Day 12: Huisme to Beaumont en Veron

August 21, 2024

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Our spot in Huisme was rather cool, in that it comprised a classical stone house that had been renovated with all modern conveniences. The drawback though was that there were beams at crazy angles and low, angled ceilings everywhere. We banged our heads repeatedly.

We cycled back the few kms to Usse castle, where the visit would be our main activity for the day.

The castle has a really long history. Construction started around the year 1000, when the castle was mainly a fortress. It remained in an austere mode for about 500 years, before it began to transform from a fort to more of a pleasure palace. It had an amazing number of owners during its history, with a number of sales seeming to stem from people going broke trying to maintain it. It survived the Revolution with a lot of trauma but not too much permanent damage or loss. The final ownership transfer between families happened in 1885, and the family that took over then still lives there, though we could not figure out quite where in the building.

Although the castle makes a big deal about being the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty, the story does not seem to have played a big role in the lives of the castle families over the years. The story is about a princess cursed by an evil fairy to sleep for a hundred years before being awakened by a handsome prince. A good fairy, knowing the princess would be frightened if alone when she would wake , uses her wand to put every living person and animal in the palace and forest asleep to awaken when the princess does. This theme can be traced to the 14th century and before, but someone called Charles Perrault put out a version in 1697 that explicitly was said to refer to Usse. This was picked up by the Brothers Grimm and later Walt Disney, and the rest is literally history!

The castle overlooks the river Indre, with the Loire nearby as well.

Unlike some chateaus, Usse is quite fully furnished, with 17th century fittings. But it has another feature, in that there are many areas left in a fairly wrecked state - just revealing the kind of jumble and dust that will always be part of an old place, unless meticulously restored. I found this an interesting touch.

Steps to the dungeon. The actual room is dark, dusty, and with only a crack of light. Not fun. People could get thrown in there for quite trivial matters, like disputes over grazing rights.

I think I lived in some student housing around McGill that also had a basement much like this.

Up in a tower, we see the wood construction.

However, the restored interior apartments are extremely elegant.

Some of this is marble and some is marble painted.

An elaborate desk - the signage had a name for the style, but I missed it.

I would be embarrassed to have four people carrying me like this.

This room was characterized as where a King would be stashed, should he ever visit, which never did happen.

Looking out from a tower toward the town of Rigny.

One tower was given over to a series of rooms holding dioramas illustrating the Sleeping Beauty story.

The growing princess was protected from the outside world.

The final scene, with the arrival of the handsome prince.

Just as with the basement and attics, the property reveals its former stables, wines caves, and wine pressing activities in outbuildings.

I didn't feel this was a buggy "collection" but rather the families' old junk buggies that they never took to the dump.

A pretty sturdy wine press. I once had a smaller version of something like this.

Since this is France, lots of wine bottles would need to be in stock.

The names and sizes. Some, like "Magnum" are familiar.

The chapel, from 1528, is still in use by the family.

All chateaus have lovely gardens, with fruit trees, flowers, and usually vegetable plants. Usse particularly features orange trees in pots.

Flowers and stone always go well together.

The castle provided kids with a treasure hunt/questionnaire that they could turn in at the end. Successful kids then received a sort of diploma. Our kids are now all graduates of Usse!

Amelia got a gift from Dodo of a blank drawing book. She felt the first blank page was too important to just start drawing on, so here she is on page 2.

KIDS' TAKE

Evee:

today was my favorite castle so far!!!

these pictures were made with the hairs of a cat's whiskers laterally

if you know the movie "The princess bride" than you will understand the next joke, here is a lot of Angio Montoya's :) this was for my cosine Jareth 😊❤️👍

this donkey horse looked at me so i could catch a photo of it

this DONKY did not like photos and only showed me its butt or body, I think I just have a curs because when little Joe came around the donkey showed him his full face just when i put my camera away

our hotel today was laterally in the middle of knower

love from Eve❤️

Joe:

this Italian cabinet has 49 drawers!!!!!!!!!!

apparently 1000 years ago they had baseball caps on their statues!!!

Today was a good day and I wish my cosine Jareth was here with me and my mom Sabrina :)

Steve back in for a bit: Our spot for the night is more like an albergue than any of the previous ones. There are four stacked bunk beds and one double bed, all in the same room.

Kids find entertainment in a spare corner of the room.

Today's ride: 22 km (14 miles)
Total: 255 km (158 miles)

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Annette SchneiderInteresting photos and story. I think that everyone is enjoying the trip now, yay!
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4 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Annette SchneiderThey are more accustomed to cycling the daily distances and do seem to be happier in general.
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4 months ago

Gina OrchardI cannot wait for Jareth to see today’s adventures and animals! We had a busy day today so please let the kiddos know that J’s ❤️s and comments will be on their way tomorrow 😉 The castle looked like an excellent adventure! And yes, it appears the kiddos have found their groove in the daily routine/schedule - yay!!!
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4 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Gina OrchardFinding your cycling "legs" takes about a week to 10 days, even for seasoned cyclists. These three have done really well and if they did not have to return for school would probably be able to go on for many more weeks/kms. We will check tomorrow for J's input. Dodie
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4 months ago