Le Cheval Rouge hotel

The Cheval Rouge (red horse) hotel is a nice quiet, safe little spot tucked away in a corner of one of the main squares. We found it thanks to Rick Steves' book. It is a former stable and carriage house and is probably pretty old. Margaret and I stayed in one of the larger rooms and now that she has gone home : ( I decided to stay on here for a few days.
Our room looked like this



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Now I have a smaller less expensive room for one person. Here is my video tour.



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Location:Versailles

Le food

The food in France is one of the main attractions. We have been eating a lot of grocery store food to save some euro. Here you see our latest repast which we purchased at the neighborhood Monoprix yesterday. I had a lovely salad with dried ham and goat cheese while Margaret had a pasta salad with basil. We shared a delightful caprese salad and a baguette with cheese they sliced from a big round for us. Tres Bon!


Last night we ate at a crepe place. Here is a picture of the dessert crepe. If you look carefully you may see the flaming rum on it!



Here I am enjoying an omelet at the harbor in Honfleur . M. Had the mussels which many people were ordering.



We have had many a picnic in France.



Among the best desserts was the creme brûlée with mint.



Finally, I have to include our English Pub Grub we ate in London . It in included steak and kidney pie, steak and ale pie, and Shepard's pie as well as fish and chips (fries) and some ale of course. The green stuff is mushy peas which I happen to like. Yes there are only two pies visible because we ate one before we thought of taking a picture!

Location:France

Mont St Michel

It was kind of an overcast, misty day when we went to Mont St Michel. It has been a mystical place of pilgrimage for about a thousand years and is pretty amazing. The tides were out the whole time we were there so we did not see it come racing in "at the speed of a galloping horse".


You had to climb up some small winding streets and then up an unbelievable number of stairs to reach the top where the view of the tidal flats was awesome.





Those little dots are people walking are around looking at what I do not know!



Margaret and I look happy but we were about to pass out from all the steps.

Up near the top was a cemetery for the monks who still live there. W toured the ancient Abby and of course saw some churches and chapels.



By the time we left through the draw bridge most of the tourist were thinning out and it was a very wonderful experience. A holy place for sure, it was built after a monk was directed by the angel micheal to build it. It is amazing it could have survived so long through all the wars etc.

Location:France

Chateau Cheverny

We visited a chateau that is still inhabited by the same family since the 1600's. It has a lot of the original furnishings which made it interesting.






The most unusual thing about this place was the fact that it had a working kennel with about 100 hunting hounds which you could visit. There were signs everywhere which said "please don't excite the hounds" Of course the hounds were very excitable and barked like crazy at just everybody! The guy in this vid who comes in with a whip around his neck is the trainer/keeper. All I can say is I feel sorry for the foxes when these guys finally get out for a run. by the way they had a bigger area to their pen than you can see in this video.

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Location:France

Chenonceau Chateau

Here is the chateau we visited yesterday. It is the third most visited chateau after Versailles and Fontainebleau and with good reason. Somehow it made it through the French revolution and WWII without being destroyed. Originally it was a gift from the king to his mistress but after the king died the wife took it over.



We visited the rooms of the castle and viewed the gardens.



One really awesome room was the gallery that was built on the bridge that spans the river Cher. They had some great parties there I am sure.


Here are a couple of pictures of the rooms. Tapestries were everywhere as well as many other object d'art.

Location:Chenonceaux France

Chateau de Chaumont

The chateau Chaumont is a lovely place right on the River Loire with a stunning view. You pretty much have to have a car to get here. We were lucky to be here on a nice sunny day when the "festival of flowers" was being held in the gardens. It was a collection of about twenty gardens displays around the theme of conservation.







This was a display of compost bins. The mushroom caps were made of aluminum mesh.







The chateau had a wooden drawbridge and the oldest parts dated back to the 1200's. It was pretty impressive!






I liked the porcupine with a crown which was above the fireplace. Not sure what it signified.












The view of the Loire valley was just so lovely as were the gardens.

Location:France

Dangerous animals

Dangerous animals
We went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It was very expensive and we walked all over the zoo which seemed to be ALL uphill. I do not know how this could be possible but I swear it's true. Luckily, because this is Colorado, it wasn't horribly hot, plus free ice water in a cup was available in the snack bar. That does not make up for the fact that an ice cream cone was $3.75. Also at every turn there was something for sale such as pony rides, face painting and carousel rides to name but a few. Well, I guess it does cost a lot to maintain all the animals.
We got a very up close view of a mountain lion engaged in devouring a large chunk of meat on a bone. It gave me shivers to see how fearsome they are, large and powerful with sharp teeth and huge claws. Would not want to meet one on a trail in the woods if he was hungry! Other interesting sights included the beaver that waved "hello" to us, the bored gorilla picking his nose, the little black mouse running across the floor in the snake house (the one that got away!) and the pair of deer just wandering loose through the zoo who appeared to be "just visiting". The highlight for us was riding the sky ride (ski lift) up the side of the mountain. The views were beautiful!