The Journey Home

After a quick overnight stop in Spain, it was lovely to cross the border into France and be in a country where we could speak the language.

We stayed the first night in a town called Saintes just north of Bordeaux. The hotel was very nice and set in fabulous grounds. It was very early in the morning when I took my pics and they were not particularly spectacular and didn’t do it justice, so I have included a couple from the hotel website too.

We had a luxurious room with french windows overlooking the parkland and the lake. It had a huge bath and I felt that I had to have a dip, well it would have been rude not to! Fabulous.

Dinner was very good in the gourmet restaurant, we both had duck for main course and a glass of the most fabulous red wine. French food at this level is amazing, this was such a treat.

I cannot explain the ghostly apparition in this one! There was nothing in front of me and yet this mist appeared on the photo.

Our final night in France was up near Roscoff. I am actually writing this blog on a very rocky ferry as we make our way back across the channel from Roscoff to Plymouth. I am sitting in a cabin with and the waves keep splashing past the window! I think the swell is probably quite large even though there is not supposed to be much wind.

Anyway, back to Brittany and Chateau Quelennec. We had a great stay there, we were the only guests. They had 40 hectares of parkland and we walked down through the woods with the dogs. It is a very beautiful place. The owners, Mike and Zina also have a chocolate labrador who came along with us for the ride.

This is a wonderful place to stay and the owners could not do enough for us. It is run more as a chambre d’hote than a hotel, really comfortable and friendly. The chateau has been restored to its former glory inside and it is every bit as special as you would expect it to be. Oozing french style it was glorious and we really enjoyed sitting in front of the open fire in the parlour. We ate our dinner at a beautifully laid table in front of the fire, the flames reflected in the crystal glasses. Very christmassy and so comfortable.