Chateau Number 1

Okay, so to get my feet wet (so to say) I took a day trip with my rail pass to a close-by village called, Langeais, home of Langeais Chateau built in the Middle Ages. I have truly learned how dead everything becomes in French culture on Sundays. I was lucky in that when I arrived to the town it was market day so I can present to you some photos of what French markets look like!

....Not exactly what one would always find at a farmer's market. Having gone to another French market like this yesterday with my host family, the French father explained that the French markets have a huge variety and by no means sell just food.

See! And the underwear was conveniently nestled between two sausage booths which I'm not sure was for enticement or what. I cannot make this up.

Mwah! Ha! Ha! Ha! The Food Porn returns!!!!!!!!!!


More to come on later market days in other places.

In the meantime I, of course, visited the chateau. I did this, well, mainly because it was open and I had to do something outside of Angers today. I'm glad I went. It is a self-guided kind of visit or visite-libre here and I highly recommend it for any traveler for numerous reasons.


First, for those who don't really know French, all the information there is multi-lingual with French, English, German, Italian, and other languages posted to guide you through the rooms. Second, for those (like me) who know a decent amount of French but retain the language skills of a little kid, this place is perfect because it is so geared towards educating children. Oh, on that note, it is the only chateau that I yet know of that has a playground on its grounds and one with a super cool treehouse to boot!



Third, it is highly overlooked as a chateau and so the crowds are not really ever an issue to deal with. Fourth, the place is only a five minute walk from the train station which makes seeing it incredibly convient. Actually, everything here was a five minute walk now that I think about it. This includes the cute village hotel with its own restaurant with a great looking prix fixe menu.


This one below is for those of you who are interested in minority studies like me; the portrayal of a black-skinned man in the Middle Ages.


Finally, there is a tea salon across the street from the chateau that is also a chocolate shop that makes their own sweets. The tea selection is very diverse and I think the best buy on the menu as far as drinks go.



I finished lunch today with an absoulutely fabulous "petit gateau" called gargantuan. It was like eating a chocolate cloud covered with chocolate shavings and served on a fluffy, equally cloud-like sweet biscuit. Ah! Heaven. For those interested, it is called Le Cafe Rabelais.


I end with another cute French dog picture from the market today. I see perhaps a theme developing here.