"I Know What You're Going To Say" - France Sept 2019 - Update 12/13 RunDisney 10K

[2xcited2sleep]

Your hotel rooms have been stunning and very spacious for Europe. Very impressive! I am so annoyed on your behalf at this late couple. What is the matter with people? It's one thing if something is beyond your control and you're apologetic. But to be that entitled to just assume the timeline doesn't apply to you and that everyone else is happy to accommodate you is beyond obnoxious.

 

[Mom2m&k]

Loving your trip so far! I’m glad you are trying to keep a sense of humor about that coupe! You’re pictures are amazing and the food looks wonderful. We were in Mersaille in July and the macarons we had were awful...yours look much better!

 

[kastoney]

Wow, just wow, everything looks amazing so far. I've never really had an interest in France but how you all are doing it certainly seems to be a good way to experience everything without much of any planning needed on your part. Can't wait to hear about the rest and see how many more days your favorite couple lasts

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Your hotel rooms have been stunning and very spacious for Europe. Very impressive! I am so annoyed on your behalf at this late couple. What is the matter with people? It's one thing if something is beyond your control and you're apologetic. But to be that entitled to just assume the timeline doesn't apply to you and that everyone else is happy to accommodate you is beyond obnoxious.

They have been lovely! The smallest room we had was actually the hotel with the famous people in it but our current hotel is probably the largest we've had and its in the middle of Paris!

What's the matter? They just don't frankly care. I need to make sure on our comment cards I mention how their sense of entitlement affected others on the trips in more ways than one but I'm not gonna dwell on that too much. They aren't a fan that our tour director isn't catering to every whim and bending over backwards for them but really? If you want that level of service - get a private tour and don't group travel. Unfortunately, they live in our town so who knows if I'll run into them again but chances are, we don't frequent the same places.

Loving your trip so far! I’m glad you are trying to keep a sense of humor about that coupe! You’re pictures are amazing and the food looks wonderful. We were in Mersaille in July and the macarons we had were awful...yours look much better!

Gotta keep the humor or else you would go crazy! We've had good and bad macarons this trip so I feel you. How was Mersaille? We want to go to southern France but I think we may arrange that on our own after my husband passes all his tests at work so that he can get hosted by all the wineries.

Wow, just wow, everything looks amazing so far. I've never really had an interest in France but how you all are doing it certainly seems to be a good way to experience everything without much of any planning needed on your part. Can't wait to hear about the rest and see how many more days your favorite couple lasts

It has been! We're doing things on this trip I never thought I would care about but its interesting and a great variety. My favorite parts probably will be different than others but my interests are weird. I love how Tauck handles the arrangements and we still get to do tons of stuff. There is some on our own time which is perfectly fine with us as we figure things out to do.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Hosted by a Baron & Hunting Hound “Demonstration”

We should have left at 6:30pm but you-know-who were a few minutes late again so conversation happened about times again.

We headed over to Chateau de Champchevrier which was about a 30 minute drive. Upon arrival we were greeted by the baron, his son & daughter-in-law along with their two boys who were dressed as knights. We were given a glass of champagne and some passed appetizers while the baron spoke to us all.

We then began the Hunting Hound Demonstration which was basically a march of the French/English hounds to a Stag Skin and then the skin was removed and their food was underneath. There were French Horn players showing off the different songs which mean different things during a formal hunt. We then got to watch the hounds eat and then it turned into some dogs misbehaving and peeing on each other. I was actually kinda disappointed in this as I thought we would see how they interacted to the music or go out to the fields, etc. The hounds are gorgeous though.

We then were led inside the house where we toured some of their first floor. After I took one photo, we were asked not to take photos for ‘insurance purposes’ so here’s my illegal picture:

Their home hosted two Kings before the French Revolution but they didn’t have too many problems during the Revolution or the World Wars there somehow.

We then were led to the dining room for dinner. It was a set three course menu. The chicken was pretty decent as was the dessert. The salad was just ok but I’m not a raw tomato fan.

After dinner, we saw the original kitchens before we headed to the bus where headed back to the hotel for the night. This is where I rearranged our luggage so we were no longer mixed up between the two. During the bus ride back I had asked our tour guide where would have best laundry and was told none of the hotels have guest laundry available so we would need to pay to send stuff out or do it ourselves in the sink. Guess what I did that evening with our unmentionables or my husband’s running clothes.

 

[tammy]

Incredible!! You are bringing back so many wonderful memories. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful trip with us!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Incredible!! You are bringing back so many wonderful memories. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful trip with us!

Thank you for reading along with my adventures! This trip has been full of great memories and seeing things I never thought I would!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Chateau de Langeais

We woke up this morning sometime around 7:30AM and got ready for the day. We went downstairs for breakfast where I had some french bread, granola and prosciutto. You know, all parts of a good breakfast.

Our bus was to depart at 9:15AM to head into Langeais to visit their Chateau and then have some free time in the market.

Chateau Langeais was originally built in the late 900s AD but the Hundred Years War destroyed a good portion of it. It was rebuilt in the late 1400s by Louis XI. It was in the great hall here that Anne of Brittany was secretly married to King Charles VIII in 1491 at the age of 14 which eventually helped unite Brittany/France even though she was married to someone else at the time but as it was by proxy - no one seemed to care...the flooring of the Chateau included the two symbols of France & Brittany to show this uniting.

Our first stop in town was to the wine store. We knew they had a wine tasting at the local wine store so we stopped by there first. We figured it would cost some money but it was actually free and the wines in the shop were reasonably priced (5.90 to 14 Euros) The cashier also gave us our tasting glasses for free which were great...until our hotel a couple nights later took them from our room...

Wine Buys

We wandered the market where they sold everything from mattresses to live chickens to belts. It was fun to walk through. Towards the end, we headed to a pastry shop where I picked up a mocha puff pastry that was lovely! We shared this as a small snack.

Market Chicken

Puff Pastry​

 

[tammy]

Fabulous!!

 

[Karin1984]

You really are on an amazing trip! Loving it!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Fabulous!!

It was!

You really are on an amazing trip! Loving it!

Once in a lifetime for sure! We have never felt this relaxed before. Happy to be heading to Disneyland Paris in a few hours and work on burning off all the food and drink we've been having.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Le Moulin Blue Winery

We loaded back onto the bus to head to the one winery we would visit during the trip. It was on the higher side of the Loire Valley. Once we arrived at Le Moulin Blue, our host greeted us and we headed out to the vineyards to talk about the wine making process and the grapes. To be part of the AOC (France’s Wine Certification Body), you cannot water your grapes or use pesticides as it should be a natural production. They use nettles around the edge of the vineyard to help with pests along with rose bushes to see if there will be damage to the fruit. The grapes were about two weeks before the picking would occur. The Moulin here dated from the 14th century and thus is a National Historical Building due to its age. It’s no longer functional but how many windmills that old would be?

Moulin

Winery Cat

Vineyard

Cabernet Franc

We got to try some of the Cabernet Franc grapes during this discussion.

We then were led to the courtyard where we got to try the Rose they make along with eat some cheese and puff pastries. I really enjoy their rose! I think I ended up with 4 glasses of it.

Rose with Cheese & Puffs

After our initial tasting, we went inside their restaurant to have our three course lunch and each course would be paired with a wine. We both enjoyed our chicken with the pate inside. My husband wasn’t a fan of his beef but I was surprised by how well the red wine sauce went with my salmon. Dessert was fine as well. Probably one of the weaker meals of the trip but still better than what we would be having at home.

Chicken

Salmon with Red Wine Sauce

Braised Beef

Cheese Plate

Apple Tart

Cookies​

 

[Karin1984]

Once in a lifetime for sure! We have never felt this relaxed before. Happy to be heading to Disneyland Paris in a few hours and work on burning off all the food and drink we've been having.

I'm on my way now, should be there in an hour or so. I'm in a Facebook group for the Dutch runners, and most of us are arriving today by the looks of it. So I am going to assume long(er) lines at check in).

 

[tammy]

Another fabulous update. This trip has been such a joy to follow, well, all of your reports are a joy I can't wait for the Disneyland part.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I'm on my way now, should be there in an hour or so. I'm in a Facebook group for the Dutch runners, and most of us are arriving today by the looks of it. So I am going to assume long(er) lines at check in).

I was shocked at how easy check in was when we arrived at 2:15PM & our room was ready even! The crowds were way different Friday to Today as well!

Another fabulous update. This trip has been such a joy to follow, well, all of your reports are a joy I can't wait for the Disneyland part.

Thanks! It will be a bit for Disneyland to come up but I'll try to keep it updated regularly once I get home! I'm glad I at least started while we on the trip as it means less to write later!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Chateau Villandry

After we left the winery, we traveled to Chateau Villandry. Chateau Villandry is located where an ancient fortress known as Columbine was located but in the 17th century, a new chateau was built in the 14th century style. It was confiscated during the French revolution before Napoleon gave it to his brother. In the early 1900s, Joaquin Carvallo acquired it (most likely with the help of the money from his wife’s business - the Coleman company in the US. He created the lovely gardens the Chateau is known for.

We started our journey in the house where we kinda felt like it was Chateau overload at this point of the trip. We ended up being more interested by the little things in the house like their fountain in the kitchen, the disturbing art work or their bathtub.

We walked the gardens and enjoyed the rose garden, children garden and the labyrinth.

We headed back to the bus for our assigned meeting time. It won’t shock you who was initially late at all - to the point that the guide had to run back into Villandry and attempt to find them as they were making us way late. (There are issues with working hours for our bus driver and it would be cutting it close) We made it back in time for there not to be an issue at least.​

 

[Mom2m&k]

Good gracious those people!
The village and shopping sounded fantastic!
I’m not a great one to ask about Marseille as I didn’t love it. Frankly other then the color of the water I didn’t really find it remarkable. The architecture didn’t compare to what we saw in other stops and our tour guide was terrible. I wished I had just stayed on the ship and gazed at the sea! Haha

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I am just in awe of your trip. Everything looks and sounds so amazing. Those hounds are right out of the Impressions de France movie in Epcot! I forget if I already asked this - if I did, apologies - do you guys speak French? And if not was it ever an issue in your free time away from the group? That couple... what the heck?? I can't decide if I hope you do or don't run into them when you get home!

 

[franandaj]

I'm commenting on each update as I read. I didn't expect you to do this TR live! I'm glad you got meals on your flight, just too bad they weren't that good.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Good gracious those people!
The village and shopping sounded fantastic!
I’m not a great one to ask about Marseille as I didn’t love it. Frankly other then the color of the water I didn’t really find it remarkable. The architecture didn’t compare to what we saw in other stops and our tour guide was terrible. I wished I had just stayed on the ship and gazed at the sea! Haha

Oh, I'm just getting started with those people. It didn't take away from the trip but it made it to the point I commented on them during our tour evaluation form we are given on the end of the trip as frankly, they aren't suited for this type of group travel. They should work with a private tour operator as they wanted so much catered to them.

Not every city is going to be amazing - we had a couple places we visited that we were like, eh. Tour guides also don't help when the stop is meh! The Med is beautiful to look at!

I am just in awe of your trip. Everything looks and sounds so amazing. Those hounds are right out of the Impressions de France movie in Epcot! I forget if I already asked this - if I did, apologies - do you guys speak French? And if not was it ever an issue in your free time away from the group? That couple... what the heck?? I can't decide if I hope you do or don't run into them when you get home!

Thank you! Home now and I know this will be trip to remember. Now its back to cheap meals and such to help pay for it all. We do not speak French outside of a few basic phrases but we didn't have too many issues other than 3 times but 2 of those were fine (one of our dinners on our own and another time we were doing an activity on our own) - another I just put it up to them being really rude (When we were in line for Pirates - a person behind me kept hitting my back even after I tried to move away as much as you can in a line queue - my husband got mad for me too and said something and they just started commenting in French that we were rude English speakers)

I'm commenting on each update as I read. I didn't expect you to do this TR live! I'm glad you got meals on your flight, just too bad they weren't that good.

Well, semi-live. We had some downtime on various days so figured I might as well be useful as 19 days is going to take a long time to get through. It's airplane food so at least it was given. I don't expect amazing food.