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The man with the goatee beard whose job it was to confirm that the hotel complied with all the required standards, could have been my cousin's doppelganger. He was of similar stocky build with thick muscled upper arms, the same close set eyes and same shaped nose...
"Now look here will you Mr Epswort," instructed Captain Gilbert, the Fire and Safety Officer, on one of his many visits to the chateau, "this window is too narrow."
We were on the third floor in a room which I hoped would one day become known as Bedroom 8 but was...
If you live in the country and in a large chateau set in 25 acres of woods and water you have to have a dog, or two.
Claudette wanted a Westy, since the day I found one, a plucky loner called Lucy, in a Kensington street. I brought her home for...
We kept hearing about the Guerre de Vendee, first from our notaire Claude and secondly from Jean, the count. He had told us of his Admiral’s part and of his horrific death as a result of his imprisonment..
I now know much about the war and of its horrors. Even so...
"Now where was I?" said Jean. "But of course. My Admiral. By now he was a very old war horse, damaged and far too weak though you can imagine how much he wanted to get in there and sort out that bunch of sans culottes. But unfortunately the Royalist foundered...
Bernard’s pre-interview briefing had included some additional information. He told us that Jean, the Count, his father, and his grandfather, had held the position of Mayor of the village consecutively for 112 years. And during that time, over all those years, the celebrate of Bastille Day had been totally forbidden.
Remembering...
Bernard, the estate agent, phoned us a few days later with a message, an order, some advice, and a little historical detail. For an estate agent who had done the deal, and had already cashed his cheque, this was distinctly uncustomary, though welcoming, behaviour.
"Joseph? Bernard on the machine,” he...
The chateau Claude had found us was called Le Boisniard, meaning the Heir‘s Nest.
It was situated outside the village of Chambretaud some 375 kms south-west of Paris on Longitude 2°. This it shares with, in a northerly direction, Bayeaux, Bognor Regis, Lincoln, the Shetland Isles and the Antarctic. To the...
The next day, with Bernard, for that was the agent’s name, as our guide, we crossed the extremely picturesque marais, wet lands drained by tree-lined canals, where cattle are still taken to market on punts.
This was the Vendee.
"What's the weather like here, Bernard?" I asked.
"This is the best. Le Vendee...
The Way took us over endless flat land. The pilgrims must have got a bit bored at this with nothing to see and nothing to look forward to. The land being so flat meant there was little chance of a good fight, with brigands and cut throats, as any ambush...
