Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales all over again…..CS Lewis

We were in bed nice and early last night, needing a good night’s sleep for our epic adventure to the Chateau de Cerisay. Dead to the world at 1.30am and we were rudely awoken by the phone ringing. When you are overseas and the phone rings in the middle of the night, you do panic a bit thinking it’s someone from home. Cecile answered it and it was a locksmith who was returning a call from her daughter. Argghhhhhh…

Once awake, we both struggled to get back to sleep. I think I dozed on and off a bit but basically laid there most of the night, trying to get some more zzz’s in. It was such a relief when the alarm went off at 6.30 this morning and we could just get moving. We packed everything up, reduced our bags to just the 3 suitcases and our backpacks and went out to wait for the taxi. Our licorice allsorts suitcases sat in a row waiting. He arrived on the dot of 7.30 and we made our way into the Beauvais train station.

I’ve noticed that all the taxi drivers here insist on putting your bags in the car. I feel bad as they are so heavy but they all say “it’s my job”. We certainly don’t always get that in Australia. The other thing is, they are all great when we say we don’t speak French. There are so many people who say they won’t try to speak English to you but we haven’t found that at all. Perhaps because we apologise for not being able to speak French.

As we sat at Beauvais train station, we were a bit apprehensive about the trip. We don’t speak nor read French and the signs can be a bit daunting. We went out to the platform early and realised the train was already there at a different platform to where we thought. So we headed into the elevator (thankfully) and got to the platform in plenty of time to board the train. Sitting in our seats, we started to worry if we were on the right train, but eventually the destination was on the board and we knew we were okay.

Travelling through the French countryside, you realise what a gorgeous country this really is. It really is an artist’s delight. It wasn’t long before we were at Gare du Nord station and we had to make our way to Montparnasse to catch the next train to Les Mans. With all our bags, we thought it might be wiser to just take a cab there instead of trying the subway. We had looked at maps and it said it was an 9 minute drive.. Not too bad. So we walked out to the official taxi rank and got into a cab. The price to get there ended up being 95 euro and we were pretty sure we’d been ripped off but what can you do?

But I have to say, it was glorious being in Paris again and while I snapped a few shots, none are fantasic as the taxi was moving while I was trying to shoot. Anyway, we were at Montparnasse in time to get a bit of breakfast and a drink for the 2.5 hour trip to Les Mans where we would be picked up. The train was absolutely packed and we were sitting in a seat which folds down right at the door, so everytime someone wanted to get on or off they had to squeeze past us and our bags, but no one seemed to mind. It’s just regular commuting for them I guess. The seats weren’t comfy though and by the time I arrived I had a sore bum and back.

We got off and made our way down the ramp, trying to work out which side we should meet David who was picking us up. As we were trying to work it out, another lady who had been in our carriage approached us and asked if we spoke English. It turns out she too was going to be at the Chateau so the three of us managed to find which side to be on. Then we saw some other ladies with suitcases and we assumed they were with us too so we asked them and sure enough, we all made our way together to the van where David was waiting to drive us to the Chateau.

Again, we made our way through different French countryside. It was about a 45 minute drive to the chateau but by the time we made it there, friendships had already been made. Seven of us travelled together with David and we were already chatting and finding out about each other. It is so wonderful when that happens as it’s easy to feel unsure when you first meet people. One of the other Aussies, Tania, had been to one of these before so was excited to be returning, albeit to a different chateau. The rest of us were novices but equally excited. There was Cate, Shohreh, Beth, Tania, Monica, Cecile and myself as well as Lauri who joined us after we got there. I already knew by then this was going to be an experience of a lifetime.

The chateau is just divine. Chandeliers abound. I can’t even find the words here. It is everything I could ever have dreamed of and more. It has a moat and turrets and is just beautiful. As we all piled through the doors into the stunning interior, David showed us around a bit then we all had a welcome glass or two of champagne and a delicious charcuterie platter. Now this is living. We then got our rooms. Cecile and I have a wing of our own, each with our own bathroom but a shared staircase and landing. My bed is stunning and looks like a princess should sleep there. My bathroom has a deep bath and another chandelier. We are on the first floor. I will take more photos tomorrow but I just snapped a few quick shots on my phone to show you all tonight. I was too busy chatting to do much more than that.

We wandered off to have a look at a few of the other rooms, up other staircases and were every bit as impressed by those rooms. As I walked down one end of the corridor, I didn’t notice that there was a step and I fell quite heavily on my knees. It took me a few minutes to get back up again, partly because I’d hurt myself, but also because I was laughing at myself for being such a clutz. I limped back down again and went and sat for a bit chatting to Beth and Cecile. We chatted away for ages and a few others came and went. Everyone joined in and conversation flowed freely.

I walked out to the kitchen to get a drink of water and met Phil, our chef for the first few days. The kitchen smelled divine and I knew dinner was going to be delicious. Not long after that, Lauri arrived and introduced herself around to us all. Within no time we were being called for dinner and I was right, it was delicious. We were served roast lamb with root vegetables, beets in sauteed lettuce with dressing, green beans and almonds (omg, to die for) and a pasta with fennel, tomatoes and garlic as well as French bread and butter.

Coupled with a lovely red wine, we were absolutely spoiled on our first night here. As dinner went on, we went around the table, introducing ourselves and talking a bit about what we would be doing here and about our art practise. I tell you I feel very humbled to be around this group of women. They are all amazing with different modes of art and have so much experience in all aspects of their chosen art forms. I can already tell that I am going to get so much inspiration from them.

I have already enticed some of them to pose for me while I work from here and I can’t wait to get to know them a bit more so I can work out what I want to do with them. It is all so exciting. Tomorrow we go to Les Mans in the morning for a marchand which is, I think, a bit like a flea market I guess. We will see tomorrow. This is where I hope to grab a few costumes to use here. I am sitting in my bed in my gorgeous room while I type this and am ready for sleep. I can’t wait to wake up here in the morning, and enjoy the company of amazing people.. Until then…

Happy having your dreams come true… Livvy xxx