Tag Archives: Robert-Espagne

Uncategorized

“Looking for trouble” on President’s Day weekend in Robert-Espagne, France… part five

The last post is going to be pretty short.  Sadly, today we had to drive back to Wiesbaden.  After a nice breakfast, we cleaned up the house.  If we didn’t want to clean, we could pay another fifty euros. Honestly, I would have been alright with paying the extra money, especially since this was such an inexpensive place to stay.  We were extra careful to make sure everything was neat and clean.

Bill went to Alexandre’s parents’ house and the dad came over to check over everything.  He gave the house a casual look and asked Bill to show him where we’re from in America and where we live in Germany.  He was super nice and friendly and even said goodbye to our “babies”, Zane and Arran.  It was a very refreshingly pleasant checkout.

What I’ll remember about this trip…

I did manage to catch a few photos on the way out of France, as we drove through little towns.  The one thing I miss about where we lived in Stuttgart is the country lifestyle.  I like living in rural areas.  Where we are now is very convenient for Bill and our home is much nicer.  But this area, as a whole, lacks the picturesque beauty of the rural areas near Stuttgart.  Although where we were in France is much flatter, it’s still quite striking.  There are lots of trees, and a beautiful, clean looking river swiftly flows through the area.

I’m glad to know that we can be back there in about four hours.  It’s about the same for us to go back to Stuttgart.

We passed through an area that had these signs about World War I.  If you’re a history buff, this is a good area to see.

On the way to and from France, we had occasion to use their roadside restroom.  I must say, they varied wildly in quality.  On the way to Robert-Espagne, we stopped at a place that was very basic…

Squat toilets for everyone!  Although I think it did have an automatic flush.  Bill used the handicapped stall, which had a regular toilet.

Very bare bones… but better than what we’ve encountered in Belgium.

And then there was this one, on the big road back toward Metz.  This toilet was not only clean and high tech, it even had music piped in.  French pop, I believe!  I was struck by the difference in this rest stop and the first one we used on the way in.

How mod!

Here we are, back in Germany…  

I’ll admit, we were preoccupied during this trip and didn’t do as much as I would have liked.  Robert-Espagne is kind of out in the boonies… but I really recommend doing a trip to the boonies at least once.  It’s a great way to get to know the “real” France… or really, the “real” any country.  And there are things to see if you work to see them.  I would go back to Robert-Espagne if the opportunity presented itself, but I would especially recommend it to anyone interested in World War I history, champagne, or hanging out in rural France, getting to know the people.  This area is maybe 3.5 to 4 hours from Wiesbaden, and slightly longer from Stuttgart.

Edited to add: Looks like pets are no longer allowed as of 2020.

Standard
Uncategorized

“Looking for trouble” on President’s Day weekend in Robert-Espagne, France… part four

We missed the chance to try another restaurant on Saturday for dinner because we were both full from lunch.  Also, the dogs were howling when we got back to the rental house.  They don’t usually howl, but I was afraid they might annoy someone.  Bill was also going through, obsessively cleaning everything.

Anyway, we had a quiet dinner in the house.  Bill found a rotisserie chicken at the same market where he found the detergent for my sister.  We enjoyed lots of wine, some music, and a lively discussion.  After we finished talking and drinking, we hit the sack…

On Sunday morning, Alexandre came over with his father to do some yard work.  It was kind of novel to see them out there working, since yard work is forbidden on Sundays in most parts of Germany.  Bill walked the dogs and they had a run in with a huge bay draft horse.  I saw the horse being led down the street after Bill and the dogs saw him.  He said the dogs went nuts and the locals were refreshingly cool about it.  He got no dirty looks from anyone.  It’s like the French know that dogs will bark sometimes.  That’s what dogs do.

When he came back from walking the dogs, Bill talked to Alexandre, and they bonded over their mutual “soldier in Iraq” experiences.  I always enjoy hearing Bill’s stories about talking to soldiers who serve other countries.  I think they’re more alike than they are different.  He says he’s bonded with guys from Poland, the Netherlands, Romania, Greece, and places all over Africa.  Of course, he’s also bonded with German soldiers and now, a French soldier.  I think the experience may be universal in some ways.  Bill asked Alexandre if he minded if the dogs stayed alone in the house.  It was fine, so we decided to go to a little town called Couvrot to see if we could try some champagne.  I had seen it advertised on a French tourism Web site.

Couvrot is actually in the Champagne region.  It takes about 45 minutes to get there from Robert-Espagne.  Bill and I had plenty of time to talk, as well as notice the Yellow Vests having a barbecue on a median.

I don’t actually know a whole lot about the Yellow Vest movement, other than what I’ve seen in the news and heard from Bill.  What I have heard is that they represent people from rural parts of France who feel unfairly taxed to bankroll the rich.  They’ve been obstructing traffic with their protests, but on Sunday, they appeared to be grilling meat at a turnpike.

We reached Couvrot at about 1:45.  The vintner would not be open until 2:00pm and I was hungry, so we went looking for a restaurant with little success.  Couvrot is an even sleepier town than St. Dizier is.  But then we came upon a bigger town called Vitry-le-François, which we would have easily found if we’d just turned south instead of west.  It was a much more interesting town than St. Dizier and, bonus, we didn’t have to pay for parking there.

This is where we had lunch… Le Maxime Brasserie.  We decided to eat there because they don’t “pause” at 2:00pm.

This was the very convivial bar area.  I was enjoying the 80s era pop music from America and France.

But I was hungry and a little depressed, so I ordered some champagne… and Bill had a beer.  Our very cute and young waitress spoke no English, so we took a guess with the menu, which was posted on blackboards around the restaurant.

 

Bill had an entrecote with steak fries and gravy.

 

I had a surprisingly good fish burger.  It was kind of like fish n’ chips on a very fresh bun, with a fun relish and sauce.  The chips were especially good.  It hit the spot, along with the champagne, which did a lot to improve my mood.

 

And then we had poached pears with chocolate sauce and whipped cream… I had originally tried to order raspberry tiramisu, but the waitress missed my request.  This isn’t the first time this has happened in France, but I didn’t mind having poached pears.  I can get tiramisu anywhere.

There was also a “tiny” carnival going on.  There was one ride and two booths.  But the weather was so nice, it looked like people were enjoying themselves.

I loved this cathedral, COLLÉGIALE NOTRE DAME DE VITRY-LE-FRANÇOIS… the largest classic church of the Marne.

 
 
 

And these gates were situated at points around the city.  It really was an attractive town.  We may have to come back and explore it some more.

After lunch, we went back to Couvrot and drove into the open driveway at the Bourcier Winery.  It was about 3:30pm.  We were a bit confused when we drove in, since it was hard to tell where we should go.  It appeared to be a very small vintner specializing in champagne, but there was no obvious shop.  Instead, it appeared to be and actually was someone’s home with a cave in the basement.  A pleasant lady came out to greet us, but she spoke no English.  Still, she was game to show us her bubblies, and she did have some literature in English.

The inside of the cave.  I think they offer tours when the tourist season is nigh.   

We tried two champagnes.  This one was a rose, which was very good.

We also had a white…

We left with six bottles– three rose and three white.  I love my bubbly, so this is a good thing.

A parting shot as we left the winery.  There was a lone gelding standing in the paddock.  I would have liked to have said hi to him.  I could tell he was very relaxed.  If you’ve spent any time around male horses, you could probably tell, too.  😉

We drove back through the abbey to get back to the house.  I wished we had another day to explore it.  It looked like a lovely place to take walks and enjoy the peace of nature.

This tunnel is located very close to the house where we were staying.  I think it’s cool looking.

 

I must admit, champagne is a mood booster.  I was feeling a lot better when we got back to the house, even though we had to drive back today.  It wasn’t enough time.  I’d like to go back to Robert-Espagne when the weather is a little bit warmer.

Standard
Uncategorized

“Looking for trouble” on President’s Day weekend in Robert-Espagne, France… part two

As I mentioned in part one, Robert-Espagne is in a rural area.  We passed some pretty country on the way there, as well as the larger town of Bar le Duc, which is about 12 kilometers from Robert-Espagne.  If we’d had another day, I would have liked to have walked around Bar le Duc.  It looked like a pleasant city.  As it was, we probably should have stopped there, if only to escape the late afternoon sun’s glare, which was blinding both of us.  We could have also sampled “Bar le Duc Jelly”, which is a preserves made of white currant or red currant fruit preserves.

Welcome to France!

 

We saw lots of wind farms and wide open fields, where battles were fought over one hundred years ago…

And we saw Spock selling McDonald’s french fries…

I took this picture in downtown Bar le Duc, because it reminded me of downtown Farmville, Virginia, where I went to college. Of course, it’s a French version of that town.  One of my college friends agreed with me.

 

On Friday night, we were a little too tired to go hunting for a restaurant.  There is a hotel in Robert-Espagne and it does have a restaurant, but we didn’t try it.  In retrospect, maybe we should have.  Bill ended up walking to a convenience store near the house, where he picked up some wine, chocolate, bread, and a couple of other things.  There’s a bakery and a butcher in the neighborhood, besides the tiny convenience store, but that’s about it.

We got a good night’s sleep, since this house is equipped with very comfortable beds.  In fact, I was surprised by how good the mattress was.

The next morning, we had beautiful, spring-like, sunny weather with really nice temperatures.  Bill walked to the bakery and brought back the most delicious croissants ever!  I would go to France if only to eat croissants.  No one else comes close to making them the way the French do.  I hope we remembered to bring the leftovers.  I wanted Bill to get more this morning, but today was the bakery’s “Ruhetag”.  Bummer.

Standard
Uncategorized

“Looking for trouble” on President’s Day weekend in Robert-Espagne, France… part one

A couple of weeks ago, probably between Bill’s two most recent TDY trips, I asked him if he’d like to take a trip over the long President’s Day weekend.  He said sure.  Off I went to Booking.com, my trusty source for pet friendly accommodations.  Next weekend, we have plans to visit a new Hunde pension, so maybe we can take a few more petless trips.  But, for now, Zane and Arran have to come with us when we leave town, so pet friendly digs are important.

I had originally wanted to go to the Czech Republic, like we did last year.  I found a really nice looking and pet friendly apartment near Chodova Plana, which is where Chodovar Brewery and Beer Spa is.  But the apartment I wanted to book was not available for President’s Day weekend.  It’s a shame, too, because we went to Chodovar for President’s Day weekend in 2009– ten years ago– and it would have been fun to go back this year.  They have done a lot of renovating since 2009, but it’s still cheap.  When we went in 2009, we stayed in the hotel at the brewery, but though the hotel is pet friendly, Zane and Arran are not hotel friendly.

Since the apartment near Chodovar wasn’t available, I went back to my list of saved properties.  When we were still living near Stuttgart, I saved a bunch of pet friendly accommodations that ticked all or most of the boxes of what I look for when I look for pet friendly places.

Luckily, we’ve found plenty of places where our dogs are welcome.  Our visit to rural Robert-Espagne, France was very pet friendly, as we booked the weekend at the charming, historic Maison Qui s’y frotte s’y pique, a house that was built in 1920.  The owners, Alexandre and Stephanie, bought the house about a year ago and renovated it with a new kitchen, bathroom, and electric shutters.  It now boasts mixture of old world charm and modern convenience.

I was a little hesitant to book at first.  For one thing, the rates for this house are dirt cheap.  Sometimes, when you get dirt cheap rentals, you get everything you paid for and less.  For another thing, I wasn’t sure what there was to do in the area.  I think I found it when I was looking for rentals near the Champagne region, but Robert-Espagne isn’t super close to Champagne, nor is it that close to Lorraine.  It really is in “the real France“… as in, it’s not really a tourist friendly area.  However, if your goal is to experience France, away from your American countrymen, it’s not a bad place to be.  And if you want to walk your dog out in nature, go kayaking, or visit historic sites from World War I, it’s also a good bet.

We planned to do none of those things… I just wanted a change of scenery and maybe the chance to pick up some champagne.  I had read there was a small vintner near Robert-Espagne that offered tastings and tours.  I also looked forward to good food and people watching.  We did manage to have a couple of meals and we have six new bottles of champagne.  I got some pictures, too, although our plans to do a lot were a bit thwarted because we were distracted by an issue that came up just after our arrival at our rental house.

Speaking of the house, here are a few photos…

The outside of the house.  “Qui s’y frotte s’y pique” is a saying that translates to “If you go looking for trouble, you’ll find it.”  Come to think of it, that sounds like the story of my life.

 

On our way to the this house, I got a message from Alexandre, the owner, who asked in French that we call his parents when we were two hours out from our arrival.  Neither Bill nor I ever studied French, but it wasn’t too hard to figure out his request.  His parents live two doors down from the rental home, and they are super nice people.  However, they really speak very little to no English.  It wasn’t a big problem.  We basically understood what they said.  Alexandre’s mom speaks a little English and Alexandre, who is a captain in the French Army, speaks a tiny bit more.  He visited yesterday, since he is based near Strasbourg.  He and Bill bonded over being soldiers.  Alexandre has been to both Iraq and Afghanistan and he said he was very impressed by the dining facilities on the American bases.

The stairs were very old fashioned and creaky!  The floors are wood or tile.

One of the bedrooms.  We didn’t use this one and kept the door shut after I shooed Zane off the bed.  Incidentally, the owners prefer that animals stay on the first floor.

The other bedroom.  Both rooms have flat screen TVs and schranks.

 

Upstairs bathroom.  It has a generous sized tub and a shower, and everything is brand new.

 

The downstairs toilet.  It doesn’t have a sink…

 

But it does have a rainfall shower.  We didn’t use it because it wasn’t convenient.

 

The living/dining room.  It has a table for six, a couch, television, and two chairs.  We put our own towels on the furniture, since Zane and Arran are couch potatoes.

 

We got a kick out of the owners 45s.  He had a bunch of 80s era pop music, some of which was from the US and some from France.  I was impressed to see that he had a turntable equipped with a CD player.  It looked like it would also accommodate an MP3 player, although I just used my laptop.  WiFi is free.

Very nice kitchen with a striking tile floor.  It has an induction stove top, a huge fridge, dishwasher, and most everything else you’d need.

Smoking is not allowed in the house, but you are allowed to smoke on the porch.  We don’t smoke, so this wasn’t a concern for us.

You can also play foozeball…

Grill out… or play darts.  The dartboard is on the wall next to the grill.

For three nights, I paid 180 euros (175.50 for the house and 4.50 in taxes)…  I think it’s a steal.  If this looks good to you, you can find this property listed here on Booking.com.  Or, you can just search for Robert-Espagne.  I think it’s the only property available in that area.

ETA: As of 2020, pets are no longer allowed.

Standard