Well, I must thank everyone for the good wishes I received for my birthday first of all of course! I had lovely week of outings and surprises!
After my post last week I thought hubby and I were going out for a quiet meal together and once again all the family turned up - more tears of joy from me!!!
They bought me a surprise present too, that I will report on when I get to use it, and these beautiful flowers!
Now, as promised we return to France and one of the day trips we went on with our lovely friends, my ex sister in law and her hubby!
We went to l'Abbaye Royale de la Reau, which was founded under the protection of Eleanor Of Aquitaine! It has recently been opened up to the public and was a real treat of a place with lots of hidden surprises!!
It has had many uses over the centuries and during the time of the Napoleonic Empire was a boarding school
An invitation to sit down and read!If only we had the time!!
I think I would have needed this prie-dieu if the figure in the bed had moved!
I loved the wallpaper in this room - lots of vignettes of fables
This is where meat would have been stored in the kitchen, although I wasn't sure about the toy lamb being put in there!!
Outside the grounds are being restored too!
We walked across to this tower...
..this was one of many lizards...
…but we have no idea what the tower could have been for!
There were chickens running around on our way back to the carpark and inside the building was a goat.
In order to join Bleubeard and Elizabeth for T stands For Tuesday I am taking you to visit the County Hotel in Carnforth near our caravan. We had lunch there last Saturday before going off to see the murmuration of starlings near Warton Crag.
You can see how patient I have to be...
…to get this man to be sensible!!
Thanks for looking and I hope to visit soon! Chris
What a wonderful place you visited, so many fascinating things to see. I would love to stroll around there. Glad your family treated you so well for your birthday, they evidently really appreciate you. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteanother amazing place to visit-how I LOVE these old chateaux and abbeyes-the furniture, the wallpapers, you name it! Hubby cracks me up-and I know if i show Bill there may very well be a food photo war going on between them:):)
ReplyDeleteFabulous photos of the evening sky with all those birds in flight. Glad you had such a wonderful birthday! Happy T day and a Merry Christmas too!
I'm so pleased to hear that you had a lovely week of birthday celebrations! It sounds like you had some wonderful outings and surprises too with your family and those flowers are beautiful 😁. Your meal looks delicious and the murmuration photos are amazing! I enjoyed seeing your travels to France too, thanks for sharing 😀. Wishing you a Happy T Day and a very Merry Christmas! J 😊
ReplyDeleteI love the last photos, Chris, of the murmuration of the starlings and your most charming husband.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had such an awesome birthday full of surprises and happy tears.
The tour through the l'Abbaye Royale de la Reau was absolutely fascinating!
Happy T-day and Merry Christmas! Hugs, Eileen
awesome post-as always-your birthday flowers are just lovely-your husband is so patient isn't he lol Happy T Day and Merry Christmas
ReplyDeleteChris i would have loved to see the Starlings in person.. Thank you so much for sharing pictures of them... I have to say those figures standin,sitting and lying around would be a little creepy... lol I'm so glad to hear you had such a wonderful Birthday Chris... I hope you have a Merry Chrismas and a Happy T day! Sorry about being a littl late to the party... crazy trip to the airport in the middle of the night three hours away then flopped in bed until noon... I'm still rather discombobulated ....Merry Christmas and Happy T day! Hugs! deb
ReplyDeleteI will say it again, I wish I could join you on some of your trips... even reading this after very little sleep after the office party I am enjoying the fantastic photos. Love the final two, especially; how gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteWhat a way to honor your favorite Queen. Looks like a fabulous place to visit, and I fell in love with the rocking horse, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm still laughing over T's antics. He's SO funny to watch at times. And his coffee looked yummy, too.
The starlings were amazing. I've seen fields of them blackened near my home in MO. They are quite a site to see, aren't they? Thanks for sharing l'Abbaye Royale de la Reau, your photos of the starlings, and your coffee and tea experience with us for T this Tuesday.
Question in e-mail for you, dear.
Am looking forward to seeing what your gift was - beautiful flowers!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the journey around the Abbey - though I think the figures would probably have spooked me!
Fabulous pictures to end with, I take it they are starlings?
Have a lovely Christmas Chris.
Hugs, Neet xx
Such pretty flowers. Your visit looks fabulous. I love the blue wallpaper in the parlor. The figures would have made me jump especially the one peeking around the doorway. Kinda creepy :-D Your husband is such a good sport! I keep saying to Himself, "But Chris' husband poses for pictures! And he smiles and doesn't whine!" I've seen starlings and birds fly off together in one big swoop. Really cool and impressive. Have a Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos Chris, you visited another fantastic place in France. Those figures were a bit creepy, wouldn't have been comfortable seeing them .
ReplyDeleteYour flowers looked beautiful, you have a loving and caring family.
Belated T day wishes.
Yvonne xx
The flowers are just AMAZING - but no wonder - they love you!
ReplyDeleteA really wonderful and unique place you visited, so many fascinating things to see and I am really happy that you shared it with us !
Your hubby always is such a lovely kind of clown always in that photos! Great!
oxo Susi
What a unique place to visit. Your pictures are great and makes me almost feel as it I've been there. I love that your husband is such a fun guy ♥ Those photos of the the birds at the end are amazing. Thanks for sharing it all with us and have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
ReplyDeleteCarol
That is an amazing abbey. I really like how unique they made it with all those little mannequins (or statues?). Now that was really a surprise. Especially the ones in bed or the little lamb. :) And I must say the wallpaper in the more formal rooms caught my eye too. But the stonework really amazed me and always does since it is not something we have a lot of here in the states. And the flock of bird photos are also really amazing. I love watching bird flocks fly and how they morph their shapes. Happy belated T day-I am down with a head cold and haven't been up to blogging. Merries of Christmas' too ! Hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely flowers... look forward to hearing about the surprise gift! The Abbey looks like a truly remarkable place to visit - what character and atmosphere ... like time travelling, which is always my favourite kind of day out. Thank you so much for sharing your visit with all these photos.
ReplyDeleteAlison x
What lovely flowers! I enjoyed the virtual tour :) Fascinating! I love that the grounds are getting restoration as well as the building interiors. Happy late T Day
ReplyDelete