In the Neighborhood ... Jaulzy

Jaulzy ... north of Paris ... midpoint between Compiegne and Soissons ... small village featuring the pearl-of-a-gite discovered by my dear husband via the internet ... home-base for the first half of our French get-away.

After traveling through a few extra countries along a more scenic route than we had planned (thanks to the non-driver neglecting to check the appropriate boxes on the navigation screen), we turned off the main "highway" and attempted to mimic the windy, magenta path of the little car on the GPS screen.   Upon arriving, we met an older, bubbly, French lady who gave us the grand tour of the gite, explained the keypad outside the front door, and asked us some personal (purely speculative on my part) questions ... all in French.  Not a lick of English.  My "Bonjour, Madame" did not advance the conversation a bit!  Still, even with this incredible lack of communication, she handed us the keys and let herself out the door with an "Au revoir." 

While most of us began to settle in or to prepare dinner, others took to exploring their immediate surroundings. 

The narrow one-way lane running in front of the gite

The church just up the hill from the gite

After dinner, the rest of us joined in the explorations of the neighborhood.  Two cameras snapping consistently still could not keep up with all our eyes beheld.

A small chateau down the hill from the gite

A neighbor's lovely garden and view of the valley

Sometimes seeing is not enough ... sometimes you just need to become one with your surroundings ...

One of the things that I think surprised my mom (yes, she is brave to travel with us!) was how patient you need to be in order to see the sun set in our neck of the woods.  The photograph below was taken around 10 PM-ish! 

View from just outside the front of the gite

Throughout the week, we shopped the Compiegne market, caught a scene of "Merlin" being filmed at Pierrefonds Castle, visited Noyons - the birthplace of John Calvin, and endured the rain to investigate the ruins of Chateau de Coucy.  At the end of the day, it was good to come "home."

Hangin' out at/of the gite