And through the magic of digital wizardry……zap!! we’re back in France! The day after visiting the forges of the
Compte de Buffon we visited a very (I WILL not use the word charming) nice “medieval”
city of Noyers..
Dating back to (they think) roman times, but became
important in the 11th and 12th century. It is nestled in a meander of the Serein, it’s
full of half timbered buildings and pleasant little alleys, with cafes, and
little shops.
1222
1207
It also has a number of little markets and what we would now
call food trucks with all sorts of locally grown or made good stuff, including God's gift of food.
Plus there were several open air markets on this cloudy and
misty day, which somehow kind of fit the place.
Lovely food fresh from the surrounding farms
Including these lovely artichauts
And cut flowers of all kinds
Just a very nice place to wander around. No cars either..
Kind of an interesting aside, when we first arrived and
walked into the courtyard where the some of the food trucks were, Matthew said “uh
oh this is not good!” What’s the
matter? Well, this is where he meets the
fish monger every week to get fish for the kitchen on the barge, and there was no
fish monger! About this time in the
middle of the medieval village, his 21st century cell phone rang,
and it was said fish monger. The truck
had broken down on the way to the market.
After a bit of conversation (in French) Matthew allowed as how he would
have to go to where the broken truck was and obtain the fish. These kinds of things happen when you truly “Buy
local”. So he abandoned us so to speak
and off he went in the van to get the fish.
That was fine, we all sort of wandered around the little
streets to see what we could see.
Just lovely little places tucked here and there to discover
Besides the markets and stuff there were a fair amount of galleries and
little craft shops, and MFO managed to help the local economy a fair amount. We did find a little shop and lady who did
beautiful medieval illuminations Her
name was Diane…..Calvert!! Of course
that name has special meaning to us St. Mary’s City people (George Calvert,
Lord Baltimore who founded St. Mary’s City).
However, this one came from Texas!
After an hour or so, Matthew and fish reappeared and we
bussed back to the barge for lunch
Well, there was food also.
After lunch and a rest, we toured a 16th century renaissance Chateau, which is being restored. No pictures were allowed inside, but it had beautiful antiques and paintings and so on. After that return to the barge, get ready for cocktails and
After lunch and a rest, we toured a 16th century renaissance Chateau, which is being restored. No pictures were allowed inside, but it had beautiful antiques and paintings and so on. After that return to the barge, get ready for cocktails and
DFD
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