July 28, 2004
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Au revoir , les vacances !
Good bye to the holidays !
English version below the pictures
Les vacances sont finies pour nous . Nous fîmes deux courts voyages . Le premier en Touraine dans la vallée de la Loire ( la vallée des Rois de France ) où l 'on trouve de nombreux châteaux et vignes ! Le second dans l ' est de la France en Alsace , près de la frontière allemande , très pittoresque et produisant un excellent vin . Là nous avons eu le plaisir de rencontrer une amie Xangan , BB of Light qui vint d ' Allemagne avec son mari pour nous voir . L ' amitié n ' est plus virtuelle . Pour rentrer nous avons traversé la Champagne et la Bourgogne . Je n ' ose pas dire le nombre de bouteilles que nous avons rapportées .
Mais quand nous rentrâmes à la maison ,
Le potager criait
Les mauvaises herbes ricanaient
Les haies grandissaient
Le chœur de l ' église attendait
Et moi je pleurais …
Par conséquent je suis débordé , comme d ' habitude , comme tous les retraités . Chacun sait cela . Mais j ' ai à recommencer mes entrées hebdomadaires pour mes amis de xanga .
Ci - dessous vous pouvez voir la photo du Château de Saumur dans la vallée de la Loire . J ' ai toujours admiré son aspect . Il me fait rêver . C ' est un ancienne forteresse du XIV ème siècle modifié à la Renaissance ( voyez les fenêtres ) . Le château domine la ville de Saumur bien connue dans l ' Histoire de France . Aujourd ' hui Saumur est célèbre par son école de cavalerie et spécialement par "Le Cadre Noir " qu 'on peut comparer à l ' Ecole de Vienne . En 1940 les jeunes officiers et les cadets de cavalerie résistèrent courageusement à l ' envahisseur .
Château de Saumur Photo taken by Michel Fauquet 2004
Château de Saumur Saumur Castle Photo M Fauquet 2004
The holidays are ended for us . We did 2 short trips . The first in Touraine in The Loire 's Valley ( French Kings Valley ) where there are many castles and vineyards . The second in Eastern France in a region called Alsace near the German border , very picturesque and producing an excellent wine . There , we had the pleasure to meet a Xanga friend BB of Light who came from Germany with her husband to see us . Friendship was no more virtual .We came back through the Champagne and Burgundy . I dare not say how many bottles we brought back .
But when we back home :
The vegetable garden was shouting
The weeds were laughing
The hedges were growing
The Church Choir was waiting
And me I was crying !!!
So , I am overwhelmed as usual , like all of the retired people ! ( Everyone knows that ) . But I had to start again my weekly entries for my Xanga friends .
Above you can look at the picture of the Saumur Castle in the Loire Valley . I always have admired its look , so proud . It makes me dream . It is an ancient fortress built in the XIV century and modified at the Renaissance time ( see the windows ) .. The castle dominates over the town of Saumur well known in the history of France . . Nowadays Saumur is famous for its cavalry school and especially " Le Cadre Noir " that can be compared to the Vienna School . In 1940 the young officers and students of cavalry resisted courageously 3 days to the invaders .
Comments (94)
vous etes revenu !
la joie.
Sounds like you had a wonderful vacation. What beautiful pictures.
Tu m'as manqué, Michel. Je suis bien contente que vous avez eu du plaisir. Le château est incroyable! As-tu par hasard vu un Prince Charmant dans ses alentours?
Wow... what wonderful pictures! I am so glad you enjoyed your vacation.
That castle is amazing!!
I'm glad you had a nice trip. I wish I could come and have a glass of wine with you!
Great to see you back, Michel!!! Welcome!
The castle is very beautiful. It makes me feel like dreaming too.
I am happy that you had a good adventure. The house and all of the duties are always waiting for you when you get home. It is good to be home!
Nice to have you back. I am enchanted by the castle.
that castle is awesome~! welcome back, michel. you have been missed
~janny
Quel magnifique chateau!!!
Et je te remercie pour la belle 'surprise'!!! C'est arrivé dans le courrier d'hier. Ca m'a fait chaud au coeur!!
Merci!!!
That is an absolutely beautiful castle. I wish we had that sort of history here. But there isn't anything remotely like it. I'm green with envy.
Missed you, and am very glad you're back!!
Nina
Bon retour, Michel!!!
J'ai fait trois châteaux dans la Loire, mais pas celui-ci qui ressemble d'ailleurs étrangement à un château quelque part en Bavière. J'ai aussi vu les chevaux espagnols à Vienne.
J'adore ton petit poème, plein d'humour.
Avec toute mon amitié.
Clara
the pictures are beautiful Michel! I'm glad you enjoyed your vacation, but I am also glad you are back.
Tu as une bouteille de champagne pour moi?
S'il vous plait?
K xo
welcome back! it's been a while my friend
the castles are simply beautiful
Bounjour! I subscribed because I was so excited to see french. I went to a bilingual school from kindergarden to 6th grade and became fluent but am slowly losing the paths in my memory to the language. I was (and am) much better at verbal so I am practicing my written skills by reading your site. Hopefully, I will with time feel confident enough to comment in french.
Thank you for the wonderful site!
Hello Michel Nice to see you. Your castles are wonderful and beautiful to look at. Glad you enjoyed your holiday and trips away.
What wonderful pictures. I would LOVE to go to the Loire valley and see all of the castles!! And to the Alsace region...heck...EVERYWHERE in France...I wish I was there right now!!
Thanks for sharing. Glad you had a good trip!!
The Loire and Alsace. Wow. What a great vacation.
What beautiful castles. It is so good to have you back among us.
I'm so happy to see you return home to your shouting garden....and to Xanga. Great pictures!
Oh those castles are lovely - I adore Castles! And I am so glad you had fun and even more glad that you are back!! Ive missed you much my friend

good to see you are back again! welcome back
nice pictures as usual =)
ann
Je suis heureux que tu es rentré sain et sauf et que tu as aimé tes vacances. Je suis aussi tellement jaloux, parce que pour vous les français, vous pouvez prendre vos vacances en France.
Malheureusement, je n'ai pas encore visité à l'Alsace... mais j'ai visité brèvement le Loire... et on ne nous permet pas d'apporter plus que deux bouteilles avec nous aux Etats-Unis.
mike
Welcome back Michel
as you see you have been very much missed
. It sounds like a great holiday you had , great photos of the castle
Beautiful pictures as always Michel. It sounds like you had a grand time!!
Can I just say I missed you so very much!! I'm glad you and your wonderful sense of humor are back!!!
Je ne suis pas entièrement sûr comment j'ai trouvé votre emplacement, mais il est merveilleux pour revoir et lire le français. J'ai fait trois ans à l'école et l'employer pour la parler tout à fait bien.
J'ai peur que mon Français soit tout à fait pauvre maintenant, mais je pourrais immobile lu la majeure partie de votre poteau indigène avant de tricher et lire la version anglaise. Architecture tout à fait impressionnante! Et les photographies sont magnifiques aussi bien.
J'espère sincèrement que j'aurai une occasion de voyager à l'Europe quand ma fille est plus âgée.
Malheureusement, il n'y a que quelque chateaux au Canada. Je pense qu'un pays avec des chateaux a beaucoup de caractere.
I've always had something for castles: dominating presence. That was a nice break wasn't it? Time to get back into life!=PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
Maybe someday i can visit you when i step foot in France! *winkz*
more pictures!=P
Welcome back. Lovely pictures. I'm glad you enjoyed your vacation.
Oh, how beautiful. I have wanted to visit France for years...since my high school years, when I took French....the place I most want to visit in France is the Loire Valley...for a very long time, the wish to go there consumed me.....Welcome back....
The picture that you took of Saumur Castle is absolutely gorgeous!! It sounds like you had a lot of fun on your trips, but I am glad to see that you are back and finally posting again!
<3
J'aime bien vos photos....et je suis encore heureuse parce que vous écrivez !
so happy your holidays were wonderful...and so glad your home safely...it is nice to come home to your own bed after a bit away...huggs...Sassy
Poor weeds,vacation tim is finished for them too.
La photo de chateau est magnifique. I think one day I will go to visit the region.....perhaps.
The wines are not bad either.
But the Pinot noir of the alsace and the Tokay-Pinot gris are one my best loved ones.
Good to see you had a good time.
Amitié
Carlo
Welcome back Michel. It sounds like you had a wonderful vacation.
I am glad you are back. I am also glad you had safe trip and a wonderful holiday. By any chance, are you Catholic? I was just wondering. I am Catholic.
Welcome back, Michel!
Your holiday sounded just wonderful, and the places you visited, fascinating.
I love the picture of the castle here! I can imagine the wine you brought back is very nice indeed. 
Lovely for you to have met some fellow Xangans too!
Welcome back! I am glad you enjoyed your vacation! I would enjoy visiting the vinyards of France and I would be bringing home many bottles, too. Several years ago, we toured the wine country of California and enjoyed tasting the wines.
The castle looks lovely. That's another thing I would enjoy seeing in Europe. We don't have them in the US, so they are very intriguing to us. We visited Edinburgh Castle in Scotland and really enjoyed it.
oh, i want to travel so much, thank you, you inspire me so.
Hurray, you came home.
Ah, a castle. I want to live in a castle some day...just dreaming.
We are looking for places to vacation in September.
Welcome back, my friend. Your vacations sound most interesting and enjoyable. The castle reminds me of pictures in storybooks. Soon your garden will be back to normal, and the weeds will be doing the crying, while the vegetables flourish!
Carol
Welcome back Michel. What lovely vacations you had. The pictures are marvelous. I love castles...they make me dream too about days goneby. Do not overdo with the catching up. All seems to wait for us
Sending love to you and Janine and am very happy to have you posting again
Nancy
beautiful pictures.
Je veux boire du vin, mais je ne peux pas. boo.
I thought most of France went away in August! I have been to Paris then and the only French you hear in the street are from the laden-up cars!
Ah, sache bleu! wine, I love the sauternes best, always been a sweet-white wine man.
It sounds like your garden, weeds and hedges had a wonderful time while you were gone!
Bet they are all glad you are back. And I'm glad you got to go and have a wonderful holiday.
I have requested a vacation on the beach in southern Florida during the winter. I hope I didn't just jinx it by telling....like I did last year.
That is a beautiful castle. I'm glad that you had a good and safe trip.
welcome back!
Ces structures sont véritablement belles et très effrayantes.
Je suis heureux que vous ait eu une bonnes vacances. Tout que vous a attendu impatiemment, sera eu tendance une étape à la fois.
Oh, my friend, I will help you and Janine drain those wine bottles! ROFL
The glory of gardening cannot be overstated.
Salud!
How nice to meet your Xanga friend.
I know how vacations can leave you feeling overwelmed when you get home. So much work to catch up on. I'm glad you're back. 
Tes vacances semblent bien! Tu a fait tes vacances avant le mois d'aout. J'ai pense' que c'est quand on a fait les vacances en France.
J'ai apris des choses d'Alsace et j'aimerais y aller quelque jour. J'ai deja visite' la Vallee de la Loire et je l'aime. C'est la region d'ou mes ancestres deviennent.
Bonne journee et bonne chance avec le potager et les mauvaises herbes
"The weeds were laughing"
And so was I.
the pictures are beautiful. it sounds like you had a nice vacation. -dave
Bonjour, Michel! It is Wendy(sweetngcflutie4). While you were away, I switched sites. I have gone ahead and subscribed to you from this username. I will still use sweetngcflutie4, but not often. So I hope that you will follow me over, because I enjoy your comments!
That is so neat that you met a Xangan. I met my first foreign Xangan this month. It is an amazing thing to put a face to someone that you speak with online. It adds that third-dimension to it all.
That is a beautiful castle. I have never seen a castle. I will be seeing my first in December when I will be traveling to Canada. I find castles amazing structures. To read about them and see pictures of them always makes me daydream about what it would have been like back in the past to live in one...
I am so glad that you had a great trip. I am even more happy that you are back! I have missed reading your site so much! Welcome back, my friend. Have a wonderful week!
You are so lucky to be in such a beautiful place full of history !!!!! Thank you very much for sharing your travels ! Just taking another peek through the looking glass of my computer!
Karolyn
@-}-}-
Happy you are back but you probably needed the rest, and it has not lost you any of your followers. I liked the two photos ,that is what I miss in Australia , not enough Cultural buildings when one goes anywhere, they expect you to see old settlers and miners cottages and Australia of 150 years ago. I prefer the Chateaus and Churches and Monastries and Palaces etc. Love Marjie.

Bonjour Michel !! Good to see you back home !!! Giggling about crying in the yard !!! Weeds taking over . What a mess I know. I can only vision you sitting in the yard with one of your bottles of wine, crying !!! Hugs to you ... Rosie
You took lovely pictures of my house J Oh, I mean, what I would love my house to look like anyway. It’s been so long since I checked out your site but I’m glad I came back tonight and had a peek. Lovely.
You take such wonderful pictures and make such great observations that it just makes me want to travel so much more. Thank you! J
Magnifique château
))
Magnifique Michel de retour avec ses belles histoires sur xanga
l'allusion au nombre de bouteilles me fait rire
A votre bonne santé à toute la famille !
amitiés
Le bouteilles que tu as repportés,sont vides?
Amitié
Carlo
Welcome back looks like you had a great time. God Bless you and yours sweety.
Love and Hugs
Aaah! So that's what you were taking a break for! Hehe Well I'm glad you had a good, safe time!
It's a scary movie and I don't take to scary movies well.
Cher Michel! J'aime bien les photos du Château de Saumur. Le château est vraiment beau.
Je suis très heureuse que votre recontre avec bb a été si agréable, avec beaucoup de champagne
Je te remercie encore pour la 2e carte postale que tu m'a envoyé! Je suis très ravie
Merci milles fois et bon weekend!
J'essayerai... mais vous ne pouvez pas le comprendre tout. Eté un long temps!
Thank you for the compliment too. I am very proud of my girls!
J'ai pense' que j'ai deja ecrire une note ici, mais je ne la vois pas.
Merci beaucoup pour le carte postale! Je l'ai recu hier.
bon week-end
The pictures are beautiful and I'm glad you had a good time!
rr
Welcome back Michel.
I'm as happy as your garden to have you back, glad you had a good vacation
It's good to have you back, Michel. Regarding your comment about the "naked ladies:" I never let them go to seed, so as not to take any resouces away from the production of next years blossoms. The leaves of the naked ladies feed the bulbs, of course, but they come up in very early spring. Then they burn up when hot weather comes. The blossoms come up in late July or August sans foliage of any kind. It's a strange schedule, but a good strategy for our climate.
hey Michel
Glad to see you back. I was on a trip too, except that I was working.
Yes, the Democratic convention is over, it was interesting being there for it. I'll be posting details soon.
The pictures in my last post are of fish coming up for the tidbits that people were throwing at them in an amusement park. I don't know which particular fish it is though.
Your vacation sounds wonderful. I hope I'm able to visit France sometime soon
anu
My garden weeds laugh at me every time I go by!! They know they are winning lol!! Ahhh but soon, they will lose for once I get motivated I'll get em
Beautifull pics Michel my friend!!
Glad you're back and had a nice time!!
I want to be where you were right then when you took those pictures! It's so pretty!
VBS means Vacation Bible School.....I was helping out with the vbs crew!
Looks and sounds like you had a wonderful trip. I'm like one of the perennials, glad to have you back..
glad you're back
*LOL*
Yes! its good to see you back on Xanga Michael. I have been to Paris for a week when i was 5 and i remember only some of it -and it was very pretty but the Franch countryside that you show in your posts is so beautiful!! as many people have said above ... i too want to be there
take it easy.
The castle is magnificent. It does seem to stand proudly, doesn't it? I visited a castle in Alsace years ago, but I can't remember its name... I do remember that it was on top of a really high hill; the coach had to travel up a seemingly endless winding road up and up. At the top, when it finally stopped, some of my friends had to rush out because they were sick from the winding drive!
I got the post card and it was wonderful! Thank you so much. It sounds like you had a really great time - can't wait to see more pictures of your adventures.
What a wonderful place to visit. It sounds as if you had a very nice vacation. Such a beautiful castle! Glad that you had fun & thanks for sharing the photos.
Il n'y a pas pire cuisinière que moi. Ce n'est pas parce que je ne sais pas, mais c'est parce que je ne veux pas. Tout ce que je sais faire est du café et de la soupe à laquelle on ajoute de l'eau (soup in a mug.) Je trouve ridicule de passer des heures à préparer un plat qui se mange en 30 minutes. (Chris cuisine très bien.)
Quant à la petite histoire de Chris et de la colonie sur Mars, elle a commencé par mon invasion de deux xangas *amis*, là et puis là et là.
Bonne semaine, Michel.
Merci pour ton amitié.
Clara
Hello Michel,
The look of the Saumur castle is very impressive. Welcome back home from your trip: it sounds like you had a marvellous time! It's always a pleasure to meet a fellow Xangan in person!
Now, the yard work must begin again. Maybe the wine will help you accomplish all that!
Best wishes, and have a wonderful weekend!
Ha ! I know what you mean: I took holiday for the space of one month - I had to go back to work to get some rest!
Welcome back Michel!
Les photos du chateau sont spectaculaire. Vous etes chanceux d'avoir des morceaux encore concretes de l'histoire. Nous en avons quelqu'un au Quebec mais un de mes reves est de voir un jour un chateau ou Stonehenge...quelque chose qui est en existance depuis des cetaines d'annees.... A silent witness to history 
Fantastic pictures of a fantastic place!!! The work waits (and grows!) while we are on holiday, no?
I love what you said about "friendship was no more virtual." Glad you met a new friend face to face.
Yes, I got my post card! I am going to put it on my blog and hadn't had time to do that. (I have been very busy too with my 'weekend husband' home from the big city.) Thank you so much for thinking of me. I was so excited when I recognised your address and handwriting! I am familiar with the wines (and cheese, I think) from Alsace. Thank you again! (((hugs!)))
Welcome back dear friend!! You were very much missed. I always look forward to your blogs and knowing there wasn't going to be any for awhile made me sad.
BUT I am so glad that you had such a great time!!! What a beautiful place Saumer Castle!! Very proud indeed!! Thank you for sharing its beauty with us.
I do love how you described the weeds as "laughing". Perfect description.
Much love and BIG hugs
Sarah
belles photos des chateaux, michel!
voici un super cool site pour vous: http://www.wingedsandals.com.
Beautiful pictures! I'm hoping to see France again sometime soon!! Such a wonderful country.
I hope your garden has quiteted down!
Aubrey
selon mes amis un louveteux (cub) c'est un enfant habillé en idiot, dirigé par des idiots habillés en enfants.
Si non bonne chance pour ton retour des vacances! pas facile, je le sais.
hmmm du champagne, j'ai des tres bon souvenirs, une certain production artisanalle dans laquelle nous avons bu du champagne blanc de blanc, c'estait vraiment genial.
Welcome home!!! What a beautiful castle, how I would love to explore it. Glad you had a chance to get away for a while.
I know what you mean about the garden and weeds. They have been a problem here all summer where it has rained so much.
So nice that you could meet with xanga friends while there. That must be so exciting.
Burgundy and Champagne? Let me guess-I bet you bought 1 of each.
Love
Edie Rose
Michel,
J'aimerais dire merci pour la belle carte postale qu'Anne Marie a envoyé à moi. Comme mon flog a été envahi par un anonym qui écrivait le porno rédige j'ai bloqué le flog pour seulement fotologgers. Comme j'ai écrit là, cette mesure aurait le dérangement comme devenu incapable pour recevoir des commentaires d'amis qui ne sont pas de Fotolog. J'ai un autre flog que vous pouvez visiter et mettre vos commentaires là.
http://www.fotolog.net/meditation/
J'aimais vos images de France. Ils nous stimulent pour visiter votre splendide pays.
Recevez une grande étreinte!
Michel
wow...shame you had to come back to work...
Such beautiful and interesting places. I have some more recent ancestors from Alsace Lorainne...Came here probably in the mid 1800's would be my guess but it would be just a guess. The last name would be Pontious. My great grandmother was a Pontious.
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