France - Day 1

France - Day 1, If you thought we might have had enough of castles by now, well you have thought wrong. How can you get sick of castles when ones like this keep popping up on the map? Today we visited Château de Pierrefonds, a magnificent castle just half an hour from where we are staying. After 8 hours on the road yesterday and arriving in a wonderfully quaint French village and a comfy holiday home an easier day was called for... it was nice to have something close by to see.

Château de Pierrefonds was initially built in 1396, King Louis XIII then decided to demolish some of the castle in May 1617 so his enemies could not use it against him, Between 1857 and 1885 Napoleon III commissioned to have the castle restored to its former glory, including a number of romantic idealistic additions by his architect.

On the way home from visiting Château de Pierrefonds we stopped by a British war memorial, the resting site of 612 soldiers (British) just a 'handful' of the approx 8 million of soldiers killed on the western front during world war 1. It was a poignant  reminder how tragic and destructive this war was to soldiers and civilians alike. The country side here is dotted with hundreds of cemeteries and memorials, cared for in perpetuity by the french people as tribute to those who died.

Our holiday home in France, driving skills were tested getting in and out of the drive way with only 2-3 centimeters to spare on either side of the van.

Some of the interesting sights from inside the castle, the statues Samuel is standing in front of are just a few of the many down in the cellar of the castle, each one represents someone of renown from France's past that have contributed in some way to the "glory of France"

Pretty cool place to chill out for lunch, not every day you sit down for lunch with such an amazing view.

British war memorial, a sobering reminder of the the tragedies and horrors of war.