France 94 Sully Sur Loire - From one castle to another and a night on the aire, blue glass and le vipeur

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It seems odd that our holiday really has come together as we creep ever closer north and home. From one castle to another. From an incomplete one to a complete one. From Guedelon to Sully sur Loire. I felt as we drove that this has been a bit like making a cake. YOu need the recipe and the method and we got that in abundance in Guedelon. Add some stone , some mortar, some oak and mix well and what comes out is something like Sully sur Loire.

After leaving the lovely experience of a medieval building site we headed back to the roads and hoped Sally would behave . The forests are amazing in this area of France, dense, dark and full of creatures . We regularly see hunters out with their dogs and guns . A sight we would not see back home where it is illegal to be seen carrying a gun as they do in France.

The villages as before were pretty and we weaved through that phenonenom of french street furniture designed to slow the most intrepid of traveller. We had loaded up with fresh water, emptied both the grey and black waste and were heading for Sully. We had seen the town on Google Earth and we had read many blogs extolling its virtues. We had seen the aires and knew we could stop on the one in the river in our sights and under the shadow of the castle or we could stay on the one further out of town. Just 800 metres away it had room for 16 motorhomes. It would be hit and miss whether we would get a space.

Arriving in the town we had to cross over the river which like the rest of the Loire is full of islands and sandy beaches. Crossing the long old bridge with its many arches we could see one or two motorhomes already parked up in the small aire . We drove past them heading for the bigger aire and found the narrow entrance and it looked rather full.

Reality though is different. Google Earth can be out of date and yes there were quite a few vans parked there were far more than 16 places. The first site was full and the prize spots overlooking the river had already gone. It was fun watching one van leaving and someone else on the site rushing in to claim the spot. The driver must have earmarked the site and waited just seconds before pouncing. We found a spot in the corner and brought our chairs out and sat drinking wine and eating cheese. We should not put chairs out. It is an unwritten rule that on aires you do not put out chairs or tables and definately not put your awning out but here as always the rules were being bent a little. The sun shone down on us.

The second car park had enough space for another 16 motorhomes and gradually filled up with the Motorhome camping club of the Loire out for their weekend soiree. They consulted maps , they sat and chatted and eventually at six they left as a group as if doing a treasure hunt. Their spaces were quickly taken. There was no need to worry though about space. Sully town council had done us proud . They had installed water and drainage facilities and a further 40 spaces on an overflow car park. Good old Sully. Why cannot the British towns and cities do something similar?

We walked back into town through the park. Shaded it was a pleasanter walk than along the river. The sign told us not to go in the grass as there were le vipeur in there. Jokingly I called Glenn Indiana Jones as they both hate snakes . We just kept to the path.

If you want the perfect chateau you don't have to go far. Sully delivers by the bucketload. The Chateau de Sully sur Loire is really more like a castle. It was converted to a palatial seigneurial residence. The château was the seat of the Duke de Sully who was a minister to Henry IV's minister Maximilien de Bethune. It was built to control the river Loire . It is a pretty castle and the views of it as we approached were really fairytale . It has towers, pointed hats for a roof and gives the impression a damsel in distress could be locked up in a tower.

The Château de Sully-sur-Loire remained in the possession of the family until 1962 when it became a property of the Department du Loiret. We paid our fee to go in and every corner looked like a fairy tale. We went first through the shop and then entered the great hall. Much bigger than Guedelon the roof was a fantastic space and a huge fireplace dominated the hall. There was very little furniture in the great hall. Off it was a small room used by the lord to keep his money safe. It was also the home of the treasurer and the man who was responsible for lowering and lifting the drawbridge . That did not remain but Sully was moated and had wooden bridges across the moats . These made it even more fairy tale like.

Up stairs were the more formal rooms. Some were large with red patterned seats, red chinese wall papers and fancy beds. Some whimsical in nature with feminine lemon decorations. Tables set up for lunch with glass, china, plates and silver. Up in the roof again you could see the fantastic workmanship of the carpenters. Apparently the notices say that over 75% of the wood was original.

Outside there were no gardens to see which was quite unusual and we do love a good garden.

We headed off up town to see what there was . It was sleepy o'clock again and the town was pretty much dead. A couple of streets with a cafe with a few men in it. It didn't look that appealing. We found a lovely patisserie with a really lovely lady baker who sold us some wonderful cakes for tea. We found a pizza restaurant but didnt get chance to go over for a meal.

Following our walk back through the park we sat outside in the sun on our chairs reading and eating those wonderful cakes. The aire was fantastic and one of the best that we have stayed on and best of all was free.

The most curious part of the night was when two local lads drove up in their battered old car and fixed up a hose pipe to the water supply. Having parked over the drain they proceeded to first of all wash their car. One side done they roared up the site and turned round and washed the other side. Then out of the boot they got some kind of contraption which comprised of a blue glass bottle and something silver. We tried to watch but were too far away. At our age we need binoculars . They spent ages until a couple turned up in a motorhome and wanted to use the drain. Words were passed and they explained what they were doing and then moved on. We were still left with this odd notion in our heads of two very well spoken polite boys who seemed to be doing something odd . Was it drugs? Who knows? Was the contraption to produce blue water ? I guess we will never know.

Thankyou Sully you made our day with your fantastic castle and your great aire . Wish we could keep it our little secret .

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