Golden Normandy

We left Champagne and made our way across country where John coped well with a busy peripherique and headed for southern Normandy. The place we’d chosen was hardly in Normandy at all – just over the border but it was absolutely idyllic. The Moulin de Villeray is a family run hotel with a real warmth and friendliness that we very much enjoyed. In a tiny village in a converted water mill surrounded by rolling, wooded hills and lush farmland, it made a perfect spot to sit back and relax. Because we were staying for 5 days they upgraded us to a little suite in a building across the road from the mill which was delightful. We had a sitting area, a bedroom and a Jacuzzi bath as well as a little private terrace in a small garden with apple, pear and plum trees. The extra occupant of the room, a large and evil looking spider, had a wander round the first evening but I didn’t see it again which I was thankful for!
After a dismal walk round Nogent le Rotrou looking for a launderette with a very large bag of dirty washing, the son of the family said they would do it for us which was splendid. All the food was amazing so we had breakfast and dinner every day, something we’ve not done before but there was an amazing selection, even for me, with duck, pigeon and guinea fowl and a huge range of desserts with lots of lovely fruit. The wine list was a bit scary, it’s quite amazing what French restaurants charge for there own provenance, you could buy a decent Burgundy for less in The River Room at the Lowry in Manchester! However, John managed to find some very decent wines to accompany our lovely dinners without breaking the bank.
The countryside was so lovely we went on some super walks, again the helpful son of the family printed us off little maps to follow and we thoroughly enjoyed roaming the environs in the beautiful golden autumn days. Everywhere there were apple orchards, beautiful woodland with the trees just beginning to turn and pretty villages and it helped us to work up an appetite for dinner. We did feel it was a bit cold for the pool though, despite assurances that it was well heated!
The other guests were returning English couples, Belgians and a large party of work colleagues who were clearly on a team building event – a fantastic location for team building. At the weekend it was also clearly a favourite spot for Parisiennes wanting to head out of the city for some country air.