Fontenoy-Le-Chateau, Hautmougey, Lorraine, Epinal, France

Fontenoy-le Chatau

It’s always exciting when we tie up in a new location and hear there is a chateau for us to explore.  While exploring Fontenoy-le-Chateau we learned that this was the first paved town in Lorraine in the middle of the XVI century.  They are claiming that it is certainly the last paved town.  At the beginning of the XX century the sandstone paving stones in the main road were completely replaced by granite paving stones.  We’ve seen paving stones being replaced.  It’s a long tedious process as each heavy stone is placed by hand.  Once all the stones are in place the space between the stones are filled with sand.

A piece of the ruins left of the Chateau.

View from Fontenoy-le-Chateau looking down on the town.

In the town of Fontenoy-Le-Chateau 

,Anyone can have a boat with a little ingenuity, some creativity, and a few inexpensive materials.

Someone's cheerfully painted yacht.

We knew we wanted to explore Epinol but it was an extremely warm day.  Our first order of business was to find a place to eat...without having made reservations.  Fortunately TripAdvisor came to our rescue.  We had a phenomenal meal at the restaurant In Extrimis.  I must show every course we had so you can see that our feast fed all our senses.  Since lunch there we have tried repeatedly to make reservations for dinner.  It is such a tiny restaurant that it's been booked every single time we have been remotely close to the town.  Fortunately, we have succeeded in making reservations for the first week in October.  We are looking forward to sharing the experience with friends who will be joining us.

Amuse Bouche which was perfect for a hot day

Appetizer with Tomato, shrimp, basil...Beautiful and delicious!

I had the seafood plate.

Tom had the filet mignon with black bean puree.

My dessert had lemon and so much more.

Tom had the chocolate dessert.

Epinal

At the entrance to the ruins.

View from one side of the chateau looking across what was once probably a bridge.

Entering the remains.

Inside the ruins.

While we walked around the ruins of Epinol we had a view of the surrounding area.  It was interesting viewing the contrast between old construction and the new construction currently taking place.

We have no idea why these guys were dressed like animals.  Considering the heat and humidity I felt sorry for them.  Birthday party?  Or promoting a cause?

The weather was humid for a while, but it didn’t prepare me for the tropical flora and fauna we found on our walks.

Miles of these pink flowers that look like miniature orchids.  I'd love to know what these flowers actually are.

Ferns also lined the canal.

The scenery as we walked along the canal was lovely.  With the miniature orchid looking flowers, ferns and a river running along the tow path we could have been in so many different places in the world.  But here we are in France.

It's great when we find a little restaurant and I get a night off from cooking. At a curve in the road near where we were tied up we saw Auberge du Coney in Hautmougey.   The first night we wanted to eat there they were completely booked.  How is that possible when the town of Hautmougey has a population of 158 people.  They must be the only decent food for miles.  We got in the next night and had a nice dinner.

Pizza with scallops.

Pork, beef and lamb.  The pork was amazing.

Besides the beautiful scenery and quaint villages, we get to see the industrial side of France.  The canals for centuries have provided a means of transporting goods around the country.  We see factories still in operation or left to decay.

Not all our scenery is beautiful.  

Some of the buildings we see are more interesting than others.

Reflection of clouds in the water.