30 March to 15 April - Settling into France

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The first two weeks in France were about settling in and feeling our way around the place. We arrived at into Paris-Orly airport on virtually the last AirAsia flight to Europe. With the bad times in Europe, the KL based budget airline has decided to suspend its Euro flights and concentrate exclusively on the Asia – Pacific – a real shame cause our flights over were a real steal.

Anyway after working our way from the airport to Paris central via the metro, we caught a train from Paris-Austerlitz station to our base for the time being at Argenton-sur-Creuse. Actually the train only got us to the nearby town of Chateauroux. Pierre was on hand to pick us up which was a welcome relief as we’d been on the road for something like 24 hours after flying from Phnom Penh to Kuala Lumpur, in transit for six hours before flying to Paris, picking our way through the metro and catching this train. The metro is great but not so good when you have a load of luggage to haul about.

Over the next couple of weeks we mended and rested. Gina’s mother Helen and partner Pierre are with us for the first couple of days to help us with orientation – where to get baguettes, where the local brasserie is, and locating all the handyman (brico) and the supermarkets. Settling into Helen and Pierre’s new house in Argenton was great as well. It’s a 5 storey place set on the upside and at the bend of the Creuse river that winds its way through the town, hence the name Argenton-sur-Creuse. The house dates from the 1920’s, is solid but is need of some dedicated care as its been let go for some time with little maintenance. So over the next couple of days we intend to work through a list of jobs for us to do when Helen and Pierre return to Australia for the olive season in Beechworth. Nothing too dramatic - a spot of painting, some garden edging including a small retainer wall and some general gardening. After all the travel in Asia its funny how such chores bring a semblance of normality to Gina, Elle and I. The weather did make the outdoor jobs a fair challenge. The first couple of days in France were delightful and what I had imagined spring in Europe would be. However after that its been nothing but cold and rain.

The first thing I recall that made me aware that we were in France occurred the day of our arrival at the house. I sauntered into the kitchen and was assaulted bya very strong odour. I thought that tiredness had made one of us lose control of our bodily functions but I turned and noticed that the fridge door was open and that the smell was emanting from there. Instantly I realised that the smell was coming from the collection of very ripe cheeses that Pierre had assembled for our arrival. Something we hadn't seen or tasted these past 6 weeks. And so began our descent into meals always accopanied by fromage and baguette. Oh the goodness, oh the weight gain!

The town of Argenton-sur-Creuse that we are based in is small. Geographically the town is only a couple of hours south of Paris but the four thousand odd locals live a world away from the hub-bub of Parisian society. There are only a few eating and drinking choices in town, the locals choosing instead to stay at home. Ellen jokes about how dead the whole town is in the evenings particularly when the houses have all their shutters closed well before the dark of night. Those locals who do venture out head to a couple of places clustered around the town square, including the popular Café de la Place run by our neighbour Isabel. It turns out to be the only local place where we can get wifi access, so we end up being regulars. Despite this it is hard for us to break through the reserve of the locals, and each time we pop in we are greeted as if it were the first time we’d been there. At least it has saved us from the 25km dash to Mcdonalds in Chateauroux.

So our first 2 weeks in France are consumed mainly by the jobs around the house and small trips out to the countryside. After about 4 days Helen and Pierre leave, returning to Australia with the good weather we’d been having. From then on its been nothing but cold and wet days. We break the miserable weather with a couple of excursions out of Argenton. On Easter Monday we accompany family friend Mick out to the Loire valley to visit the chateaus of Valencay and Chenonceaux. The chateaux are magnificent but being Easter Monday they are totally overrun by tourists and it hard going getting around to see much of the inside. Mick and his wife Sue have recently purchased a house in the nearby village of Prissac and he is here on his own to do some work on the property. As Mick is on his own we have a few meals and discover a little about expat life in rural France. In particular that there is a large group of English living in rural France.

A couple of days later we take a drive out to the Chateau de Palluau-sur Indre. We'd noticed the town of Palluau-sur-Indre on our previous trip, in particular the striking castle that takes prominence on the hill above the town. After purchasing our tickets from an Irish lady working at the entrance, we were given a guided tour by the owner himself, the Comte de Frontenac. Of all the chateau we had seen and were to see this is one unique place. The Comte guided us through his chateau. It is currently undergoing a refurb of the quarters that the family live in and only a small part of the building is still dedicated to displaying the historical. The Chateau has a rich history dating back to the 11th century including a siege that had Richard the Lion Heart holed up in the castle until those laying siege managed to entered the castle through the well. To me the most outstanding feature of the chateau is the small chapel in the chateau. It also dates back to the 11th century and has stunningly well-preserved frescoes including something I'd never seen before, the circumcision of Christ. These are all the nice historical things but what the Comte was most proud of was the link between the chateau and Quebec. One of the Comte's predecessors was the first Governor of Quebec and so to celebrate the link, the grounds of the chateau are being transformed into a theme park, complete with mohican indians, teepees and grizzly animals. On the way in we had noticed what looked like large plastic bears. It turned out that these were the first shipment of the animals and the staff were busily assembling them so that they would be placed out in the grounds in time for a grand opening in the summer tourist season. The Comte has identified a very unique niche market out there. http://www.palluau-frontenac.com/ In the days and weeks to come we would start noticing signs all over shop windows and bus stop shelters advertising the Chateau de Palluau Frontenac in particular "Le Parc". The french really can be a tacky lot.

Ellen and I rounded off our first two weeks in France with a trip up to Chatearoux to watch the local football team - L'Berrichone - take on rivals Arles in the Ligue 2 championship. But for the fact that it was zero degrees and that the locals went down in the last minute of the game, we had a pleasant time. Being a country club, the stands were full of families especially dads taking their young sons along to the game. We sat with a bunch of pensioners that were long time supporters. At key times of the game they would throw bags of torn up newspaper into the air like it was confetti and had a couple of very loud air horns that they let off quite regularly. What a hoot.

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Photos

Interesting wallpaper
Wallpaper from one of the rooms awaiting refurb - look very closely at the background.