Les Chevaliers was our Laon home for the night and the 2 young Frenchmen were the personification of its title. These knights cared for us from the very start, offering both of us carriage of our luggage to the very top of this dizzy staircase. They carried on their chivalrous ways by offering us the choice of rooms, early entry and anything else we desired.
Their lucky hotel is receiving the same attention as they meticulously bring it back to its monk days. Instead of withdrawing from the world though, they enthusiastically embrace it, and we left with a top up of their passion.
So it’s goodbye to this hilltop beauty as the walk through the ancient streets takes us into boulangeries, fruiteries and grocery shops to stock up. Our destination has no food, nor is there any on the way. We do get breakfast but dinner no more so an extra load but for a shorter trip.
Our navigator – me, however, wasn’t happy with few kms so I decided after a meeting with my support staff to go the wrong way, she wanted to go the right way. The book sometimes takes us in circles for its own reasons, so I err on the side of perceived logic – wrong!!!
It was becoming too confusing so I stopped a car for directions and he offered to turn around and take us to the next village. A bar that wasn’t supposed to be there, was, and the market that was not supposed to be open, wasn’t. Our driver wanted to take us on to our destination but the bar was too enticing, so he pointed to the sign for our short trip home.
The navigator again, decided to follow the book again, with the support staff unsure so the book won. Through some lovely shady bush tracks it was looking ominous. Even though our trusty signs had returned, this distance was too long. So we back-tracked to where the man had indicated, which was a quiet and bushy road that led straight past our enormous mansion. No English here, but we assume it once was a cloister set in magnificent grounds, close to yet another Notre Dame church.
I’ve checked out the first km of our way tomorrow and we’re back on track. A beautiful chambre-d’hote awaited us with a delightful old worldly sitting room where I am writing. Our second clothes line is a bit of a luxury and it also means the aesthetics of our gorgeous room remain intact.
