Worms, Wolves and Feudal Castles

I can honestly say I have never seen, nor wanted to see a worm do a poo. It was Alex who pointed this little moment out to me while we were waiting for Amby at the swimming pool. This photo is for you, Felix. All the white clay surrounding the worm is old poo. Pooh pooh! There's another photo for you soon (something large and furry).

Alex discovering the worm poo.

But then all is well with a (strawberry) flower or two

Today is the fete de maman's or Mother's Day in France and after receiving my very artisitic presents from Amby and Alex over pain a chocolat, we went for a drive to see some châteaux. I felt on familiar ground with the scenery - more like what I expect from France - flatter, with more fields and fewer houses.

The first we visited was the feudal chateau de Gy, originally owned by the archbishops of nearby Besancon from11the century up to the revolution, and later the bishop of Besancon, so it's a mixture of styles.

(By the way I coudn't find much info on the chateau on the web but I did stumble across this - If you're at all interested in buying a castle take a look at this link http://www.green-acres.com/en/properties/2258a-191s101.htm - its' nearby and an absolute steal at AUD 1,319,136 considering. I mean each floor is 600m2!!!! alternatively, this; http://www.green-acres.com/en/prog_show_properties-rf--dp-25+39+70+90-r-franche_comte-cn-fr-rg-franche_comte-type-properties-i-80-p_n-2.html).

Sigh, anyway, back to the real world.

Here's Chateau le Gy, owned by Thibaud de Rougemon Bishop of Besancon certainly during 1406 (recorded in records for the 100 year war). Again, I can find no information on the web so I will have to ask Ange's help in translating.

The wardrobes were at least double sized, really awesome in height. Can you imagine how high the ceilings were?

The Bishop would have been escorted to Besancon in this, using serfs to carry him.

The Bedroom - stunning! look at the fireplace below.

Another bedroom. This is a day bed - According to Ange the person would have slept in a half-sitting position, legs outstretched, which accounts for the shortness of the bed (so it's not a Napolean syndrome then). How uncomfortable.
Notice the mezannine floor above - it contained a writing desk.

And now for Felix - the animal room. Felix asked me recently about whether their were wolves in France. An interesting question as I have always asociated them with Europe but have not really thought about them in depth. It turns out theat they are certainly around Russia and eastern Europe, but are also slowly being reintroduced to southern France after being hunted out completely during the Middle Ages. From what I could find at short notice (lots on werewolves!) it seems that a fable originates from France called 'Le Petit Chaperon Rouge' which resembles the Little Red Riding Hood so well known from the Brothers Grimm tale, and which may have originally been called 'Little Golden Hood'. This tale was apparently told to youung women to dissuade them from talking to strangers. There, Felix, I bet you didn't know that!

Anyway, there I was on Mother's Day, walking throught a castle when I see the most enormous wolf skin. Not only that, but there are other animals all throught the main hall - we see sangliers and their young, ferrets, owls, wild cats (the type that Ange ate), huge deer and more. Amby and Alex were afraid to go in! Eventually all were pursuaded to go in and see....