chateau run

My mom's friends, Chris and Tom visited last week. Tom is training for the Paris marathon in April.
So yeah, he's a runner. Me, well, I get distracted by the old chateaux and crumbly walls. I stop and talk to the 80 year old farmer.

It was probably good that Tom went for a run at 7am before meeting me to go for the chateaux run at 9am.
Yes, he went for a run first.

Tom brought his camera with him. Turned out to be a good day to have a camera.
We went by the old chateau first. We ventured up in the courtyard and watched some men work on the roof.


Then we went past the newer (1843 is new here) but bigger chateau.


Up until now I have only only looked at the chateau from outside the crumbly stone wall. I have been wanting to get closer to get a picture. I didn't want to be disrespectful or rude.
And I forget my camera most of the time.
Earlier this week when I was running past the chateau I saw some men cutting wood just outside the walls. I stopped and asked them if they owned the chateau. Neither of them were the owners but they did tell me that the owner was "tres, tres gentile." Very very nice.
Ok, that is a good sign.
So Tom and I decided to venture up to the chateau. Walk past the gatehouse.
As we were walking toward the main house, we came across this car.


It was the owner! I told him that we wanted to take a couple of pictures. He was very friendly and told us it was no problem. Then he cheerfully waved and drove off.








I have been so curious about the grounds of the chateau and it was fun to be able to walk around for a few minutes. Not only is there the main house, but there are lots of outbuildings. There are enormous trees and a beautiful view over the city of Fontenay le Comte.

So yes, it was technically a run, but, well, there was also a lot of stopping and gawking.
Tom has one of those GPS thingys that serious runners wear to keep track of pace/time/distance.
Good thing he wore it. It recorded his slowest run ever.