Month: June 2016

Magical Romantic Moments in the Loire Valley, France

On one wall of our luxurious French Riviera Suite hangs an average-sized, but rather stunning tapestry of the French castle of Chenonceau spanning the river Cher. If you look behind the tapestry you will find the description of this castle, and you will have effectively turned the first page of a history so extraordinary that it would have to be a fairy tale…but it’s not.

I have lived that story in a tour I organized a few years ago based on Ina Caro’s book, The Road from the Past: Traveling Through History in France. Our arrival in the Loire Valley and breakfast the next morning could have been the introduction to a fairy tale in and of itself except that we were in cars and not on horses.

Our little group of ten flew into Paris on a Friday evening, rented our vans, and traveled south for the beginning of our castle tour in Chinon. We arrived very late at the Manoir de L’Abbaye in Seuilly. Thierry, our host met us outside of the gate and escorted us through the fragrant garden to our stone tower. The marble steps of the spiral staircase were deeply worn from centuries of use. Wooden doors opened onto our rooms, complete with original floors, massive fireplaces, and a medieval canopied bed. The window near the bed was open, and though we were very sleepy, what we saw was not a dream. Across the misty valley and punctuating the pitch black night was a castle lit up to perfection. The turrets and towers were straight out of a fairy tale. It looked as if it were floating in space. Princesses a thousand years ago would have looked at that same sight. We felt like royalty that night.

After a restful night’s sleep, we woke and descended the tower for breakfast. The breakfast room was through a modern glass door at the bottom of the tower. There was a collective “wow,” when we opened the door. The fireplace was lit and warmed the room against the misty morning, and in the center of the table was a medieval candelabra with several candles lit. It was the first time I had ever had breakfast by candlelight. Together with a big bowl of café au lait, croissants, farm fresh butter, and homemade jams…it created one of those magical moments that I will never forget, and that forms a page of my fairy tale life.

After our first night, we went on to see Chinon, Chenonceau and many other castles of the Loire Valley in France. Each one of them is different, with histories that are incredible, but true. The castles are like “a thousand jewels in a Renaissance necklace.” It’s truly extraordinary to see and experience places that heretofore had only ever been in the imagination. These are the kind of magical moments I want to facilitate for guests at Woodstock Inn, and also for people that go on my tours. Join us as we create these magical moments for our guests!

See more of this extraordinary trip at http://www.kcmorgan.net/tours/

Scandinavia: A Journey Through Time

My first trip to Scandinavia almost didn’t happen. Before the borders came down in Europe, I was headed to Denmark from Amsterdam. After a long train trip, I arrived at passport control and was summarily rejected from entering the country. Turns out, I had left my passport in Amsterdam. It was a nightmare to get a new passport at the American Embassy, but I was determined I would not leave the fjords without seeing them for myself.

So, I returned shortly after renewing my passport and spent a few days in Denmark first. If you’ve never been to the cathedral at Roskilde where the Danish kings are buried, or seen the Viking museum, well I would say it is a rite of passage for Viking enthusiasts. The Viking museum holds five ships that were sunk in a line along the Roskilde fjord in order to keep enemies from raiding the tender inland. Legend held that Queen Margaret I who ruled over the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden had the ships sunk blocking passage to Roskilde. The ships were raised in the 1900’s, and archeological diggings still take place around the cathedral, a treasure trove of details about the complicated history of the area.

When I arrived in Sweden (with my passport!), I was overloaded with history. Maybe that’s why it seemed a more peaceful place to me. I went to the nature park where many historical huts and houses are collected for visitors and countrymen to walk through time in a peaceful, country setting. The workers were dressed in the colorful costumes one associates with Sweden, full of flowers, embroidery, linen and lace, etc. There was a wedding in an old chapel, and I thought it was a great idea to have one’s wedding in the middle of the historical buildings of one’s country. The wedding pictures would have so much added interest. I’ve seen weddings pictures being taken near the Forum in Rome, and the bay of Naples. Great!

I will digress just for a moment… I must say that as a young backpacker the beauty of the people made a great impression on me. Who gets to be blond, blue-eyed, and tall…. AND tan? Not me. Ok, everyone goes for different looks, but I had to just sit and watch the people in this country. It was an amazing sight.

Now I am reduced to enjoying loganberry cookies and Swedish meatballs from IKEA, but I will not forget my trip to Sweden as a young backpacker.

But wait! There is one more country in Scandinavia, and perhaps the most important one to me. Norway. I have Norwegian heritage, and I will have to say that Norway has some of the most incredible sites. There is a fantastically preserved Viking ship, and the Kon Tiki raft that Thor Heyerdahl used to cross the Pacific ocean. In Vigiland’s park, the sculptures of Gustav Vigeland are jaw dropping. Then, you can hop on the train to Bergen for a “Norway in a Nutshell” view of the Fjords. Try some caviar at the fish market in Bergen, climb to the medieval Stave church, and enjoy the ancient forest. I have led two trips of students and colleagues back to Norway to see some of these incredible sites. To my students, perhaps starting the day off with a waffle bar breakfast complete with all the toppings was the best part. To me, it was just being in Norway…Scandinavia, for that matter because after all of the amazing sights I just listed perhaps the most amazing one was when I first stepped off the train in Copenhagen. I saw the people…tall and of a certain statue. Wow, I thought. These are my people! I looked just like them. That is an experience that Americans sometimes feel when they return to that ancient place from where their ancestors first emmigrated. It happened to me, and maybe it will happen to you someday.

We celebrate Sweden this month during our Dessert Club. You are welcome to come and get a taste of that old country, and maybe inspiration for your own journey back through time.