If it weren't for the Tintin comics, An Qingjue and An Chuyu would have just looked at it from the outside, because it was just a private castle, and the owner of the castle still lives here today. ,: . But it was this castle that inspired Hergé to draw Captain Haddock's residence based on it. Then this castle is completely different for the two Tintin fans, and they must go in:
This private castle is not cheap at all, it costs 9.50 euros per person. Whatever, you must go in and compare! It can be seen that when Hergé painted this castle, he removed the outermost wings and only kept the middle part:
It is not easy for the family that owns this castle to be still prosperous after more than 400 years. Only the family knows the bitterness in the process. It is said that the castle has received many generations of kings, and all these glories are displayed in the huge exhibition hall. The armor inside also appeared in "The Adventures of Tintin". The owner of the castle is also very cooperative, and the gift shop and other places are decorated with Tintin patterns:
There is a Tintin comics exhibition hall in the castle courtyard, which is charged separately. An Qingju and An Chuyu did not go in to visit. Because of their close contact with Tintin, An Qingju and An Chuyu planned to stay in Belgium.
The French transliteration is Meung-sur-Loire, which is the Chateau de Meung on the Loire. In general travel books, this castle is basically unknown. An Qingju and An Chuyu went there for two reasons. One is that An Qingju and An Chuyu lived next to it, and the other is that this castle appeared in Linda's "Take a Book to Paris".
This castle is not difficult to find, it is very close to Orleans, about 15 kilometers away. From Cheverny Castle, go east along the Loire River for 55 kilometers.
The owner of the castle was the local bishop, and according to the custom of the integration of politics and religion at that time, this castle not only had residential functions, but also served as a "government office", which was probably not available in other castles that An Qingju and An Chuyu had seen.
However, in the 17th century, the castle owner was replaced by a private nouveau riche, who renovated and expanded the castle in the popular style of the time. This made one side of the castle look medieval, and the other side a somewhat weird pink color:
Apparently, few people come to this castle. Not only does it not have a Chinese promotional leaflet, it doesn't even have a separate English introduction manual. It only provides a non-disposable English introduction folder, which you can take with you when you want to use it. You have to return it after reading it.
Entering through the big pink door, I met a "warrior" wearing a medieval shirt. It seems that this is an additional project of the castle tour: teaching tourists to use medieval swords.
This warrior has received professional training. According to him, he even won the second place in a European competition (there is such a competition). An Chuyu was very serious and followed every move. It is obvious that using a long sword requires a lot of skills:
Most of the restored furniture in the castle is in medieval style. The most impressive one is the bishop's bathroom, which is probably also used by other government officials. The bathroom is very large, with many compartments, a bit like a Turkish bath; the kitchen is also very large, and looks like a canteen kitchen.
Unlike other castles that An Qingju and An Chuyu had seen, this one had a very deep basement, which was used as a prison in the Middle Ages. It was gloomy inside, with cells and a torture chamber. What was more uncomfortable was that the exit was actually in the corridor outside the bathroom. I wonder if the bishop was supervising the prison guards torturing while taking a bath?
According to Linda's book "Take a Book to Paris", there is a dungeon in this castle, which is the kind of dungeon described in Hugo's "Ninety-Three".
An Qingjue and An Chuyu came here for this purpose. As soon as they entered the castle, they asked around for the location. They didn't know how the French called "dungeon", so they used the English word "+pit++" and described it with strokes. Finally, they found it. It turned out that the entrance to the dungeon was not in the castle, but in the courtyard outside.
Yes, it's already disgusting that the prison entrance is in the castle (not to mention the "front shop and back factory"). The dungeon is full of prisoners who only go in and never leave, so it's better to put them in the yard.
It's called a dungeon. In fact, it's a straight well with a smaller diameter in the middle. The deep well in the middle leads to the underground river. According to the introduction of "Ninety-Three", prisoners were sent to this dungeon by ropes and given food every day. If a prisoner accidentally fell into the well in the middle, it was all over.
Sister Linda is a bit pretentious. In An Qingjue's eyes, the good thing about the book "Take a Book to Paris" is that it uses scenic spots to string together history, adding a one-dimensional time introduction to objects in three-dimensional space, making travel more interesting.
The book is full of lamentations about the darkness, bloodiness and cruelty of the Middle Ages. In fact, it is unnecessary. Justice is in the hearts of the people. This kind of dungeon that you can only enter but not exit is also common in movies. For example, in the Batman series "The Dark Knight Rises", Batman was also imprisoned in a similar place, but finally escaped successfully.
When An Qingjue and An Chuyu were booking a room on booking.com, they saw the description saying that they were going to stay in a castle. They thought it was a "castle-style" accommodation, but they didn't expect that it was actually a 17th-century castle called.
First of all, the difference can be seen from the road. The GPS only points to the road name, but no door number. When the car drove in, it was discovered that this road was actually a private road. It was very long, and at the end of the road was the castle, where An Qingju and An Chuyu lived:
The car drove to the private parking lot nearby, and the owner was already waiting for An Qingjue and An Chuyu. The owner, according to himself, was also a doorman + maintenance worker + cook, and inherited this residence from his ancestors. His ancestors were nobles, and there was a portrait of Napoleon in the castle, and one of his ancestors served as a general beside Napoleon.
The entire castle is exactly the same as the castles that An Qingjue and An Chuyu had visited before. There is a large living room and an exhibition room. Everything is old, including an 18th-century billiard table and 17th-century floors... There is also an embroidered antique family tree on the wall of the stairs. The owner is very humorous and said that if his name was in this family tree, it would have to be embroidered on the ground.
The photo on the left is not a formal restaurant, but a breakfast room: An Qingju and An Chuyu's room was also renovated from an old house, but modern heating and bathrooms were added. There were real ancestral oil paintings hanging in the room, and an ancient marble fireplace. I have introduced them all in the previous part of the travelogue, so I won't post photos here.
After dinner, An Qingju and An Chuyu came back and wanted to take a casual stroll around the castle. Unexpectedly, they were shocked when they walked in. The original description on booking said that there were "swimming pools and 'gardens'", which was actually inaccurate. It should be more appropriate to call it the castle territory. In the eyes of An Qingju and An Chuyu, two groundhogs, this territory is really huge!
An Qingju and An Chuyu walked for nearly an hour, through the dense forest, along the river, and saw wild birds flying away. There were walls around the territory, and there were docks and watchtowers deep in the territory. It was still "quite" creepy without anyone around. The landlord also provided a tour map to prevent "getting" lost:
I heard that it was the first time for An Qingju and An Chuyu to live in a real castle, and the landlord also said "you" - I guess the French themselves don't think there is anything strange about living in a castle. But An Chuyu and others really didn't expect to live in a real castle. Of course, this place is remote enough, there is no broadband here, and the Internet is through satellite, which is very slow.
An Qingju and An Chuyu also met a Hong Kong girl in the castle. She was working and traveling in France. She worked as a helper in the castle in exchange for living. She chatted with An Qingju and An Chuyu for a while. The Hong Kong girl said that she hardly met Chinese people here. It was like meeting an old friend in a foreign land. She was very happy.
Except for the landlord and the Hong Kong girl who can communicate with An Qingjue and An Chuyu, other people here basically don't speak English. They can say hello and they can probably understand English, but they always reply in French.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
Living in the castle was an elderly couple from Australia, who were the only ones who could chat with An Qingju and An Chuyu. They didn't speak a word of French either, and they were probably bored after living here for a few days. They stood on the side of the road and chatted with An Qingju and An Chuyu for a long time, from French pronunciation to itinerary planning, treating everyone who spoke English as a fellow countryman.
We had dinner at Meung-sur-Loire, which is right next to the Meung Castle that An Qingju and An Chuyu visited. It was recommended by the owner of the place where An Chuyu and his friends were staying. Although it is also next to the castle, most of the people who come to dine there are locals. There is not a word of English on the menu, but the waiters do say "yes, sure, ok", but other than that everyone relies on gestures.
Of course, the French menu was no longer difficult for An Qingjue. He just looked at the words he knew and guessed that it was beef, chicken, duck, and fish. It was really good. The roast duck leg and steak tasted great. The steak was the kind of big meat skewers skewered in BBQ style, and there was French mustard in a small porcelain jar.
The duck legs were tender in the mouth, and even the roasted potatoes were very fragrant, not at all ambiguous. It seems that the dishes cooked for the locals are different: it is breakfast for An Qingju and An Chuyu.
On the first day, the host asked An Qingjue and An Chuyu what time they would like to have breakfast in the morning. This is a common question in B&Bs. An Qingjue and An Chuyu said 8 o'clock. Then the host asked An Chuyu how many minutes the eggs would take, which made An Qingjue and An Chuyu dizzy. What was this?
An Qingju thought that books always said that the perfect French breakfast eggs were "three minutes", so she said "s", and the landlord was really happy to answer "". The next day, at breakfast, An Qingju and An Chuyu saw the "three-minute eggs". It turned out to be eggs that had just been boiled for three minutes and were served in a delicate little silver cup.
It's a classic French breakfast, but unfortunately the eggs are basically raw for three minutes, okay? But to be honest, this French breakfast is really very particular.