Europe Day 35: A Castle

When I think of a castle, I imagine an immense building made of stone, with towers all around and a high wall to keep out the bad guys.  The principle rooms are lavishly furnished, while the more private ones tend to more simple, to better fit the taste of the inhabitants.  Today we visited a castle that nearly fit that description, except that instead of gilded furniture with velvet cushions, there was a miniature boat exhibit in the reception room.  For that reason, and that reason alone, Chateau Chillion disappointed me. In all other respects, it was delightful.

It was excellently situated on the edge of the lake.  Outside of the sparkling blue view in the forefront of a lush, green mountainous scene, by setting themselves over top a lake, all boats bringing in supplies need only pull up along side and all of the goods could easily been transferred from boat to the pantry.  The dungeons, next to the pantry, also had direct access to the water.  In that way, any and everyone who was executed would be dropped in the water and no one need exert themselves with the effort of digging a grave.  Above all else, the water front location allowed the Governor's toilet to drain directly to the water, so that it need not be ever cleaned.  For this particular toilet that was especially helpful, as there was a double seat.  In this manner, the Governor need never use the facilities on his own and risk being murdered without his pants on.

One of my favorite features of the castle was the small exhibit of old fashioned weaponry. Apparently, a cross bow is decidedly difficult to load; even the most skilled could only shoot two an average of two arrows a minute.  Also, the weapon that looks like a spikey ball on a chain attached to a long handle is called a flail.  I need never to refer to it as "spikey ball thing" again!

When we had finished our tour of the castle we left for the town of Limoge.  While I don't know if there is anything particularly important about this town, it is also situated on the water and has a fantastic park running along side the waves.  This is where I spent my entire afternoon, laying on the grass and finishing Pride and Prejudice.  I was only torn from my book to get a dinner of take out Thai food.  Dinner was eaten in the park, watching a pair of men play with the oversized chess board, with pieces a foot and a half tall.  It was a well fed, white haired man against the trim middle aged one who constantly smoked a cigarette.  The latter won the first game, but with the loud insistance of the former stayed for a second game where he was soundly beaten with many a loud outbursts from the victor.

A second chess set featured a much younger set of players, around eight years old.  These boys, who could scarcely lift the pieces, were playing real chess, with real rules, and real strategy, just like the grown ups.  I was thoroughly impressed.

As the day drifted to a close we drove the bus to our next hotel.  While our schedule says "Geneva," the hotel is actually located in Annemasse, France.  This is a town with little to brag about.  Our hotel was situated alongside the freeway, and there was only one place within walking distance to get food.  We did have a lovely view of the mountains, over the tops of several industrial buildings.  It was a hotel in a town in the middle of nowhere, without anything important to commend it, except that it was located near enough to Geneva for us to stay more cheaply and make a daily commute.  I am to be an international traveler for the remainder of our stay.