Stranded in Montargis!

While we continue to sit in Montargis we haven't wasted any time.  Having a car has allowed us to venture out and continue exploring the area around us.

This month is Gatronomie dans le Montargois.  Many of the restaurants have price fixed meals that include wine.  Our first restaurant was Oh Terroir recommended by a couple of people.  Tom loved his meal.  I was less than impressed.  Presentation was beautiful but my salmon wrapped in phyllo was tired.  Here they placed a piece of foie gras mason on top of a piece of waffle. An interesting concept though not completely successful in my mind.  Wine was served with every course.  Again, not worth the calories.  I would have rather ordered a bottle of good wine and spent a little more.  Tonight we try another recommendation.

We continued to explore the Chateaux in the surrounding areas.

Here you see Chateau de la Ferte Saint-Aubin.  It is currently lived in by its eight family.  The current owners bought this castle in very poor condition in 1987.  The building you see on the right had a devastating fire destroying the roof and interior before the new owners took over.  The owners Catherine and Jacques Guyot must have had a tremendous amount of money when they purchased their present home.  I'd love to know their background as they were quite young when they acquired it.  They have furnished 10 rooms thus far for guests to view.  On the left the stables have been restored.  There is a beautiful saddle room with one of the finest collections of harnesses in France.  Some of the harnesses on display were designed by the renowned Parisian saddle-maker Hermes.

Here in the restored stables guests can practice their skill in archery.  Tom did better than me.

The classroom

 The park covers 80 acres and the chateau is listed as a historic building.  You can see the Chapel Island  behind the trees.  Because it is unsafe guests are not allowed to visit.

What you can see are the stables, guardroom or games room, the castle attic with an amazing collection of old tools, the entrance hall, sitting room, billiard room, some bedrooms, dining room, and areas that give you an idea of the magnitude of the project the owners have undertaken as well as progress made to date.

We needed to do something besides visit Chaetaux even though they are all unique and interesting.  Tom wanted to visit the town Orleans.  It is a fully renovated old town with a preserved pedestrianized medieval area where we can see colorful wooden buildings and other excellent examples of old construction.  My first reaction was "Oh Good, antique shops!"  The tourism office informed me they had no antique shops any longer in town.  They had all closed.  Tom thought he lucked out.  He hates shopping and wanted to spend his time enjoying the atmosphere of this old town.

St Joan of Arc is the heroine who saved Orleans on May 8, 1492.  She is considered a very important person and is honored with a chapel dedicated just to her.

This is the street leading to the Holy Cross Cathedral, Orleans.  Truly breathtaking!  This picture doesn't do justice to the immense size of the cathedral.  The stained glass windows I found quite unusual.  There are ten stained glass scenes portraying the main episodes in the life of Joan of Arc.  Other windows are dedicated to the history of the city and its cathedral.

I was excited to walk around the back of the cathedral and find what I thought was a Jewish synagogue.  Unfortunately this facade is all that is left with no explanation as to its history.

When we came to the pedestrian area I wanted to go left down to the end of the street rather than start in the middle.  I didn't want to miss anything of this charming town. I scored!  I found an antique shop! It was open!  I now have my secretary, a place to store my things, my own place to work.  Purchasing this piece was challenging.  The owner didn't speak any English.  Our French certainly didn't meet the needs of the day.  The owner talked up a storm extolling the merits of the piece I liked.  He spoke rapidly.  We just nodded a lot.  We asked the price…we left!  We returned. We bargained.  We drove away.  I called with my final price.  He returned my call and wanted cash.  Deal!  The next day we drove over an hour back to Orleans to pick up my new desk.  He didn't have two working keys.  Could we come back next week?  Another 2 1/2 hours of driving?  Not likely.  With great effort over an hours time he made a key from another piece fit.  Antique de la Prefecture.  The owner is David.  It was a tiny shop and every piece in it was beautiful, but overpriced.  We drove a hard bargain.  David is very nice.

I believe I mentioned last year that the French are passionate about their fishing.  We see all ages, shapes and sizes fishing, no matter what the weather.  The prize went to a man with 8 fishing poles in the canal at once.  They all have their own style of fishing.  We had never seen this before: a space reserved for handicapped fishermen.

This is my last painting for the season.  It was hard to photograph because of the glare so I'm afraid a lot of detail is missing.  At least you can get the idea.  I can't wait for it to dry so I can stitch it.