination. I sniffed and wiped my eyes as we said our farewells, knowing that it would be a while before we could be together again and that communication would have to go back to our lengthy emails....when Jo lets me near the keyboard that is!



The next morning proved to be a somber one in the tent as Woolly sat staring mournfully out of the window muttering ‘Sion’ sadly under his breath. Hoping to cheer him up and take his mind off his sorrows I suggested a trip out.



Woolly says – Well I suppose it’s better than nothing and having sighed a few more times I let Zoe lead the way to the car. As we sped through the country lanes with the usual green look for Zoe I imagined how it would be if it was Sion and me....sigh. Pulling up at Chatueau Hautefort I felt my interest starting to stir at the lovely buildings and beautiful hedged gardens...if only Sion could be with me to enjoy .....sigh.



With yet another sigh from the fur ball we exited the car and having paid for our ticket followed him into the dungeon like kitchens far below the state rooms.



Woolly says – The kitchen was cold and gloomy but having been here since 1099 I hadn’t really expected much in the way of modern appliances and florescent tubes. Finding our way back to the sunshine I thought it was time to fill the girls in on the history of the place. The first owner of the estate was Guy de Lastours who in 1099 alongside Godefroy de Bouillon started the construction of the orginal fortress, by the 12th century it had passed to the De Born family, represented by two feuding brothers, Constantin and the famous troubadour Bertran de Born. The 16th and 17th centuries became the golden age of the chatueau under the tender administrations of the Marquis de Hautefort as he changed the fortress gradually into a place of leisure. François de Hautefort and his grandson Jacques-François worked successively with two architects from Périgord, Nicolas Rambourg from Lorraine, then a Parisian Jacques Maigret. The Château was gradually stripped of its defensive functions to become a “modern-style” château. During the French Revolution the château was used as a “prison for suspects” from 1793 to 1795 which saved it from destruction in the difficult times.



Waiting for him to draw breath, we left the courtyard and followed him up the stairs and into the family rooms.



Woolly says – the parquet floor was amazing and provided an excellent skating rink for my paws.... if only Sion had been here to enjoy it with me...sigh.



As I heard another sigh erupt from his small frame we took in the delights of the main assembly room with it’s huge walnut fireplaces, big enough to get several Father Christmas’s in a once.



Woolly says – Hmmm that reminds me it must be about time to start my letter to the great man himself, I wonder if Sion has started his! The Master’s bedroom caused us all to chuckle with it’s rather pompous fluffy things above the bed which didn’t seem particularly masculine. This had been the room of Baron Henry de Bastard and his wife Simone, who fell in love with the building in 1929 and gave new life to the residence and its gardens. Only after the death of her husband in 1957 did the Baroness finish the work and settle in the Château in 1965. Sadly for her she was forced to watch, when a fire ravaged the Château on the night of the 30th to the 31st of August 1968 which meant starting the renovation work all over again. As we moved into her last bedroom you could feel how new it was although they had tried to keep it in keeping with how it would have been in it’s prime. Although quite simplistic in decoration it held a beauty of it’s own and as we wandered through the French garden and inspected the topiary I knew that Sion would have loved playing here with me....sigh.



Wandering into the English part of the garden and it’s pretty woodland we paused for a snack to cheer up the smallest member of the party as he told us regretfully that the visit still hadn’t cheered him up.



Woolly says – I tried to smile but it was a struggle and even having the last piece of kit kat didn’t seem to help....Sion likes kit kats....sigh.



With the constant sighing I was starting to loose patience and in a last ditch attempt to cheer him up we walked into the lovely town of Hautefort and to the Museum of Medicene.





Woolly says – snacks might have helped!! The town was quaint and as we approached the hospital I was interested to see that it had a central domed building with four arms coming out of it. Founded in 1669 by Jacques-Francois Marquis it was the creation of a provincial venue for the poor, which was rare at the time. Having gained our tickets and with Zoe clutching the audio guide I headed into the first of the wings. Small canopied beds ran down each side of the room with a large wardrobe between, the guide informed me that the wardrobe was also the place where the poop was sent out of the room.... knowing that this would be something that would interest Sion as well I went to investigate further.



I could hear him chuckling away and the word ‘poop’ coming out of the cupboard every few moments, we followed the very long commentary round the rest of the ward, three of the wings would have held eleven beds in each with the circular building in the middle housing the chapel, the fourth leg of the wings would have allowed the locals to worship but not be contaminated by the sick.



Woolly says – Just as I realised that there was no actual ‘poop’ to inspect I found a small revolving door in one of the wardrobes with a baby in it, according to the information board, babies would be put in from the outside and then a bell ran so that the nuns on duty knew that a newby had arrived and could provide shelter for it. The next wing showed us a display of wheelchairs through the ages and allowed us to glimpse into the chapel with it’s beautifully painted domed ceiling. The steps up to the next floor where arduous and given that the pharmacy was placed up there meant you couldn’t have been that ill to need medicine!



The collection on the first floor provided us with even longer commentaries and a vast range of medical equipment from centuries ago to the modern age from dentist chairs to x ray machines, it was fascinating and having stopped the mammoth from attempting surgery on a passing visitor we took our retreat and walked back to the car.





Woolly says – I’m sure the man wouldn’t have minded me removing his tonsils and I did plan to give him ice cream afterwards....hmmm now ice cream would help my upset I’m sure..... Sion likes ice cream.....sigh.

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[D MJ Binkley]

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