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Published: June 17th 2013
Over the last two days, we've taken to the road... After a severe delay at Charles de Gaulle airport to get our car, they were nice enough to give us a brand new (only 10kms on the clock) B-Series Mercedes Benz to travel in over the next 27 days. Luckily, I know how to drive it! We set out from the airport with our first overnight destination being Poitiers. Our Sat Nav suggested it would take about 6 hours if we didn't use the toll roads, so we decided to get on the tolls, to my absolute horror (will talk about that later).<br style="color: font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" />As we didn't leave the airport until midday, we decided to make Versailles our stop for lunch. If we had made it earlier (instead of waiting 1.5 hours to get our car), we would have ventured into the gilded chateau to see all the pomp and ceremony of extravagance, but there just wasn't the time and the crowds really overwhelmed me. So we opted for lunch in the boulevard next to the chateau instead.<br style="color: font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="color: font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" />
We then took the dreaded toll roads to Poitiers. Even though I was comfortable doing 150kmh down the straights, I seriously can't do them again. 1) Because they are exorbitantly expensive (31 Euros for a one way trip to Poitiers), 2) they won't take my Australian credit cards (Mastercard or Visa, and I was asked when I pressed the help button if I had an American Express, which is generally not used in Australia, unless you are dealing with high-end purchases) and 3) the boring long stretches of road make me sleepy, and I seriously needed to pull over and get a 15 minute power nap to keep me going. Once we got to our very clean and cheap, motel called the 'Hotel Come Inn' which looked like a Chinese restaurant in industrial Dingley Village (for all you Melbournians who know what I mean), the people were lovely, and the decor in our room was very much dressed for young adults with a warehouse style theme (floating timber floors that looked like packing crates, wallpaper that looked like brickwork, leather hide curtains and some factory style artwork.) The hotel owner ironically suggested we go to a Chinese restaurant around the corner, but we just couldn't find it, and somehow got lost but found the beautiful city centre of Poitiers.
There was only a kebab shop open, so that's what we had for dinner. Today, we left the Hotel Come Inn and ventured our way, without tolls, to Ouches, near Roanne. We drove through many French Provincial towns, up and down dale, in and out of speed zones... you know, the stuff that makes you stay awake when driving, especially when you know you have 5-6 hours of driving to do. We stopped off in Doyet for a lovely lunch and met this gorgeous German Shepherd who was part of the little restaurant. (not sure if you're noticing, but Orangina is our favourite French drink!)
We travelled for another 1.5 hours and found our home for the night... Chateau d'Origny... stunning!
We were made so welcome by Melinda and Werner... it was such a privilege to be in their home. They renovated this place from scratch... no one had lived in it since 1961, and they bought it 5 years ago, and opened 2 years ago as a bed and breakfast. Werner is a chef, and beautifully made us a 5-course French dinner, including snails in a mushroom and spinach sauce, a goose-liver and prawn salad, veal in a cream sauce with traditional French vegetables, a choice of local cheese and a fresh berry pannacote. So divine. Proud of my boys for trying everything, yet it took a little encouraging as it was food they weren't used to. Of course, they finished their cheese and their dessert. Here are some more interior shots, and some of the food we enjoyed.
I thought I had more, but some reason they haven't downloaded. Anyway, I must recommend coming to Chateau d'Origny... the restoration is beautiful, the food is magnificent, the generosity is sublime.
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We then took the dreaded toll roads to Poitiers. Even though I was comfortable doing 150kmh down the straights, I seriously can't do them again. 1) Because they are exorbitantly expensive (31 Euros for a one way trip to Poitiers), 2) they won't take my Australian credit cards (Mastercard or Visa, and I was asked when I pressed the help button if I had an American Express, which is generally not used in Australia, unless you are dealing with high-end purchases) and 3) the boring long stretches of road make me sleepy, and I seriously needed to pull over and get a 15 minute power nap to keep me going. Once we got to our very clean and cheap, motel called the 'Hotel Come Inn' which looked like a Chinese restaurant in industrial Dingley Village (for all you Melbournians who know what I mean), the people were lovely, and the decor in our room was very much dressed for young adults with a warehouse style theme (floating timber floors that looked like packing crates, wallpaper that looked like brickwork, leather hide curtains and some factory style artwork.) The hotel owner ironically suggested we go to a Chinese restaurant around the corner, but we just couldn't find it, and somehow got lost but found the beautiful city centre of Poitiers.
There was only a kebab shop open, so that's what we had for dinner. Today, we left the Hotel Come Inn and ventured our way, without tolls, to Ouches, near Roanne. We drove through many French Provincial towns, up and down dale, in and out of speed zones... you know, the stuff that makes you stay awake when driving, especially when you know you have 5-6 hours of driving to do. We stopped off in Doyet for a lovely lunch and met this gorgeous German Shepherd who was part of the little restaurant. (not sure if you're noticing, but Orangina is our favourite French drink!) 
We travelled for another 1.5 hours and found our home for the night... Chateau d'Origny... stunning! 
We were made so welcome by Melinda and Werner... it was such a privilege to be in their home. They renovated this place from scratch... no one had lived in it since 1961, and they bought it 5 years ago, and opened 2 years ago as a bed and breakfast. Werner is a chef, and beautifully made us a 5-course French dinner, including snails in a mushroom and spinach sauce, a goose-liver and prawn salad, veal in a cream sauce with traditional French vegetables, a choice of local cheese and a fresh berry pannacote. So divine. Proud of my boys for trying everything, yet it took a little encouraging as it was food they weren't used to. Of course, they finished their cheese and their dessert. Here are some more interior shots, and some of the food we enjoyed. 
I thought I had more, but some reason they haven't downloaded. Anyway, I must recommend coming to Chateau d'Origny... the restoration is beautiful, the food is magnificent, the generosity is sublime.
