The Whole Gang in Lavardin...

After the 10K, Vivynne, Tony and Ariana joined us for a simple lunch in Lavardin. We visited the 11th century church, which had recently discovered frescoes hidden behind all the painted walls around the church. Unfortunately, the castle ruins were closed. However, we did get to visit Aprille’s art studio in a cave. We also saw her Japanese tea house and garden built on the hill above the cave with a direct view of the ruins. Just before we left, we got Aprille to take the only shots of the whole gang this trip.

Pretty Yellow Flowers, Ugly Name...

Monday morning we got an early start as Aprille and Bill (who unfortuately had missed Easter dinner due to a cold) had invited us to take place in an organized 10K walk in their village of Lavardin. Ariana wasn’t feeling well, so Tony and Vivynne stayed behind while the rest of us set out for a beautiful walk through the French countryside. Sally and I laughed at our husbands as they threw Frisbees to the kids down the country lanes. At the halfway point, there were sandwiches, goat cheese, chocolate and wine despite it only being 10am. The rapeseed (known as canola in the US) was in full bloom and made for great photos. 

New Activities at the Chateau...

We had a few new activities this year at the Chateau, but the biggest hit was definitely David and Andrew’s metal detector, which provided hours of fun. Here Max, Andrew and Ashlynn are testing it out searching for foil eggs they may have missed in the hedges.
Veronica and David got into the act later in the woods (and so did Jimmy and John) where they found several rusty horseshoes, lots of nails and 3 rotted coins ranging from 1911 to 1923. The coolest find was a mini hand-held periscope. Our imaginations ran wild as we read the history of the Chateau and conjectured that it might have been owned by the Dutch couple that hid Allied pilots at the Chateau during WWII. Sadly, their story doesn’t have a happy ending as they were turned in by a carpenter they had hired; the wife died in a concentration camp and the husband died en route. While our story won’t be included in the historical records, the Chateau will always be part of our family history. 

Our 4th Easter at the Chateau...

We arrived back at the Chateau on Friday night, and Sally, John and the boys arrived the next evening. It was our smallest Easter egg hunt yet with only six kids, so the Easter bunny mixed things up by putting the chocolate eggs on the front lawn. Strangely, many of the eggs had pock marks on them as if they’d been pitched onto the gravel from a third floor window. 
Vivynne was once again the master chef for the Easter feast and made leg of lamb and chicken. Jimmy was in charge of the killer chocolate cake. Ginger and Bobby, who are staying at the Chateau from March through June, also joined us. Veronica is missing from this photo as she played photographer from her favorite spot--the windowsill. 

Fun with Animals...

After we watched two rounds of milking, we wandered around some. No doubt that Veronica’s favorite section was the nursery with the newborn kids. The youngest were kept in separate pens, but some of the older ones were running around. This one thought that Veronica’s hair was yummy. While we never actually saw any cheese being made, we were happy to buy some for our Easter feast. 
Ashlynn was disappointed to have missed the goat farm, but she had fun meeting a peacock at a chateau we toured. While he appeared agitated with all the visitors, he didn’t seem to mind posing for photos. Back at the Chateau, she enjoyed playing with Ginger and Bobby’s 6-month-old sheepdog Deja. 

Love that Goat Cheese!

On our drive back to Sarlat, Jimmy noticed a sign for a fromagerie. Thinking we might get to see how cheese is made, he hung a u-turn. Much to our surprise, we got to visit the goat farm itself and our timing was perfect since it was milking time. The goats marched in without hesitation, were quickly milked by what looked like a torture device (although none of them seemed at all hurt or upset by the process), then marched out again. We were especially surprised when the farmers motioned for us to back up against the wall so that the goats could march right past us.

Appreciating Medieval France...

After the caverns, we headed to Rocamadour for lunch and exploring. We ate crepes at a restaurant with this fantastic view of the quaint medieval village. We enjoyed an easy stroll into town (those of our group who wimped out and caught a ride shall remain nameless.) The village was touristy without being tacky. After ice creams, we ventured mid-way up the hill to the cathedral, which has attracted pilgrims for centuries. We then swapped kids around again and Veronica and Max went to the top of the hill with us to check out the view from the ramparts of the chateau (the chateau itself is privately owned and is closed to the public.)