12th Century Castle....Yes Please!

Check the scene. It's freezing cold, the wind is blowing. The sheep are huddled up together just trying to stay warm, even through their excessive layers of wool the cold still bites. As a new gust comes through you hold tight to your clothes and try to keep warm. You walk through the winding path trying to climb to the top of the hill where the castle stands. As you make your way up, your a little more tired and a little more cold. You get to the castle door and try to get in. The door's are shut. It's solid, not budging. The gates built into the stone walls and the metal could be hacked away for years before you could get in. All of a sudden I can't tell if I'm in the 12th century or the 21st.

The Chateau Galliard is legit. We have this place to ourselves. There is no one even close to us. It's nuts! Your looking at these walls that have passed the test of time and are still standing. You can see how structurally sound it is and how well designed it was. It's daunting when looking up from the valley next to the river. We check out all the neat archery holes, places to drop burning oil and begin reliving history. I try to invision living inside this walls, because it's dam cold (thankfully for me I have a little Calvados in me, which I regreted at first, but I'll get to that in a minute) It's amazing thinking that these are the same walls people looked at when they depended on them for life, when they wanted to conquer them to gain a foothold in a French/English war, when they took them over as a gang fortress. It's nuts thinking about it.

We play around for a while, scalling the walls, pretending to be archers. Figuring out how they sucessfully conquered the castle. The sights are breathtaking. I could only capture it with my Iphone camera. Check out the pics here http://picasaweb.google.com/mrhodes61/ChateauGalliard#slideshow (It might be a little blurry at first, you can press pause and give it a second or just check the pictures at the other one below.)

http://picasaweb.google.com/mrhodes61/ChateauGalliard#



This is just a view from within the castle walls. It is really gorgeous and the way the sun hit was just perfect. You can see the entire countryside from the top of the hills. It would have been neat to go back in time and just see how the people had to live, with out all modern luxuries. No deodorant, toliet paper, running water, heat, fridgerators, etc. I can't imagine how tough it was on them. No wonder they didn't live as long as we do today. It just makes me think what future generations will say about us.








Chateau de La Roche - Guyon : the castle used for General Rommel in the first World War.

It was neat. Before the castle, we saw another castle that general Rommel used during the World War. There are pictures in there as well. It was built into the ancient walls below a stronghold from the old times. The history of this country is so cool. I wasn't a huge history buff, until it's thrown straight in your face. History is pretty cool.

At the beginning of the day we drove through the French countryside to coach's house in Normandy. I seriously thought I was driving through Texas to Grandma's house for a second. Then the rolling hills came. It is beautiful to see. Little villages pop up in the valleys of each hillside, next to little rivers and whatever resources available. Coach tells us a little bit about each village having it's own church, but that France is not a religious country, he says only the old people go to church. We then get to his house.

It is quaint and for me, I think the best way to experience France. The house's are built with solid rock. Coach's dad even inquires why American's build houses with wood, that just get torn up by the tornados! :) Smart old man. He is a roofer. Coach's mom is a cat rescuer. She takes street cats/ abandoned cats etc. and then rehabs them and gives them to good families. There was one that was particularly in love with me. Everywhere I went she followed. There was also another cat that was huge. We are talking barely walk huge. Life is obviously hard for them here.

After the meal, I realized why the cat's were so big!! It's awesome. First we have snacks, little flavored cheese's, different bite size sausages, cashews, and some fruit mix. She brings us a bottle of wine to drink before dinner. The appetizer is scallops and mushrooms in a delicious cream sauce. The sauce is so good I sop up all of it with the traditional baggette. I ask for more sauce and kill it too. We have a white wine with that. Then she brings out the whole potatoes with a different kind of mushroom and they are delicious and fresh out of the oven/stove (I couldn't tell) I have to breath in air as a potatoe sits in my mouth to keep from burning myself. I guess I was over anxious. She then brings out the beef and it is some of the best quality beef I've had. There is no fat to be found at all. A little different from the states. Coach says it's because of the way the cows are raised in France. The jus on top is the best! We then have a traditional assortment of cheeses.

There are 4 different kinds. I like 3. The goats cheese, the cheese with pepper, and another strong cheese. But the one that starts with a "C" is WAY TO STRONG. I say no thanks. For dessert we have a chocolate mousse. It is good. I don't want to take to much of the cheese of dessert because I feel I am getting a little stuffed up and don't want any more congestion. This sit's perfect with coach because he loves dessert. He sucks down the chocolate faster then a college kid drinking from a funnel. It's also easy to see where he gets it from. As soon as we say we are finished, Pops (coachs dad) grabs the bowl and basically licks the bowl dry. As we were talking about my cough and congestion, it is said that i need to try Calvados. *let me tell you now what calvados is. Think strong everclear with made from an Apple, so it tastes like Apple Cider, but burns like gas* I start drinking in and lets just say I now have hair on my chest. I literally start sweating after 10 mins. This stuff is intense. Coach's mom sets some on fire in a pot and it's literally a 3-4 foot high flame that burns for what seems like forever. I then remember that's in my stomach. WOW. It feels good when we walk outside into the freezing cold though.

I'm warm and take off my jacket, just to cool down a bit. At first I thought this was stupid, but while we were on the cliff where Chateau Galliard sits, I am glad it's in me. I stay warm. I love French meals. They were so good!!!