Back to France...again.

o l d  b o a t  i n  t h e  M a r n e


Thank you so much to 
all who wrote encouragement on my last post.  I think your "favorite blogger" has agreed to help me with her words, but we'll not say more about that until later...:)

I think right now you all would like to see some more pix of our November trip to France, right?  Okay, let's start with the first town we traveled to, Senlis, just an hour north of Paris.

Here are the two photo enthusiasts who traveled with us, and have become our great friends.  They are named Marie and Christine, just like the name of a shop in town!  

Senlis is a medieval town






If you remember , we went to Senlis also 
in July , and I fell in love with this little antique boutique, but lost the name. 

 Well, this time I didn't lose the card.  The brocante de charme is called       

Le Clos Eglantine

and it is owned by
Nadia Hallers

Couldn't you just do some credit card damage in here?

All of the furniture is vintage or antique,but has been painted in the loveliest shade of Paris grey. 

 I shared a few ideas about chalk paint with the owner.  She may carry the paint someday. If you're ever in Senlis, it is at

 1 rue de Beauvais, 
right as you enter the town.

We had a lovely lunch at a tearoom across the street,

shopped for cheese

spent some time in the cathedral, 

then headed to our petite château in the Champagne region


Le Château de la Marjolaine

there was a beautiful little chapel on the grounds

and a romantic gate leading to 

 a peaceful promenade along the river Marne...

before dinner in our own private dining room!
And what a remarkable dinner it was, served and prepared by jean Pierre and Bruno!!!

Tomorrow we'll move on to Versaille!
But now it's time to go and watch "Downton Abbey!"

A bientôt, mes amies,

dawne

Back to France...where was I..?

G e r b e r o y

A  S t o r y b o o k   V i l l a g e  i n   F r a n c e   

...Oh, right...I was going to tell you about the rest of the trip.  It wasn't all Châteaux and Chandeliers, but it was all magical, just the same.

We picked up our rental car upon landing at CDG, and drove 30 minutes north up to the medieval town of Senlis [you pronounce the last "s"], the pretty town where over 100 movies have been filmed. Maybe I was delirious from jet lag, but I really forgot what century I was in. What an atmospheric place!  It rained while were there, and we all loved that.  It truly added to the romance of the cobblestone streets, the market in the town square, the majesty of the beautiful old cathedral.

t h e   b r o t h e r s

And in addition to all the cultural and romantic beauty, there was also this most wonderful antique boutique...

Look at those zinc garlands!  I could have fit them in my suitcase!!!! [ Slaps forehead.]  Well, we are planning to go back to this town in November, and maybe they'll be there then.  And maybe I will find out the name of this sweet shop.  Because, although I took a business card from the charming owner, I gave it to my darling husband to hold, and he put it in his jacket pocket.  Then proceeded to lose his jacket at our dinner restaurant. And the card.  So if the charming owner ever sees this post, [ and I gave her the name of this blog] I hope she will get in touch with me and tell me the name and address!!!!!

After lunch in Beauvais, we headed deeper in the lush Picardie countryside to arrive at the Storybook village of Gerberoy. I gave you a link to Gerberoy in a previous post, but I had only read about it then.  I had no idea that it would be such an enchanting place...

                                                 A village festooned in flowers...

and filled with the sweetest cottages...

Hollyhocks and Cobblestone lanes...

I could live here...

This is the most iconic house in the village, and it was right opposite the window of our cozy B&B,Le Logis de Gerberoy owned by Cécile et Olivier Gréboval

This is part of the gardens of Henri Le Sidaner






And this is the ruined chateau which he bought in 1900 and eventually turned into a dreamy garden filled with roses. Every year the entire town hosts a Rose Festival in honor of him and these roses.  I edited this shot below to make the opening photo to this post, because I felt like I was truly in a fairytale.

Despite our luxurious bed and comfortable room, I was too wired to sleep.  Couldn't get over this view, so I hung out the window for quite a while...

What is it with French houses that they don't need screens? Here at home I have moths beating themselves senseless on my screens all the while I'm reading in bed.  Don't they have bugs in France?  Don't a few bats want to get in bed with you?  I pondered these deep questions for quite some time, and soon it was morning...


After a wonderful walk in the woods...

And the most delicious French breakfast of freshly baked,flakey croissants, homemade confiture, and cafe au lait served to us by our sweet host, Cecile[we all loved her]...

...we were ready to head out to Honfleur and la Mer!






Je reviendrai bientôt, doux amis,


dawne