Cycle Touring in France: Back in time

Yesterday we had another wonderful day cycling across farming country to a place where they are building a medieval castle using the same tools and methods that were current at that time. On the way the farmers were harvesting wheat and it was a fine, pleasant day as we cycled along the quiet country roads. It was not so quiet at Guedelon where coach loads of schoolchildren were visiting the castle site. It is a huge project which started in the 1990's and the castle will not be complete until around 2020. All the craftspeople are dressed in old costumes and work in dedicated areas. There are stonemasons, tilers, blacksmiths, rope makers, potters, carpenters etc and they dig their own clay on site and cut stone from large boulders. It's great for children and adults and we spent a couple of hours walking all over the site and watching the work. After a glass of castle-made cider we cycled to St Fargeau where we had booked a room at an old farm, called 'Castle Farm' in French. The scene we saw on our arrival was a little surprising though. After passing through some large gates we found ourselves in a farmyard that had not changed for over a 100 years. It was a tourist attraction and contained old farm machinery and animals. There were goats, hens, ducks, peacocks and several dogs all running around in the same area, which also had a duck pond and manure heap! When we were led to our rooms I thought the kitchen looked a bit dirty, but it turned out to be one of the exhibits. The whole area had a farmyard smell and in the morning a donkey forced open the window and started eating the curtain.

Today we had another easy cycle towards the Loire and headed north, again through farming country to Chatillon sur Loire where we are now staying for the night. Its claim to fame is a series of locks and channels that were used to enable boats to cross the Loire from canals on either side. It is now an historic site although there are lots of pleasure craft moored here. It is also a haven for water birds and a prime fishing spot.

On our way from Colognes la Vineuse to Guerdelon Castle