Or I should say the Euro. While the world markets shake, rattle and roll and the global economy implodes, here in Semur the value of a dollar is as solid as a rock. I mean really what can you get for a dollar these days? A handful of candy? Nope. A coffee? You couldn’t even buy the foam on a latte for that. Sure even everything at these so called ‘dollar’ stores costs $1.99. And okay one Euro is a bit more than a dollar, $1.40 Canadian today to be exact but that’s besides the point.
Almost daily I’ve walked past these magnificent doors and longed to see what treasure was hidden behind them. The other day there appeared out of nowhere a brass plaque announcing daily visits every half hour. Well now, two tickets s’il vous plaît.
Well the door alone is enough to make you bow down to the French as masters of the universe and well worth the one Euro entry fee but this is what’s behind Door Number 1…
I know, I know and this is only one part of it. The house itself was off limits you know seeing as there’s someone living in it. This is somebody’s actual house. As in this is what’s waiting for them after a long, hard day of…well, I suppose yachting or purchasing fine art.
We were given the tour by a sweet little teenaged guy who seemed very jazzed by the history of it, how it had been ‘taken back’ by the people during the revolution, how Voltaire and his ladylove the Marquise du Chatelet hung out here concocting the Age Of Reason.
We walked the grounds for about half an hour while the kid told us everything there was to know about this spectacular place. How’s that for a summer job? It’s gotta be better than flipping burgers right? Or maybe not. He did an amazing job but the whole time he was talking I was looking at him and wondering how much flak he takes for being the town’s resident history geek. Poor guy having to spend all day telling the same story to grey haired women who yell at their bedraggled husbands to pick up the pace on the picture taking.
But I think he’s probably alright. About an hour after we left I saw him sauntering down the cobblestone street trailing a thick cloud of French cigarette smoke grooving to the sounds from his super slick headphones as hip and fly as any kid I’ve ever seen. Still he’s got a thing or two left to learn, I would’ve paid him any price he asked.
The photos are fabulous! It’s hard to believe that your daily life takes you by and into places like this. You take us all (the finders that is) on such a marvellous journey!
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences.
XXOO
I know I should be paying your son for those pictures. He’ll have to settle for a teeny, tiny credit at the end of the book…
XO
B
You do realize that he’s the onwer’s son (they’re on holiday at their 2nd residence in Italy. He fires up that plaque every summer around the same time he runs out of the cash his parents left for him. He can’t let you INSIDE the house because the dirty dishes are piling up in the kitchen, there’s dog poop all over the place, his friend is passed out on the antique chaise and the Playstation is paused on Sniper.
God I hope that’s true. I saw him again today looking a little hungover…
XO
B
Gorgeous. Even the door knob is exquisite.
Even the French teenagers are cooler than ours. My daughter, sweet little person that she is, shlumps down the street looking for all the world like a whipped puppy.
I could live there. Get to writing that screenplay – I’ll prepare an invoice for the website… how much do you think it would take to get the kid to sell it out from under his folks?
I don’t know but Neil threw me a 5 Euro bill today that’s burning a hole in my pocket ;)
XO
B
I was thinking along the same lines as Jill but she said it much better :)
I suppose that door knob would look a little out of place on my little Texas casa, but a girl can dream. Thanks for the peek at France behind the gates this morning.
“hung out here concocting the Age Of Reason.”
hey! wait a sec–isn’t that what you’re doing!? perfect.
i hope whoever lives there spends their days writing so that i know this is a real possibility one day.
It’s like Mr Darcy’s house in Pride & Prejudice. <3
If what Jill said is true, he’s not naive, he’s ahead of his crowd!
The whole thing is dreamy.
I was at this house during the summer, and I met that guy, I really wanted to see the inside of the house and was disappointed it was closed. I actually tried to get my money back.