france and italy trip...(Day 6)...

TU, Sept 6 (Guedelon, Fulvy, Semur en Auxois & Corgoloin, France)

Wake at 7am - however I had never fallen asleep, so this was pretty easy...we had a very quick breakfast and got on the road to meet up with Jerome's parents; Francoise & Daniel at Guedelon.  

Guedelon is a construction site for a medieval castle where the builders are using the same techniques and materials used in the Middle Ages.  However, we did see a water hose hidden in the brush and also they did have electricity for a camera that was mounted on the top of the castle.  All that being said, it was a pretty cool place to visit and explore.  Almost like an actual Renaissance Festival atmosphere.  I wonder if they will have Ren Fest's here once they are done (in 2027).  We also ate lunch there which was food from the Middle Ages as well and in much need of some pizazz.

After spending a good amount of time at Guedelon, we drove to visit Jerome's grandmother Mamy in her nursing home.  It was a short visit and she seemed very happy to see Jerome - her memory doesn't last very long and she nearly doesn't recall who he is.  She's in her 90's, so what do you expect?

One cutish~sad story while we were there mingling with the old folk.  The lady in pink on the right has decided that she doesn't want to be there anymore and if we could just open the door, she will be on her way. Under her arm are some clothes. Every time they told her that they couldn't let her leave, she would say "Merde, Merde, Merde (which means $h!t, $h!t, $h!t), if I had known that, I would have never come here".

After our short trip we headed to Fulvy to visit cousins Claudette & Robert.  This is a typical stop on our way from Paris to the French countryside.  Because we had friends with us, I asked Jerome if it would be OK if we take a look at Mamy's house that is still in the family and is just down the road a piece.  We were given the keys.  As we headed there, we were about to pass by the village cemetery where some of Jerome's family is buried.  Dee had mentioned that she wanted to visit a cemetery, so this would be a perfect one to visit.  While walking around, suddenly there appeared on the hill behind the cemetery wall, a sheep - baaing.  We talked to the sheep, who seemed very interested in living people in the cemetery.  Next time we looked up, the sheep was gone.  In short order, the sheep brought another sheep over to see us and soon was accompanied by yet another sheep.  They were very curious about us.  So cute.

Onwards to Mamy's house.  It's an interesting place that hasn't been lived in for years.  Jerome says that his aunts and uncles come and stay during the summer months.  Otherwise the place is completely closed up.  Once inside, it has a very strong mildew smell, no indoor plumbing, thick stone walls, a garden area with the compost pile that Jerome and his brothers were told to pee into when they were little boys.

Needless to say, this place has potential.  I could see putting a bit of money into this place and actually (dare I say...) living there. Jerome was slightly excited about that prospect and put the bug in the ears of his parents.  "Don't sell" the place because we want to buy it.  Oh man, if they ever decide to sell and don't tell us, there will be hell to pay.

After our visit we started heading to Corgoloin, still in separate cars, our friends wanted to stop at the next interesting village that we were driving through while traveling to Jerome's parents house.  Semur en Auxois is a medieval village with turrets and towers.  We stopped for some quick pictures.  

While we were busy doing some sight-seeing, Daniel & Francoise raced back to the house to prepare dinner.  I believe what we had were elausettes son tate fries - will have to check that with Jerome...

Then it was the politics of where we were going to sleep.  Usually we are in the basement or the guest bedroom, but this time it was different.  Jerome's parents wanted us (for whatever reason) to be on the same floor as our friends, so they gave us their bedroom and our friends took the guest bedrooms. This caused quite a ruckus, all in French, but as usual we didn't win.  I had never even seen the inside of their bedroom before and now I was sleeping in their bed - weird.  At least this night I slept well.