Thursday, August 07, 2008

Le Château

Where am I off to tomorrow?
My friends' château is located near Marmande, a one-hour train ride away from Bordeaux. In the garden the gorgeous 17th century wood and stone Halle (top pic.), where markets used to be held, is still standing. Breakfast outdoors, with fresh bread and homemade jams, are a summer ritual everyone loves...
Every August, friends crowd the château, and the many, many rooms are all packed, as little kids run around and grownups chat or read under the ancient trees. Our hostess, who goes by the nickname Fafa unless we teasingly call her Baroness, is known to be a top-notch cook, who buys produce from a nearby farmer, so the kitchen and the entire house are deliciously fragrant...
I met the family in China, where we were all living in the late 1980's. Yves and Fafa, who are very close to my parents', have four boys, all of whom I consider my brothers: Raphaël (32), Etienne (27), Coco (22) and Leopold (15). More on the family and the château in posts to come...

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

how charming and lovely....you will have an amazing time...i am sure. glad to a "virtual" fly on the wall...;)
nancy

Jessie Cacciola said...

oh, so lovely..xo

Mariel said...

Thanks for your comment! I'm back now with new additions.
What a beautiful place. I'm insanely jealous!

pve design said...

Please have a dollop of jam for me.
Send me some photos of Benjy so that I can do an illustration of him!
Patricia

raining sheep said...

Firstly, I love the black and whites and secondly, a chateau? Life can't really get better than that. You are so lucky!

Mary-Laure said...

MARIEL - it is beautiful, but the best part is the company...

PVE - I'll have more than a dollop of jam, count on me!

RAINING SHEEP - your comment made me think of the French phrase "la vie de chateau" (literally "castle lifestyle", meaning "the very good life")...

Laura in Paris said...

Bon voyage, bon sejour .. ah if you could bring a basket of reine-claudes ... they never taste the same here in paris ..

My Castle in Spain said...

I love the places you're taking us to and this one sounds so deliciously French ! Lovely pics too

Enjoy la "vie de château" !

artycho said...

I hope you'll have a wonderful time au château thanks to your description I feel like I have just been there myself!

Anonymous said...

this place looks amazing, i can't wait to hear all about it! px

Jo said...

oh wow, sounds amazing! they all have wonderful names, i especially like etienne.

a hug

marie said...

oh its beautiful! hope you have a lovely weekend :)

MISS GLITZY said...

Such a beautiful place. And I know what you mean about the breakfast as a summer ritual and I'm eager to have one on Sunday looking at the mountains known as the Volcan d'Auvergne.

Bonbon Oiseau said...

Sounds incredible!

tangobaby said...

I think someone should follow you around with a camera and make a documentary about you. You are simply fascinating!

Enjoy Le Chateau!

Hila said...

This sounds like a dream - or a good merchant-ivory film.

Mary-Laure said...

MISS GLITZY - do bring back photos of the volcans!

TANGO BABY - well,the blog is a kind of documentary which allows everyone to follow me around...

HILA - and guess what I'm reading? The novel The Last Jew which you recommended. Ijust started and it seems EXTRAODRINARY!!!

Laura Neulat said...

I see a little head, is that Henri ...and where is Benjy?