House Guests and Fish

My mom always had lots of sayings for just about every occasion. One of hers that I remember was "House guests and fish in the refrigerator are the same. They both smell after 3 days."

That's how I felt yesterday when my English visitors left yesterday at 5 a.m. But really, no! We had a lovely time (or should I say "Luuuuvely" as my visitor did), we visited several places in this area that I had never seen before and we ate and drank our little hearts out.

Here is the agenda of our 3 days together:

Friday: Le Parc Floral at Orléans including the butterfly pavillon. Then, lunch at the château de la Ferté St. Aubin, after which a madeline making demonstration in their 18th C. kitchen and a tour of the château by the owner.

Saturday: Free morning to sleep in and for me to make a dish for the evening party. In the afternoon, we went to La Fonderie des Cloches near Orléans with a few other people.

Saturday night was the grand get-together where we were about 70.

Sunday: The morning was open and we used it to catch up from the night before. Then we went to Guédelon, the 12th C. château-fort being built in the Yonne, near Auxerre.

Sunday evening we went to a pizza restaurant with some other folks and then to their house for chocolate cake and champagne.

Monday morning, up at 3:45 a.m. to be at the bus by 5:00. The bus left at 5:15. I went home back to bed, then cleaned house and passed out at about 3 p.m.

Now, for some more detailed info and pictures:

I didn't take any pictures of the Parc Floral , because I had left my camera in the bus. Suffice it to say that the flowers at this time of year were just getting going, so it left us wanting to come back in May to see more.
The Butterfly Pavillon was fantastic. I'd never seen anything like it. Gorgeous butterflies of all sorts, flitting about on the tropical plants.

At the Château de la Ferté St. Aubin (just south of Orléans) we had lunch in one of their reception halls. We had a nice lunch, watered with Côteaux de Giennois white wine and a Bordeaux red.

The front of the château

The back by the lake

Some of the people in front of the stables

Heather and Adam, our guests

Getting installed for lunch.

The first thing we did in the château was assist at a madeline-making demonstration. The kitchen here is one of the oldest functioning kitchens in France. The cook was super, no-nonsense and right to the point. The owner was of course, very proud of all this and explained a lot of details about the restoration.
You must keep in mind that this is a privately-owned French château. It's small but a huge undertaking for an individual.
Neither the owner, nor the cook spoke much English. So guess who got to translate not only the cooking demonstration but also, the entire tour of the château? Without any preparation nor notice.

The 18th C. kitchen, the cook and the owner.



Coming back from the ovens with the hot madelines.



Waiting to be eaten

Because I was so busy trying to translate while the owner led us through the rooms, I didn't take any more pictures. But it was charming and pretty well restored. I enjoyed the visit as I think did the English visitors.

In my next post, I'll tell you about La Fonderie des Cloches (the Bell foundry). It's one of three still existing in France using completely traditional methods.
And guess who got to translate that trip?????