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Published: September 18th 2023
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Woke up to beautiful sunny skies. After breakfast we packed our bags then headed out for a short walk while waiting for our luggage to be picked up And delivered to the parking area outside of the walls. It was quite a unique experience staying in the walled city overnight. During the day it is bustling with activity, but is a whole different scene at night. The streets get very quiet, and you can almost imagine the sentries making their rounds with their torch lights. That’s what a bottle of wine will do to you. We took a walk over to the Basilica, as it was now open to the public. It was quit impressive. If you’ve never been to a midevil church, read “Pillars of the Earth”, and you’ll get a sense of what we saw. Very impressive with incredible stained glass around the alter.
Our next stop will be TRIGANCE, located in the Verdun Region. This area is known as the Grand Canyon of Europe. Around 1:00 we decided to get off of the highway to find a place to eat. Well, 45 mins later we were still driving. We saw many places to eat but with no
place to park . God help you if you slow down to look closer as someone will come right through your back window. We decided to head back to the highway and on the way we spotted a gas station and a little sandwich shop next to it. Ray finally got the sandwich he was craving. I forgot to mention in my earlier posts that gas here is about $8.00 a gallon.
We finally were about 45 minutes from our destination when the GPS took us off the major roads. Then the fun began. The road got very narrow and very winding. Couple that with the fact that we were climbing into the foothills of the Alps and it’s raining. My Grand Prix driver did a fine job, although I had vertigo and Diane had her eyes closed and was whimpering. We finally arrived at our destination, Chateau de Trigance.
As there was no bell cap service, they had a nice luggage carrier in the parking lot. We loaded 4 suitcases and our carry ones, and started wheeling them to the check in, only to find a stair way. Leaving the bags, we checked in and shown our
rooms, which were up another flight of stairs. Ray said, the hell with this, throw what we need in the morning in a bag and leave the luggage in the car. After some thought, John and Diane decided to do the same.
This place is a mid evil fortress/castle, built over 1000 years ago, converted into a hotel. It has retained its original charm while offering very comfortable rooms and dining facilities. After a very short nap, we meandered down to a beautiful stone bar area and enjoyed the company of a couple from South Hampton, UK As well as a fine local wine.
We progressed up to the dining room and had a lovely steak and a bottle of that local red. The food presentation was superb, as was the service we received. Splerging on a desert, we retreated to our room to finish this blog. Tomorrow we plan on visiting the gorge and the scenery in this area before heading out to a Chamonix.
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