More amazing things to see in France

I think I told you how much I enjoy history.  We always make a point of going to historical places (well, truly, everything in Europe is historical, to tell you the truth)... this time we went to a chateau in Châteauneuf, which we reached by driving through the tiniest villages and roads -- many roads barely had room for one car!  This chateau dates in parts from the 11th Century, although parts of it were added on ("newer additions"!!).




No chateau can be complete without a moat, bien sûr!  This one is now grassed-in, of course!



Look at construction of one of their towers!  This was where the guards watched out over the countryside to look for approaching enemies.  There were still remnants of the armaments, too.


In this particular chateau, there was one room decorated with the most wonderful toile.  I have rarely seen a toile I didn't love.  This one was on the walls, curtain around the bed and the chair seat!




I also have a love of tapestries and they are frequently seen in France.  It's amazing to me to imagine the amount of hours that would have been required to complete these.  I have done some needlepoint in years past and know that to fill every square inch with the stitches is very labor-intensive.  This first one was in the chateau.



We saw this one in a church in a very small town we visited to go to a farmer's market (another favorite thing to do in Europe).


This one was in a winery we stopped at to taste some wine (the area where we are in France is primarily known for its wines).



I feel a little bit bad not showing anything quilt related so I'll share some absolutely gorgeous colors I saw on the buildings in this town where the chateau was found.  Of course we are in France when the seasons are changing and the leaves are turning colors.  I'm not sure you can see all the shades of red in the second picture but as I looked at it (it was just across from the little cafe where we had lunch), I was imagining sewing with those different shades.  I think the colors are spectacular!

Speaking of colors, how do you like these?  This was at the farmer's market.  I have always thought the farmers markets in France were amazing examples of luscious veggies and an explosion of colors.




The architecture of the old buildings never ceases to cause me to gawk at the marvel of them.  This is almost across the road from where we are staying.  I think that house is abandoned.  I'm going to show you some other amazing buildings we spied in our travels.





We found that behind this door is a garden, enclosed in the very old wall.  Do you see how the top of the wall has totally different rocks than the walls themselves??  So interesting.




I loved the color of the shutters on this house.

I don't want to overwhelm (or bore) you with too many pictures so I'll save some more for hopefully tomorrow.  We are taking the train back to Paris for a very early morning flight on Thursday back to San Francisco.  It's been a truly fabulous trip.