28.11 Day 73 . . . Second Visit

Today was the day to have a second visit to the house we saw last Wednesday - just outside Nanteuil-en-Vallée.
We left at about 10am and we’re pulling up outside just before 11am where we met with Nathalie again.
We spent the best part of two hours subsequently crawling over this house, checking everything we could think of and asking so so many questions.
On driving away we drove to Champagne Mouton one of the closest villages to the house, just to see what was there. As is Tre and my luck (ignorance of France) we found Champagne Mouton to be shut. Literally nothing was open in this relatively small village.
So we spun around and drove to Nanteuil-en-Vallée which was the opposite direction from the house. We parked up to have a look around what we had been told was a lovely village. Again everything was shut including the church, Eglise Saint-Jean-Baptiste - much to Tre’s annoyance. We spent about half an hour before deciding to move on.
Next we drove to Verteuil-sur-Charente - again somewhere Nathalie had recommended. As we crested a hill on the approach to the town we saw the Chateau which holds primacy high above the town - it looked truly stunning in the sunshine.
We drove I to the centre and parked up. Again we were now not surprised to find everything shut. When I say everything is shut - it is everything, not a bank or cafe or shop - nothing!
We did spend quite a bit of time marvelling at the chateau and river that passes below it. It was a beautiful sight - especially as no-one else was about . . . Everything being shut has its benefits.
The Château de Verteuil is a historic building in Charente, France. It dates back to 1080 and has since been extensively rebuilt, although 12th-century walls remain. The château has always been in the property of the La Rochefoucauld family.
During the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) the château was occupied several times by the English. It was demolished in 1442, but was soon rebuilt using the original stones. In the religious wars of 16th and 17th centuries the château was a base for Huguenot forces, and in 1650 it was partly demolished by royal troops. Another château was erected but it received extensive damage in a fire in 1793 during the French Revolution. The château was renovated in the romantic style after the Bourbon Restoration of 1815, and has been extensively modified since then. During World War II (1939–45) the château housed French troops and refugees from Alsace-Lorraine in 1940 and for several months it was partially occupied by some German units. In 1944 some members of the maquis were hidden there. The château was listed as a monument historique on 31 March 1966, and obtained full protection on 19 November 2010.
The present château, designed on a triangular plan, has five conical towers and a watchtower capped by slate roofs. Archaeologists have uncovered traces of the older buildings on the site dating back to the 11th century. The architect Frantz Jourdain renovated the interior of the 14th-century tower as a library for the Rochefoucault family in 1893. The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries of the building, which hung in the master bedroom, were rediscovered in 1850; they were later sold to John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in 1923.
We drove home from Verteuil-sur-Charente stopping briefly at a patisserie to grab a light lunch and then some other food stuffs from SuperU next door.
Home - we stoked up the pellet burner and settled I. For the afternoon and evening. The sun is still shining but there is a cold chill in the air. Think I am past wearing shorts now.Read more