When we left off we had arrived in Blois with no hopes of a car. We stayed at Moulin des Charmes - a lovely mill that was built by monks in 1150 AD with our hosts Marina and Noel. They have only been running the Chambres d'hotes for about 17 months after moving out of a chateau somewhere else in France. That evening (Saturday night) we had a delightful table d'hotes with our hosts (literally table of the hosts). The woman is French (of Russian descent actually - her grandfather was the Governor of the Ukraine who was a cousin to the Czar and they fled to France after the Bolsheviks) and the man is British (an investment banker who has lived in various castles and huge houses in France as well as some time in Canada). We were joined by another couple (Louis and Marie Claire) from near Giverny 
(think Monet) who were on a honeymoon trip. The evening started out with some brut white from Vouvray in the living room. It was mostly in French (Louis and Marie Claire didn't have much English) and I tried to translate as best I could to Ryan. Dinner was several courses with different wines for each (apparently he now invests in wine too and seems to believe he knows a lot about every topic). After dinner things got oppressive when the French people retired to the room with the fireplace and I was left, with Ryan, at the table with the Thatcher/Reagan conservative who explained to me the unavoidable fall of the American Empire due to our non-sustainable way of doing things. I got to hear how 30% of Americans are fat and ugly and don't want to work and how all drug addicts need is for someone to force them to take a shower in the morning, brush their teeth for 30 seconds, and then make them run and do calisthenics. I was waiting for Ryan to comment that if the Brits brushed for more than 30 seconds maybe they wouldn't all have teeth that look like trash but he did a good job of holding his tongue. Noel, our host, believes that the threat of forced military service would scare them all "straight" and that society would be on the right track. Then he wanted to talk about health care. He did talk to me about the great advantages of nationalized health care but then backed me into a corner asking me how much money I made - it was quite uncomfortable.
However chilly the atmosphere was in the dining room, it was nothing compared to the frigidness of our bedroom. We told Noel it was a little chilly and he promised he would turn some heat on and I think he did turn the heat on in the bathroom but it was absolutely frigid in our room.
The grounds are lovely - they have chickens and we had fresh eggs each morning along with the usual assortment of bread and pain au chocolat. This house also has two dogs - black labs and one of them is 14 (Jimmy) and one is 7 (Roxy).
(think Monet) who were on a honeymoon trip. The evening started out with some brut white from Vouvray in the living room. It was mostly in French (Louis and Marie Claire didn't have much English) and I tried to translate as best I could to Ryan. Dinner was several courses with different wines for each (apparently he now invests in wine too and seems to believe he knows a lot about every topic). After dinner things got oppressive when the French people retired to the room with the fireplace and I was left, with Ryan, at the table with the Thatcher/Reagan conservative who explained to me the unavoidable fall of the American Empire due to our non-sustainable way of doing things. I got to hear how 30% of Americans are fat and ugly and don't want to work and how all drug addicts need is for someone to force them to take a shower in the morning, brush their teeth for 30 seconds, and then make them run and do calisthenics. I was waiting for Ryan to comment that if the Brits brushed for more than 30 seconds maybe they wouldn't all have teeth that look like trash but he did a good job of holding his tongue. Noel, our host, believes that the threat of forced military service would scare them all "straight" and that society would be on the right track. Then he wanted to talk about health care. He did talk to me about the great advantages of nationalized health care but then backed me into a corner asking me how much money I made - it was quite uncomfortable.
However chilly the atmosphere was in the dining room, it was nothing compared to the frigidness of our bedroom. We told Noel it was a little chilly and he promised he would turn some heat on and I think he did turn the heat on in the bathroom but it was absolutely frigid in our room.The grounds are lovely - they have chickens and we had fresh eggs each morning along with the usual assortment of bread and pain au chocolat. This house also has two dogs - black labs and one of them is 14 (Jimmy) and one is 7 (Roxy).
Ryan, God love him, always tries to get me to ask people really complicated or inappropriate things in French. He wanted to know if the newlywed couple had lived together before marriage or not but I ended up substituting apres (after) for avant (before) and it was a weird conversation for a time. The next night at dinner he wanted me to explain to the waiter how weird it is that the French word for 80 is literally (four twenty) and 90 is four twenty ten. That didn't turn out well either.
Noel did give us a ride into town the next day and on the day we were to leave for a small fee that was less than that of the taxis we took which was nice. He also turned the heat on for real sometime on Sunday so that night was a lot more pleasant. More about our adventures in town on Sunday coming up next...
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