Chateau De Forges

We spent four nights in a medieval castle in a very small village (Forges, a “suburb” of the village of Concremiers) in ‘no where’ France. It was unbelievable. The hosts were wonderful – Alexandra and Hugues (and Orly – the dog). It was a castle that was built in the late 1400’s by an ancestor of Hugues who served as the winemaker for Charles VII and has been in the family since then. The family lives in the main part of the castle and they have a guesthouse with three rooms that they rent out. We were lucky enough to be the only guests for all four nights. Our first day touring was a Tuesday and it quickly became apparent that most of the sights were closed but we didn’t mind so much as we just walked around the castles, churches etc instead of walking in them. The day ended with a wonderful experience; hearing evening Vespers sung by the Benedictine Monks at the Abbey of Fontgombault! We were so moved we ended up buying some lovely pottery made by the monks; all Ctos’ fault. Our second day of touring we visited the Abbey of Villesalem but it is closed until July so we just walked around it, and saw a pheasant on the road nearby. We then drove to the church at Antigny which has amazing paintings on the walls and the nearby abbey of St Savin which has amazing frescoes on the ceiling; all very awesome. Our third day we tried to go for a hike in the nearby Parc Brienne but about an hour in the rain started and did not stop! So we hustled back to the Chateau de Forges and played some Carcasonne and relaxed. Had two amazing dinners while here; one at the Swan (escargots, fresh fish and steak) and one at a one star Michelin rated restaurant called Christophe Cadeua in St. Savin (how is it French towns with a population of 2000 have such amazing food?).