The Inexperienced Expat

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          About a month ago now we went on a lovely adventure with our expat friends Michele and Veli-Matti to four different castles south of Dijon. The views were astounding and the company amazing so all-in-all it was quite a day that I will have memories of for a long time to come. Photos are limited mostly to the exterior as photography was not allowed in most of the castle rooms.
          The first stop was at Château de la Rochepot, a 12th century castle originally owned by the Pot family. It was abandoned after some time but then the Carnot family decided to buy it for their son. I imagine it went something like this:
Father: "Hey son, whaddup, we bought you an entire stinkin' castle, no biggie."
Son: "Ugh, geeze you practically bought me ruins. That kid down the street François VII's dad built him an entire castle and bought him a 13 year old virgin wife, but whatever I guess I'll restore it. Thanks for nothing."

d          After that we went to visit Château de Sully, the largest Renaissance château in southern Burgundy. Originally of the Morey family, it became inherited by the MacMahon family when Charlotte de Morey's cousin/husband became ill with not much more than a common cold. Unfortunately, colds could be serious business back then and the travelling doctor could not get there in time. Monsieur Morey sadly left this world and his young cousin/wife behind before he could father any heirs. Not to worry though, because the doctor who couldn't get there in time, Dr. MacMahon, generously married the young widow, thus obtaining the castle. Hmmm.
          This castle is still inhabited by the family though it is in a little bit of a limbo as the past duke who seemed to take most care of the grounds has passed and the current duke is in university. That's right, ladies, there is a single duke of marriageable age who has his own castle, get on it*.
* The author of The Inexperienced Expat will not be held liable for any stalking or further suspicious/illegal activities that may occur due to the knowledge given in this article.​

          The third castle was, as Bob Ross says, a happy accident. We were headed to our final castle when we looked out the window and spotted another castle in the distance. We decided to try it out and ended up in an adorable town called Châteauneuf giving the castle the oh-so-original name of Château de Châteauneuf. The Château de Châteauneuf has an interesting history as it's been passed around more than the collection plate at a church. It started out belonging to the Chaudenay family in the 12th century but after 9 generations in 1456 Catherine of Chateauneuf messed it all up by being burnt alive for poisoning her husband.
          In 1457 the duke of Burgundy bought the castle as a gift for his adviser, Philippe Pot. Yes, the Philippe Pot from the first castle we saw. His heirless death ensured that the castle got passed around a few more times before ending up in the hands of the Comarrin family where it remained for 150 years. It was passed around a few more times and gravely defaced during the French Revolution before it ended up being donated to the state where it and its neighboring village were declared protected historical monuments.
          From here on out I don't have many pictures as my camera died.

          The last castle of the day was Château de Comarrin as in the Comarrin family who also owned the previous castle for 150 years. This castle was built in the 12th century as well and has been in the same family the entire duration, through 26 generations. This was probably my favorite castle as it was very well taken care of, had amazing tapestries and needlework, sculptures, and alchemic symbolism. We also got to see the duke and his family enjoying the weather outdoors and got to witness a classic car photo shoot too. Though if you know me well, then you'll know that my favorite part of the whole thing was feeding the carp who live in the moat.

          Check out Michele's post about that day, too! She also has tons of pictures as well!

          I finally figured out how to get my pictured from my phone to my computer, so get ready for tons of posts! So many things have been happening, it's so hard to keep up! We went to the foire comtoise, a giant trade show/carnival/market, some castles south of Dijon, not to mention our honeymoon to Greece where we also visited Albania for a day! I also have some more fun medical news and job search news as well as a guest who wants to post a "guest article" on my page! I'll try to post everything tout de suite but you'll have to forgive me if there is some delay as on top of all that my dad will be visiting in less than a week!
          So I think I spoke about the foire comtoise last year but let me refresh your memories. There's a convention center called Micropolis situated in Besançon that holds all kinds of events and once a year they hold the foire comtoise for one week. It's a combination of a fair ground full of carnival rides and games, a trade show that has anything you could ever imagine, and a market. The trade show is seriously huge and random, there are vendors that sell anything from home goods to motorcycles to saunas! I'm pretty sure if you had an empty plot of land that you could buy an entire modular home, fill it with everything you need, create a gorgeous yard and garden that you'd never want to leave, and get there in your new Can-Am all from one day spent at the foire comtoise.
          The markets are scattered throughout the center and sell all kinds of stuff as well. There's a clothing section, jewelry, handbags, spices, dried meats, cheeses, wine and liquor, honey, and all kinds of home decor. Then there's a special regional market that changes each year. Last year it was Italian and this year it was Scottish! So they were selling all kinds of tartans and kilts and wool clothing but best of all, there was a cheddar booth by the name of "The Damn Fine Cheese Company". This is exciting, you see, because the French don't seem to like cheddar very much. Whether it be because they have too many other cheeses from their own country to worry about, or because it was made from their English enemies, or because it's just not considered up to par to them, it's rare to find cheddar in a French supermarket. One can more often than not find aged-white cheese sold as a block and in the one supermarket of Monoprix one can find shredded yellow cheddar, but that's it. So we pigged out and bought 4 wheels of cheddar; chili, garlic and chive, mature, and smoked. They had so many more and they were all so good, but we had to draw the line at 4.
          It was also fun because all the Scottish vendors spoke English. They were all so excited to speak English with us after struggling with French for a whole week. One woman saw Jeremy eyeing something up in her shop so she started speaking in French about the item. When Jeremy told her she could speak English, you could just see her body relax as she exclaimed, "Oh, thank God!" She was super nice and told us the history of a lot of her items. We ended up buying a stuffed 'heeland coo' (highland cow) dressed in Flodden tartan. The Battle of Flodden was the largest battle between England and Scotland and the last battle in which a monarch of the British Isles died during combat. In 2013 during the 500 year anniversary, the Flodden tartan was created to commemorate the battle and lives lost.
          There were also plenty of restaurants and snack shacks where I partook in a giant fried rice and spinach ball, farm fresh ice cream (probably the best ice cream I have ever had), and caramel flavored milk. Super bonne​!