A fabulous night in a Château / France 9

In the late afternoon we finally arrived at Château de la Villatte and there we concluded our day in a marvellous room, so big, so authentically aristocratic, with the real charme of a house that still maintains the spirit of a noble family.
We actually only met one person there, the madam that had answered my e-mail to confirm the reservation and that welcomed us at our arrival. She was shy and straightforward, but in a kind of understatement with her casual clothes, just explaining where our room was, where we should go for breakfast, how the lights worked and other practical things like that. She only asked at what time we wanted breakfast (and if we wanted tea or coffee) and then disappeared, apologizing that she had a lot of work to do. We relaxed in the room from which we had a wonderful view on the park, then we went to Laval for dinner. We were the only guests in the house as we didn’t see any other car. We left the house just closing the door but didn’t see her again. Laval by the way is a very nice town on a river, with an imposing castle and ancient walls, we had dinner in a simple restaurant specialized in raclette, fondue and other dishes from Savoye. When we came back to the château the entrance door was still unlocked and we went to bed. We slept in the biggest bed ever!

The day after, we woke up quite early and by 8 a.m. we were ready for breakfast so we entered the dining room she had showed us, also very accurately renovated and furnished and we saw that the table was perfectly prepared for two, with warm coffee, orange juice, bread, croissants, jams: just ready for us at 8 a.m. as we had asked. Classical music was playing in the background and we had breakfast like two aristocratic persons in their private mansion. The lady didn’t show up, so we went upstairs and finished packing our luggage and when we came back downstairs, I noticed a letter on the snooker table at the entrance. I approached and there was a hand written letter on prestigious paper, where only few words said “Thanks” and the price of the room. As I knew that credit cards are not accepted in these private houses I had already enough cash, so I put the right amount on the table, leaving also my business card with few words thanking her for her hospitality. Manu was quite surprised and said we should better call her and give her the money personally. But I said no, I absolutely felt this was the way she wanted us to leave.
Still quite astonished by this unusual attitude we stepped into our car and in the moment that we started moving, we saw the lady leaning out of the door and waving energically her hand in our direction, greeting us with a big thankful smile.

Holiday in France