Life: Idiotropic

Happy Thanksgiving! It seems weird to say that today. If it wasn't for Arianna coming home wearing a paper bag vest and headband with a feather in it, I probably would've forgotten. Not that we'd forget Thanksgiving entirely. It's been on my mind for weeks with invitations out and food planned. I even bought two cases of pumpkin to ensure that last year's pumpkin fiasco didn't happen again. But, Thanksgiving isn't a holiday here. The kids are all in school. Kirk has to work. There is no football game. And I'm not going to cook all day just for Kirk and the kids to come home tired in the evening, eat, and go to sleep. We can do that any day and holidays are special.
Last week during one of Tiara's ballet classes, mom and I tried this little restaurant in the Sittard markt that I hadn't been to before. It was sandwiched between two other narrow little buildings and didn't stand out as anything special. Boy was I wrong. The atmosphere was great. They took our coats and hung them immediately. Nice music played. There was white linen on the tables and white candles lit around the room. We had an appetizer and a glass of wine then and knew that we had to come back.


So we planned to have dinner tonight - adults only - kids at home. I didn't think that Sittard would be crowded on a Thursday night, but all the open air parking lots were full. I'd forgotten that Thursday is the night that shops are open until 8. So we parked in the garage nearby.

The streets were full of people at 7:30 when we arrived at the restaurant. Shoppers walked by with bags in their arms. It was a nice night. The menu, of course, was only in Dutch, but I've read enough Dutch menus now to figure out quite a bit of it and the waitress spoke very nice English as most Dutch do. I think I ended up ordering the best items on the menu and I do plan on going back again... the food was the best I've had in the Netherlands. I had a very good duck salad to start, then the "Haasfilet ingerold met salie en pancetta met stampotje van boerenkool" for dinner. The rabbit was flavorful and very tender, served over mashed potatoes with pancetta and celery with a very good brown gravy. For dessert I had the "Warm taartje van chocolade met citruscompote" - essentially a very good molten chocolate cake with a citrus chutney almost on the side. YUM. They serve their cappuccino with freshly baked biscotti. That earns restaurant points right there.

So, dinner was fabulous and we were ready to go home. We got back to the garage at 10:30. The garage closed at 10. Never mind that there were many restaurants opened in the markt and a lot of people out. For some silly reason, this garage closes completely at 9 most nights and at 10 on Thursdays. There was no way to get the car. I called the number and got a very nice recording in Dutch, but no option to get a hold of a real person, so no option to get Kirk's truck.

We walked back to the restaurant. They were cleaning up to close, but let us come in. The waiter kindly called a taxi for us. The chef invited us in to sit and offered a drink "on the house." He said he'd drive us home himself, but he didn't have his car with him. So many here take the bicycle to work... and with parking the way it is, who can blame them!

Eventually the taxi came - it was a BMW. Everything here is either a BMW or Mercedes. I've even seen a Mercedes garbage truck. Crazy, but true.

[The next morning we were able to get to the garage at 0700 when it opened and got Kirk's truck out with no problem. It only cost 7 Euro too. They only charge for the time the garage is actually open, thank goodness!]

Cologne is not the most fantastic city that I've ever been to, but it is one that you just need to see. The first time I saw Cologne with the Dom sitting magnificently next to the Rhine, it made a solid impression as a great city and I was excited to come by myself and explore it. The grassy area along the Rhine is nice and there are some interesting shopping districts. The Dom itself is a big draw to the city with so much detail that I still notice something new every time I see it.

But, sadly, Cologne was very heavily bombed during WW2 and most of what was old and beautiful and historical is gone. The Altstadt is almost entirely gone. The flames during the bombing got so high that the planes had to turn back with undropped bombs. It was a different time, but the city can't go back, of course, so much of the glory of what was is seen only in museums.

If you have a day to explore museums, then Cologne would be an interesting stop. Roman artifacts are still discovered and several nice museum house what's already been found. Before I move, I'll do that.

But, we drove to Cologne which is an easy hour drive and then parked below the Dom in a parking lot that comes out right next to it. The Christmas market was being set up to begin the next day. Three human statues stood still in the cold wind in front of the Dom waiting for people to drop coins into the little genie bottles in front of them. They were different than the statues we'd seen before and not as serious. Two of them were ladies - one in silver and another in gold. Then a man dressed as Charlie Chaplin stood still. Luci was too shy to give him a coin, but he smiled and waved. Later we walked by and the statues were huddled in the doorway of the Dom counting their change and getting ready for lunch. Luci exclaimed, "Mommy, the statues can walk!"

Just around the corner in a nice shopping area was the restaurant where we stopped for food. The menu was mostly Italian and good, but sometimes I get tired to eating Italian food. It's almost too common here no matter how good it might be. Even on a good Dutch menu, you can almost always find Spaghetti Bolognese. It's reliable, but nothing very exciting.

After lunch we walked around the Dom. On one wall some men were cleaning and painting some of the carved art on the walls. One window had scaffolding up outside with men working on it, so from the inside there were all sorts of little silhouettes sitting with their legs hanging or standing working. I haven't been to the Dom yet without seeing scaffolding up on some part of it. It's so immense that it probably gets dirty as fast as they can clean it. In the photo above you can see the degrees of filth in some statues sitting in a row by a doorway. It's hard to visualize the church ever being completely white like that far right statue. It was the first time that I'd been there when the back portion of the cathedral was open.

Walking around the half-circle we could see tombs and shrines with the large life-sized carved figures of their owners resting on top. Alters with crosses sat behind a lot of the tombs. Most of them had large gates in front of them, so you could see them, but not touch. Some had pews set up so that one could potentially pray there.

After the Dom we tried to get to the Rhine. It's close, very close, but the construction in the area was so hard to navigate that we eventually gave up. Mom and Jeff did get a tour of the Hauptbahnhof (train station) though with all it's little shops and eateries.

Before the drive home we stopped at good ol' Starbucks for a Toffee Nut Latte. Luci and Elise sat at the little kid table a good 20 feet away and had a nice time together while us adults enjoyed some quiet.

Do you know who Al Stewart is? I didn't until I married Kirk. He didn't until he lived in Germany his junior year of high school. Kirk is a fan. I didn't appreciate the music until now. So, do you know who he is? I'm not sure if half the Germans in Mechernich could answer that, but they were at his concert tonight with us.

Al Stewart is a translucently pale, willowy Scottish folk singer who plays the guitar and writes stories into songs, stories both geographical and historical, and stories whimsical like that of his ex-girlfriend that broke his heart, so he wrote a song and turned her into an old ship full of holes with a treacherous crew that sinks to the bottom of the sea and is eaten up by scampi. He's a poet.

Months ago Kirk found out that Al was coming. He was supposed to be coming to sing at Burg Satzvey - the castle in the photos. We went there tonight. It was quiet and cold, but one man was putting lights on the trees and decorating for Christmas. Another man seemed to be coming home and entered the big castle that is a private residence. The castle grounds are used now for jousting tournaments and celebrations of different types. It is a touristy thing, but why not? If I lived in a castle, I might do the same thing. So... Kirk was excited to go and see Al in a castle. We reserved tickets. The venue changed.

So we went to Mechernich instead - a town that has nothing noteworthy. I wanted to dress comfortably. Kirk wanted to dress up. So we both dressed nice - good, since we rarely go out anyway. We got to the sleepy German Eiffel town, just an hours drive from our home, a couple hours before the concert would start so we would have time for a nice dinner. We walked in the bitter wind to find a restaurant. One was a smokey bar, another was a tacky pizza place, another had slot machines, and one had a billiard table. Finally we found one that almost looked ok, and we were hungry, but I choked through my meal because the smoke was so thick and the decor looked like dated Florida beach decor - sage green and taupe walls with solarium windows and canvas sails draped from the ceiling. I know that Germany has more to offer than that. Even so, I had a mozzarella salad and pasta. The traditional German meal that I'd hoped for was not in Mechernich. [I could easily insert here a rather lengthy tirade about smoking in Europe, but I'll save you this time. Just know that it is extremely frustrating to try to eat your food when you can't even smell it, when everything is soaked in smoke and you leave reaking of it, when there are no options and no escape and the no-smoking section means two tables on one wall, with the smokers all around you secretly blowing it in your direction, or so it seems.]

The concert, not at the castle, was held at a very modern, rectangular, could-have-been-in-any-mid-sized-U.S.-city gymnasium (high school) auditorium. We waited outside the doors to wait until the opened it for seating and people watched as the crowd grew. The median age was 50. The dress was ultra-casual: jeans and flannel, leather pants with a sports coat, jeans and sweaters, jeans... Men had long hair. Girls had short hair. My little girls would have gone crazy pointing all those people out. It's safe to say that in that crowd of at least 400 people that Kirk and I were the only Americans in the audience. I heard one British accent in the crowd and that was it.

The German singer who was supposed to open was "krank" with a sore throat, so Al Stewart started early. Dave Nachminoff, an American singer and guitarist who tours with Al, opened with a few songs, then Al came out and jammed. There were some sound system problems, but other than that, it was a lot of fun and very entertaining. Al and Dave actually jammed with their dueling guitars on stage and they were laughing, telling jokes, and having fun.

It was entertaining watching them and entertaining looking around. Most of the Germans there I'm sure had some degree of English language ability and I think all knew at least one or two of Al's songs, but you could tell that it was hard for them to understand some of the English spoken quickly with a heavy Scottish accent, so in between songs, Al would talk and tell the story behind the next song. And, most of the time the audience was silent. At one point, Al asked, into the microphone onstage, "Do any of you know who I am?" But it was obvious by the applause when he sung a song they knew and every time he phonetically slaughtered the name of the town, the audience would erupt in peels of loud German guffaws. So we are most likely the only audience to hear the impromptu tune, "Seduction in Mechernich." Quite a gem.... If Al Stewart every loses his voice, he could get a job in stand-up.

At the end of a very nice evening, we waited in line to see Al. Kirk shook his hand, got his CD autographed, chatted for a minute, and gave him one of his flying patches. It was a nice moment.

At one point in the concert, Al began to sing a song that he had not told us about. Kirk leaned over and asked me if I knew what it was about. I didn't. I don't think many people in the audience did either. Driving home Kirk told me that "Running Man" is a song about a Nazi criminal hiding from the authorities after WW2. Al had said that he didn't play it much, but that Dave had requested it. It has a very catchy tune, but I wonder what the audience would have thought had they known. That's still a touchy subject here among some.

Anyway... if Al comes again, we'll probably go see him, but I won't be running to Mechernich anytime soon.

After our wonderful breakfast in Sedan and a lengthy tour of the castle, we started the 90 minute drive to Luxembourg City. We drove from France, into Belgium, then had hardly crossed the border into Luxembourg when we entered the city itself. The country is so small, that it isn't so far to get anywhere within it.

Luxembourg City hails itself as "Little Europe" boasting the best of everything. With less than a day to explore it, we certainly weren't able to avail ourselves of all it has to offer, but we did leave wanting more.

Getting into the main center itself would have been easy but for some construction that took us off the main road and into a maze of narrow one-way and dead-end streets in a residential district on the hill. Once we got into downtown we found our hotel and parked without any problem.
The Hotel Albert is amazing. I'd searched online for a hotel not having any recommendations from friends hoping to find something nice. Most of the hotels I found were extremely modern in their decor which, for me, is a style best suited to doctor's offices and not to a cozy hotel setting. Being a large banking city, that doctor's office feel might be exactly what Luxembourg clientele are traditionally looking for, but for a quiet, childless, mother-daughter weekend, it wasn't quite for me. Fortunately, the Hotel Albert was exactly what I was looking for. It was very elegant, beautifully decorated with fabrics and furniture from England and Italy, and had a very warm feeling. The rooms drew you in and enticed you with large comfortable chairs and lush throw blankets to sit and relax a while. Our room had fabric on the walls instead of wallpaper and large, full curtains in the same fabric. A book of Europe's Finest Hotels (by Nicola Lecca pg 184-5) on the bedstand showcased our little Hotel Albert, a tiny building with only 15 rooms that just a few years ago had been a homeless shelter. The closet included a complimentary bottle of wine, Grandirn de Bordeaux Chateau Montaguillon's Montagne Saint Emilion 2002 from Gironde, France. The large bathroom had robes, slippers, and a beautiful assortment of little toiletry samples in pretty bottles. It truly felt like a vacation.

Downstairs the sitting room was filled with large chairs and couches that enveloped you as you sat down. There was a fireplace on one wall with little windowed cabinets on either side filled with chopped wood. The vases full of flowers were large and showy. Everything was warm and full of color. Behind the couch sat a long sofa table with a tray of alcohol on one end - a very nice honor bar. I would have loved to transport that sitting room to my house. The colors and the way it was all tied together was very comfortable and homey. I must make notes for my "dream home."

Needing a little snack and wanting to see the town, we made a dinner reservation for 7:30 at the hotel restaurant and left by foot for the city center to explore it. The walk was nice and the weather cooperative. In wet weather, it would have seemed far, but we strolled with ease down the wide city streets toward the city center. As we got closer we crossed a high bridge that traversed a deep ravine that went on in either direction as far as we could see. Below were houses nestled among the thick trees on the steep banks and at the bottom was a tiny little stream, walking trails, and more trees. The park was beautiful especially with so many colors in that leaves at that time. I immediately thought of the girls and how much they'd enjoy running around down there.

In front of us as we crossed the bridge was a beautiful old building with a large green copper tower. To our left across the ravine were several other beautiful old towers. And, as we walked, the numerous beautiful old buildings just became pasee. The city is filled with them. The closer we got into town, the nicer the shops became. It was fun to peer into the windowfronts and dream, but that was about all I could do. Luxembourg must lure in people with money because nothing in those windows was even close to being reasonable priced.

Eventually we found a wonderful little bakery and coffee shop, Les Salons Namur. The desserts in the window demanded that we stop to rest a while. They looked like something from a high end city bakery, but the atmosphere inside was very relaxed like any local cafe. Women sat and visited with each other. Mothers rocked their babies. Other than the amazing desserts and decorative chocolates at the counter, we could have been anywhere. I ordered a beautiful Framboise Torte, a Cappuccino Creme, and a petit quiche. Our coffee and desserts were served first, and our "real food" served afterwards. That's my kind of prioritization! The torte was amazing and my cappuccino with swirled whipped creme was served with a shortbread cookie. The quiche was also fabulous. I could have eaten more. My long coat slipped from my chair, so one of the waitresses there stopped to show me where the coat rack was. All the places we'd been on this trip took our coats and hung them for us. It is really nice.

By the time we left Namur, it was very dark outside. We walked to the brightly lit train station at the end of the road, then started to loop back to the hotel. Walking back a different way, we passed by a bagel shop that had Sunday hours - the only eatery on the entire walk that was open on Sunday. There were a lot of people out, but the shops were just starting to close. We walked past the church that had been in the distance before and by a military memorial with a flame burning. The bells of the church sounded in the distance - a noise I won't tire of here. They are all different, but always comforting to hear.

Going back a different way got us slightly twisted around and back just a little later than we'd expected, but it also brought us into the shopping district with Louis Vuitton, Rolex, and all the big name designers. Disappointing as it was that they were closed, it was probably best for my wallet that way. Still, it was a fun area - clean, sparkling with lights and decorated windows, Santas and ornaments, and full of treasures.

Eventually we got back to our hotel with just enough time to run upstairs, freshen up, then go back down for dinner. The restaurant of Hotel Albert is not at the hotel, so they provide complimentary taxi service both there and back. Taking us there was a very friendly Portuguese taxi driver. His English was ok, but not the best, but Spanish worked well, so we talked a bit. He'd lived in Luxembourg for 14 years and was fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, German and French, with a decent knowledge of English as well. Arriving at the Lagura, we walked up the short narrow walkway into an old house that was the restaurant. The waiter took our coats and seated us in a quiet room. The decor was completely opposite from that of the Hotel, but it's modernity wasn't unsettling. The modern chic interior actually provided a warm cozy atmosphere even amidst the grey walls and black tables. White candlelight, showy white bouquets, and lush upholstered chairs livened it up. Our waiter was young and handsome. For our appertif we chose champagne pinot noir which was excellent. I had a very nice salade cesar, then for a starter: a creamy polenta with gorgonzola cheese served with a very light pesto sauce, and a rucola salad with balsalmic vinaigrette. Mom had fresh raviolis with the thinnest dough I've ever had - it was light like paper and not at all doughy. I had saltimbocca di pollo with some sort of potato side dish. Both were excellent. Then, the grand finale! The most delectable wine: Moscato d'Asti, a muscadelle that was so light and sweet, I could have had the whole bottle. It was wonderful. Our waiter then brought another bottle over with a glass so I could try a taste of another - the moscato di pantelleria - which truly did taste "just like fresh squeezed grapes." For dessert our waiter recommended the Risotto de framboise y sorbet di cocos. I like risotto, but could never had imagined this. The risotto had been cooked in blackberry juice. It was exactly the color of blackberries and had fresh raspberries mixed into it. It was served warm and topped with fresh coconut sorbet and raspberry sauce. MMMMM. I've never had the equivalent of this dessert and I absolutely will order it again when I go back. Wow!

The driver back to the hotel was very quiet. I'm sure he was just listening to mom and I chat. At the end of the drive we heard his only words that trip and they were spoken in near perfect English which took us off guard just slightly. The hotel sitting room beckoned, so we sat to relax for a few before heading to the room for the night. Upstairs, our bed had been turned down. Chocolates sat on the corner of the blankets where they'd been folded with a note: "Mrs. Stahlbaum, we would like to wish you a goodnights sleep. Tomorrow's weather forecast: Rain. Min 2C Max 9C.

The next morning before we checked out and headed back to Germany, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast in our room. I had a flavorful cappuccino and an earl grey tea. They served a basket of fresh rolls, butter in a little silver dish, fresh fruit with yogurt that tasted homemade. The raw sugar cubes mixed in white and brown filled an old silver pitcher and the jams looked delicious. Truly, everything is relative - or so these precious experiences teach me. A decent wine in one place is nothing when you're in France. Some places just do things well. Here, in Luxembourg, and in France, all the wine is good. All the pastries and chocolates are good. It is not hard to find exceptional quality. It just is.

This place is worth returning to. I would come back here with my mom, a group of friends, Tiara for a mother-daughter weekend, or my whole family. Luxembourg City really offers a lot and deserves more than one day. Next time I'll spend at least three.

Coming home to my children after 2+ days away was nice. I'd missed them. We came home and watched Cars. So, I left my kids on Friday, I was pampered. I stayed in a castle in France and an upscale hotel in Luxembourg. I sipped champagnes and dined in some fantastic restaurants where the waiters took my coat for me and treated me like royalty. I sampled cappuccinos in two countries. I took the sugar for my tea from an old silver pitcher. Then I came home, got mobbed by children, and nestled in among them to watch tractor tipping in the Cars movie while they all laughed uncontrollably. Sometimes it doesn't make much sense, but it's still good to be home.

This is the countryside that we drove through on Friday on our way to France. Eastern Belgium southward is all deep rolling hills with forests and villages nestled among them. Northern France where we stopped was the same way. The region is the Ardennes region and is known for it's beauty and though the Ardennes mountains are far from the tall majestic peaks of the Cascades or Sierras, the large green forest covered hills are still beautiful. As we got closer to France the villages looked the same, but the bricks in many were painted white standing in stark contrast to the deep Kelly greens of the hills and the reds and oranges of the trees.

The forests seemed small - at least those we passed by on the autobahn. We could see many places where there had been clear cutting for forestry, but there was obvious replanting in many areas too. Really, a lot of it looked a bit like Oregon.

From the website I'd learned that we would be staying in the "largest fortified castle in the whole of Europe," so mom and I were looking for something that stood out. The way the roads fall among the hills, you could be very close to something and not see it. The hills and trees hide entire villages that might only lie a kilometer away. I'd imagined Sedan to be a quaint village - imagery I'd gotten from internet sites and my own assumptions. After all, most German and Dutch, and even Belgian towns that I've been in have had a certain amount of charm. Surely, Sedan would also, and it did not look very large on the map. When we drove in to this normal mid-sized French city, it looked as if we were in the wrong place. It wasn't quaint nor beautiful, and there was no sign of a castle anywhere. It seemed like I was driving forever to get into the town when finally I saw a small sign pointing to the right for "Chateau Fort." Just a minute later we'd arrived at this huge edifice that literally appeared out of no where. Here is the large doorway in the outer wall that we drove through to park the car. The little door on the right is the entrance to the hotel portion of the castle where we stayed. We were in the fourth floor looking out that little window just 4 up from the doorway.

The parking area in the inside of the castle buildings is immense. The hotel, like most of Europe, boasts an interesting mix of the old and new. They've repaired, but preserved the original castle walls and incorporated them into the modern framework of the guest areas. The lobby where we first walked in is a large open area flanked on both sides by old stone walls, but with modern furnishings and decor. On the inside wall are old arched doorways in the stone leading to smaller, cozier sitting rooms with fireplaces and television. In one tiny alcove I found a nice Dell flatscreen computer with an internet connection, so I checked my email and hoped to blog a little there. Checking my email was easy enough with the French keyboard, and writing a message was laborious, but possible, but when I tried to log in to my blog, I needed the @ symbol, and while it was there on the keyboard right under the number 2, I could not figure out how to get it. The A and Q are switched as are the W and the Z. The M is where the semicolon should be and all the punctuation is mixed up. I actually had to hit the shift key to get a period. I also had to shift to get any numbers and all the numbers had two symbols with them, so I could get one, but not the other. It was odd. Still, I can't complain. I was sitting in a castle whose beginnings dated to 0800, typing on a Dell flatscreen using a DSL internet connection.

The plan that day was to drive about half-way down to Sedan and then find something fun for lunch. Unfortunately, the way the hills hide the villages, there was no obvious "fun" anywhere near the highway. No signs with "food next exit" and signage for greasy American food. No cute bistros. No patisseries. And I didn't want to get off the autobahn and get stuck winding through valleys for hours (which is very possible). So we ended up getting there and checking in without ever eating and were starving. Thinking that a cute little French cafe would be an easy find, we started to walk and explore the town. We walked down through a narrow windy tunnel down through the other side of the castle where we got our first real view of how big it really was. There was one little cafe open, but I wanted to see more and thought for sure we'd hit upon some gem. We walked, and walked. The streets were narrow, the buildings very different from those I'm used to seeing here. The rooflines are different. They have nice wooden shutters instead of the German metal rolladn. The buildings seem a lot more sooty and the city dirtier, but still, there were little things that stood out like the flowers in the windows and old ironwork on the doors. To the dismay of a couple rumbling stomachs, all the restaurants (and we passed a lot of them, especially Turkish) were closed for the afternoon and wouldn't open until 3 or later. From one nice big roundabout with circled with beautiful buildings to another big roundabout on the other side of town circled with a church and a beautiful old palace/government building, there was nothing open. Finally, on the way back to the castle we found a tiny little cafe. (The photos above: the first of the tunnel leading under and out of the castle, and the second of a church tower in the town... the first tower is visible, the other covered in scaffolding for repair which is a very common site here in Europe. The old churches are almost always being repaired or cleaned.)

It could have been anywhere in the states. It had big glass windows with advertising painted all over them, old diner style tables and chairs in mint green with silver metal. The place was full of locals, mostly older people sitting with their coffee, beer, and wine smoking. We sat under the tv with the lottery numbers running. A large man with an uncanny resemblance to Drew Carey, sat squinting with his mouth gaping a bit, quickly writing down the lottery numbers from the screen. Later an older woman sat down with her daughter. The woman writing down numbers and the daughter doing scratch tickets. We asked if we could eat and the nice man listed the available menu for that hour - croque monsieur, another croque, or quiche lorraine. I ordered quiche and a cappuccino. Mom ordered white wine and we knew it was coming when we heard the cork pop. Getting my cappuccino was one of those "Ahhhh" moments when life is just good. I'd been so hungry that staring at that beautiful whipped cream topped coffee was just about perfect. It was much more impressive before this photo was taken, but I couldn't resist sipping on it a bit first.

The quiche was good too and gave us time to sit, relax, and take in the atmosphere. A young man sat near us in jeans, tennis shoes, a sweatshirt, and a stocking cap. He had his ipod on and looked like he should be in New York or any American university district. An old man wearing flannel sat by the mirror on the wall sipping a coffee. There was a Hagen Daz ice cream sign mounted just under the large screen television on our left that had sports on. We stuck out like sore thumbs, I'm sure, but the people were very friendly. We knew "merci," but had forgotten how to say please, so we asked and the man told us "si vous plait." There was not even a hint of the haughtiness that the French are known for among some.

After lunch was discovered the little square and shopping area on the way back to the castle. It was not a large area, but there was a little Disney character carousel in the center, several chocolate shops, a few nice clothing stores, and a costume jewelry shop. We stopped at a little bakery on the corner to get a treat just for fun. I got a sucre torte just to try because I'd seen them in other bakeries. It was just a dough with thick hardened sugar baked on top - not inedible, but nothing stupendous. The meringues were big like baseballs and all the pastries looked perfect. The little dog in the photo was in a yarn shop. He was very friendly and didn't seem to care that I didn't speak French just so long that I give him some attention. His owner was very friendly and spoke to me quite a bit though I didn't understand a word of it.

Getting back to the castle was nice and the lobby looked warm and welcoming. We sat to enjoy it for a while. The leather chairs were comfortable and the bar at the end had a nice table set up with coffee and juices. It was funny to me to see a beautiful silver candelabra with white tapers sitting right next to a Pier-1 style red vase with a spiral bamboo. Eclecticism at its best. It felt nice to sit back in the soft leather chair sipping grapefruit juice and looking at a magazine. French cabaret music played in the background lending a particular ambiance, and I people watched... two rather stoic British women left and then the room slowly filled with a large group of French obviously on some sort of business trip. The were all dressed very nice and many smoked, but the interesting thing was watching the circle as someone entered the room. Every time a new person came down to enter the circle, they all stopped their conversations to greet them, and each took turns hugging and kissing the newcomer on each cheek. By the time the group had reached about 15 people, it took quite a while just to greet the 16th, but still, they took time to do it. It was much warmer and more personable than the typical greeting that I am accustomed to and it was very nice to see.

Our room was small, but nice. To get there we took the elevator up and then walked down the hallway with an original wall on one side and a row of doors on the other. In the old wall were little alcoves that had just enough moisture in them to grow little maidenhair ferns. When we'd first checked in and gone to our room we were dismayed that the lights didn't work. None of the switches made any difference at all, so we asked at the front desk and she explained that you have to use your key card. The card that opens our door then goes into a little slot on the wall, then all the lights work. When you leave and take your key, the lights are on a timer and go off a few minutes later. It's a great way to save on electricity and you always know where your key is if you're in the room. The small low window in the old stone wall had an iron gate in front of it, but it opened, so when I heard the smoke alarm, I opened up the window to see the cute little square firetruck pull up and all these tiny little fireman jump out with little silver hats on. From our window, they all looked like toys. The tiny silver hats had little silver flaps to protect the neck. There were fire men and women and two female police officers showed up too. A few minutes later they were all gone and we were getting ready for dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Dinner: Ahhhh, dinner. It is not often that I just relax and enjoy a nice meal, but I was spoiled on this trip. I learned that "aperitif" isn't the food variety of appetizer, but an alcoholic treat. We ordered a half-bottle of the most amazing Champagne that I've every had. Laurent-Perrier is light and smooth, slightly sweet, and without any harshness that has existed in every other champagne I've ever had. But, we were in the Champagne region of France where they are produced, so we'd suspected that it might be better here. So, the bottle arrived, the champagne was poured, and the peanuts were served (yep - peanuts and fine champagne... I wouldn't have expected that). Rolls arrived without oil or butter, but they were still delectable. They brought out a tiny plate with little cold white sausage rounds with shallots and parsley. We ordered Foie Gras (goose-liver pate) with walnuts served with gingerbread toast and pear chutney. Honestly, the idea of it was a bit of a challenge, but I did try it and though the flavor was quite rich and heavy, it was good. I would have been happy enough with a basket of that yummy gingerbread toast though! I ordered the Magret Du Canard - a rosemary honey duck dish with a brown gravy and a very creamy portion of slivered potatoes and vegetables. Then, for dessert I ordered "Brochette de fruits frais rotie en cassonade et craqueline de sorbet citron." In English - fresh fruit skewered lightly roasted with a brown sugar glaze and served with a chocolate covered mini ice-cream cone cup filled with the sourest citrus sorbet I've ever had. I've eaten crab apples, limes, and the sourest candies, but nothing has ever been sour enough. This actually made my cheeks hurt, it was so sour. Mmmm... I'd love to have the recipe - it was fabulous!

The next morning we got up and got ready to check out. Since we hadn't made breakfast reservations, we thought we'd just find something in the town before touring the castle, but as we were checking out, the friendly maitre'di in very broken "Frenglish" asked us if we'd had breakfast. The breakfast hour was ending, but he had the receptionist call up and they prepared a table for us. When we arrived, the table was beautifully set with nice little jarred jams in the center. The dining room was completely empty except for us and we had the whole buffet to ourselves with coffee, juice, croissants and other yummy rolls and pastries, jams, meats, cheeses, cereals, and fruit. It was a very nice buffet. We'd talked to the maitre'd the night before. He really didn't speak very much English at all, but he tried and we tried to use the few French words we knew. Throughout dinner he'd come over and check on us. I think he was amused by us - they really don't get many Americans there. And, we were equally amused by him and his energy. In the corner of the dining room is an beautiful old desk where he sat when he wasn't up checking on his customers. It was very official looking. But by breakfast, all things official were out the window and he was a bit more relaxed. As they cleaned up the buffet, he brought over the tray of meats to our table to make sure we got our fill. Soon afterwards he was kicking up his heals in the other room and singing "Tea for Two and Two for Tea" while he danced.

After breakfast Mom and I took a tour of the castle. We had little recorders with us that played recorded information in English, so we just entered the number that we saw posted in the room and then the device would play information about that room. In rooms particularly crowded with tourists, there was an amusing echo effect with 5 or more recorders sounding all at slightly different intervals in English and French. I wish I could remember all that was said about the castle itself. The history was amazing and as Europe evolved, the royalty was so mixed between empires that this castle was tied to several other countries as well. The battlements were enormous and housed old guns at least 8 feet long. The tour took us outside on top of the high battlements and then up even higher on top of one of the castle walls. It was there that we saw men preparing to scale the wall. They were testing a route for a tourist group that was coming in. They climbed one wall, then repelled off another.

I think we spent at least two hours walking all around the castle following the green arrows... inside the battlements, up and down narrow stairways inside the castle itself, through a museum-like hallway filled with old artifacts and examples of how they lived, up to the top of a castle turret with the thick beams where one wall hadn't been painted over and old sketches remained on the wall. Every turn was interesting and every view beautiful.

Out on top of one of the battlements, a beautiful herb garden was kept. The names of the herbs were handwritten on pieces of shale. Herbs labelled this way were also growing out of cracks in the old walls.

Leaving an enormous footprint, the Chateau Fort is almost entirely in tact except for the old governor's portion which was rather humorously blown up when the army was testing explosives right next to it leaving just a nice green hill leading up to the rest of the castle where a nice old fortress once stood. So, I guess that batch was a good one. Wonder how the governor took it. The first photo below shows the now empty field. We'd stood on the turret above it which is a lot higher than it looks. The next photo is of the large courtyard inside from that same area by the turret. You can see the hotel portion of the castle and my mini-van, just a tiny grey speck, to the left of the little door.













The tour ended in a little gift shop and cafe where we bought a few little souveniers and stopped for a cappuccino before we left. The men who'd been climbing the castle were in there and talked to us a bit. They were very friendly and one spoke great English.

Basically, the short time we were in France, everyone was friendly. There was not a bit of the stereotypical French attitude from anyone. From the castle to the cafe, to the shops, and the fellow tourists, everyone was very kind and welcoming. The only shred of rudeness actually came from the British ladies in the castle who seemed offended that mom would ask them a question about the bar area... "go ask at the front desk" was their curt reply. There is so much of Europe to see that I don't know if I'll end up back at Chateau Fort, but I wouldn't turn down the opportunity if I could go again. The castle itself is amazing, the people very warm and wonderful, and the area fabulous. While I don't need to walk the streets of Sedan again, there area a lot of nice areas around Sedan that would be great to explore. We only had one day... I could have been happy there longer. But... Luxembourg awaited... so after our tour, we were on the road to a new country.