France VII- Chez Coutures

Staying at Annie's parent's, Claudine and Andre Couture, was fantastic. They fed us well every night, and there was much talking. Somehow, we got into a conversation about WWII, and they were telling us stories of when they were kids in the war, and how the Americans had come and French families were hiding some of the paratroopers in their attics and barns. One of the desks in their house had been confiscated and used by actual Nazi soldiers; then, surprisingly, returned to them after the war. It was extremely interesting to hear stories from people who had actually lived through it. After all, there has never been a war on American soil in my lifetime; even this war is somewhat removed from my everyday life. While there, we also visited a small castle at Chamerolles, where they now make perfume. Unfortunately, we got there just at closing time but they let us walk around the grounds anyway. We also visited Yevre, a medieval fort that is mostly in ruins now (got some great pics there). After this brief respite, we began our trek to Paris.