The curious French and the odd looking family

We made it!  We are alive!  We survived the drive from Paris to the Loire!  The French sure are crazy drivers...plus it doesn't help that the driver, a certain Mr Bok, has a very Irish sense of direction.  Cough cough.  Ahem!  Our first 'disagreement' this holiday - driving on the other side of the road, lack of road signs that make any sense,  actually lack of road signs at all! - coupled with 'Go left!' 'I said left, not the right-left!' arghhhhhhh and all this before we'd even made it out of Paris  :)  So the journey took us a little longer than we anticipated but it is so gorgeous out here...

I was very sad to close the door for the last time on our little Parisian apartment, I actually miss it tonight!  but it was quite wonderful to drive through tiny villages on the way to our little hamlet.

We sped (quickly!) (and too close to trucks and cars on my side seeing as Mr Bok kept swerving to the right not being used to being seated on the left) past jeweled fields of emerald green - I think corn?  but with very dark leaves? - and squares of golden wheat.  Dense fields of green dotted with nodding sunflower heads...I wish we'd been able to stop so that I could take a photo!  I did manage to snap a pic of a wind turbine as we went past on the A10, they were everywhere...

We were stuck on one French radio station which was lovely until it started playing Pink's 'You are perfect' song uncensored which soon had Miss Bok in the back of the car singing along 'you are perfect, f***ing perfect, to me...' and you know I honestly don't think she knew what she was singing!

We drove through many charming villages and came to the tiny hamlet of Le Port and an even tinier one within it, St Georges Sur Cher...navigated through tiny alleys until we came to our farmhouse.  A rather run down, old, rustic but also very charming Madame who I'm sure is glad for the company.  Agnes the caretaker met us there to let us in, the farmhouse is very old I must find out exactly how old - and is very large and rambling.  It backs onto the River Cher.  The path along the river is traversed by the locals and leads right up past Chenonceau chateaux:

Garden gate leading out to the river

Lots of flowers bloom in the garden

An old apple tree stands in the back garden, laden boughs framing the back gate

 

The gorgeous River Cher right outside our back gate

 

The path behind the house running alongside the River Cher 

 Our car has swiss numberplates! Here it is parked outside the backgate

The River Cher looking either way up the river - how gorgeous and peaceful it is.

 

 

 

These ladies below and the men in front stopped by us and had a good stare, a smile, a 'bon soir madame' and on they went continuing with the stroll they must do every night...you know everywhere we venture in this part of the world, we get lots of very curious stares.  Myself and the children anyway.  I guess they aren't many mixed race children here?  Mr Bok being Irish and me being of Malaysian-Chinese descent (although I grew up in the UK and then moved to Australia) must be an odd combination that sleepy little hamlets like this one do not see very often.

 

 

Vegetables growing in every garden

Here are more pictures of the farmhouse:

 

 

  It's huge! 

 

 

  

After we settled in, we went for a wander through Montrichard and then headed to Chenonceau for dinner after discovering that the farmhouse stove doesn't work too well

 

Montrichard 

 

This French lady was also most curious to have a look at us  :)  But she smiled and was sweet.  The lady in the fruit shop also stopped to speak with us and gave the children a little bag of apricots.  

 

 

Chenonceau was a lovely village to have dinner in.  We will return to the castle another day.

 

Village of Chenonceau

 

  

Well, night is falling on 'our' river.  Good night everyone!  Sweet dreams!