OK, now let me explain a little bit about the place we're staying in and the area we're in. "Chateau l'Ecuyer" is a 16+ bedroom chateau in a small countryside town called Marasins (you can try googling it but I think the population is in the 3-figure range so it might not be on any maps). The closest large town near Marasins is Libourne which is about 30ish km south-east. Basically we're smack bang in the middle of one of the best wine producing areas of Bordeaux. Most days Heidi and I will go for a walk and try to find a local local village that's close by to explore. There are lots of villages within walking distance but getting there is a little disorientating, the country roads are easy to get lost on and signs are a luxury. We've also done a lot of xploring around the medieval towns that litter the region here, the cobbleston roads and crooked houses are really interesting.
Saying that the chateau is big doesn't really do it any justice, I did a really rough calculation and I think the volume of one large bedroom is about the same as my entire 2 bedroom apartment in Melbourne. They really don't build them like they used to. The ceilings here are very high (10ft -12ft+) and you can hear an echo in the smallest rooms. There are 16 rooms available to us in the main house and about another 5 or 6 in the summer house which was a much later attachment to the main house. I'm not sure what the acreage is outside, but it's pretty big. There is a working vineyard, a couple of ponds, a pool (yes, I've had a dip) and bbq area and of course a forest out the back (we're not sure exactly where the forest ends, so we're not sure how much land there is here). Not a bad spot to spend some time huh...
The town of Marasins is beautifully simple, it consists of a bakery, a butcher, grocery shop, a church and a post office - everything you need within 100 meters. There is only one road in to town and one road road out, its one of those places that you would miss if you blinked on the drive through. Our chateau is in the middle of 'town' and is opposite the church so we get the church bells in the morning to wake us up, its a nice background sound to have. Heids and I have been for a few walks in the morning and the countryside is picture-perfect. We've walked to the surrounding villages and meet a few locals who told us a bit about the area. Most land here has vineyards that produce a lot of the French wine that gets exported overseas, we were able to sample lots of the local produce as well as a few bottles of the "Chateau l'Ecuyer" which is a surprising good homebrew.
We thought we might get a white Christmas in France but in fact we had ourselves a bright blue Christmas, most days have a top around 10 deg and a minimum of negative something at night. Staying with us at the chateaux are 11 of Heidi's family, so it'd been busy every day. Special mention has to go to Chris for his culinary skills, we've been eating some superb food here. I think the people in Europe really get in the spirit of te season more than people at home, there are festivals, special christmas markets, everything is decorated and the locals are really friendly. On Christmas eve, out of the blue, we had a visit from the local Santa who delivered some toys for the 3 young girls staying here. Pretty impressive for such a small community.
Heidi and I are staying here for another few days then catching a fast train to Paris to meet up with some friends for new years.
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