Adventure page

Living like God in France

During my recent stay in the Netherlands, I finally had the opportunity to revisit the country house, bought about twenty years ago by Nico (Paul's brother) and one of his students. The house is located in Santenoge, a small hamlet in the Burgundy region of France, about 50 km north of Dijon.
From Amsterdam it is a 7-8 hours drive. We left early, so we arrived around 3 pm

My first visit was a few months after they had bought it, a lot of renovation still had to be done. Now that was finished and the result was very attractive. Comfortable too, with central heating and wifi..:-)
Here are a few pictures of the house and the interior. There are no shops anymore in the village, we had taken provisions from Holland for the first night and breakfast the next morning.

The house

As seen from the fields

Living room

Kitchen/Dining room

The Library annex guestroom

Living like God in France

Internet connection!

Open fireplace. Cosy!

Breakfast next morning

Christ on the Cold Stone

After breakfast Nico showed me the village. Only a few people live there permanently nowadays, many owners live in the town and come only during weekends and holidays. The village is surrounded by fields and meadows, a perfect place for walks. It was the rapeseed season, everywhere you saw fields with these very yellow flowers.

Cherry(?) blossom

Firewood. Lots of it

War memorial

Characteristic house

Church of Santenoge

with its cemetery

Only a few people live here

Modern renovation

The village of Santenoge

Everywhere rapeseed fields

After a walk we went shopping. Nico decided to go the a supermarket in a small town, quite far away. But our route took us through beautiful countryside, we passed pictoresque villages and visited many churches. The supermarket was heaven for foodies..:-)

Morning walk

Nice forest

Curious cattle

Church of Villars

Interior

Details

Church of Chaugey

Interior

Church of Bure-le-Tempeliers

Interior

Detail

A fortified church

Beautiful landscape

Grancey-le-Chateau

Town gate

Castle of Grancey-le-Chateau

Our shopping destination :-)

Church of Saint Germain (near Grancey)

Another view

Graveyard

Grancey-le-Chateau

After we came back, we enjoyed an aperitif on the terrace of the house, surrounded by peaceful nature. Nico prepared a nice dinner. We had (a lot of) wine, bottled by himself during an earlier visit. In Dutch language we have an expression, which translates as "Living Like God in France". It means leading a good, comfortable life...:-) Yes, we were really living like God in France.

The next day we visited Troyes. Click on the link for more information about this beautiful town. Its history goes back to the Roman era. During the two world wars it has been relatively little damaged, that's why numerous half-timbered houses still exist. And a huge number of churches...:-)

Aperitif

Dinner: Rabbit, leek and roast potatoes

Troyes, characteristic houses

Saint Pantaleon (16 - 18th C.)

Interior

Two (Jewish!) visitors..:-)

Interior

Another church

....

Lumch in a courtyard

Halfway during this day we found a nice courtyard where they served local specialties. Like the Troyes andouillettes (pork intestine sausage).
After our lunch we continued visiting churches. A long nice day.

Feuillete d'andouillettes

Ruelle des Chats (Cat alley)

Cats can easily cross

....

Half-timbered houses

Town hall

Modern art too..:-)

Hotel Dieu (hospital)

St Urbain church (13th C.)

Cathedral of Troyes

Apse of the cathedral

Inside the cathedral

Beautiful stained glass

Left candle lit by me :-)

St Madeleine Church (12th C.)

The famous rood screen (1503)

From the side

Detail

The next day we decided to go for a walk followed by a lunch in what Nico described as one of the best restaurant in the region.
The walk was leading us through a marsh on a wooden walkway, but it had not been raining for some time, so there were hardly any flowers to be seen. The restaurant Sabot de Venus (Slipper Orchid)in the small village of Bure-les-Templiers was indeed a real treat. Look at the menu (see below) for the names of the different courses. Both presentation and taste were superb!