One of our favorite sites was Coucy le Chateau, a medieval city high on a hill. It was built in the 13th century and renovated byViolett leDuc in the 19th. In 1917, the German army dynamited the keep or donjon and the four towers using 28 tons of explosives. During its heyday it was famous for the size of its central tower (the largest in Europe, 35 meters wide and 55 meters tall). It was the pride of its lords, who adopted the staunchly independent rhyme: "Roi ne suis, ne Prince ne Duc ne Comte aussi; Je suis le sire de Coucy" ("I am not a King, nor Prince nor Duke nor Count; I am the Lord of Coucy").

View looking out over the valley from Coucy le Chateau

Exterior wall around Coucy

Inside Coucy, at the bottom of one of the towers that remain intact

Coucy le Chateau

Church and street in Ferte Millon. Note the name of the street (you can click the picture to enlarge). Perhaps not the most desirable place to live.

Ferte Millon: The castle would have been the largest in France of its time (XVth century), but it was never completed and was later dismantled. Also in the city is a pretty bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel before he became famous for that lovely tower in Paris.

Septmonts: Sunday flea market / Brocante at the base of the remains of the castle Septmonts, of which the principal remains are of the 14th century keep. The castle was the country seat of the Bishop of Soissons and was first built in stone a little before 1242. It is thought to have been inspired by the works of Charles V of France, combining both military and residential functions.

Septmonts remains

More About Our Bike Rides

Fall colors

Sugar beet harvest

Dressing warm for November rides

Several weeks ago we thought that our bike riding days on this trip were pretty much finished. I had mentally set 50 degrees as the reasonable cutoff point and it was getting colder than that and had started raining every few days. But when we got back from Paris this week, I think we both decided that we wanted to ride some more, so we started pushing the weather limits, finding ways to dress warmer and limiting the total time we were out. I know that most of you think we are completely nutso about riding and, frankly, I wonder sometimes myself. However, the riding in this area is so spectacular we keep wanting to do more.

Over the time we’ve been here, the countryside has been changing with the fall colors. The colors have been so beautiful and even now, when the leaves are off many of the trees, there are still picturesque scenes in every direction. We often ride through open farm fields—corn, potatoes, and the prevailing crop right now, sugar beets. For the last three weeks they have been harvesting them like mad and when they are pulled out of the ground, they clump them by the side of the field to be picked up weeks and even months later. I was puzzled at first, wondering if there was a risk they would start rotting, but I went on line and learned that the large clump piles were a standard practice. Turns out the beets did not have to be picked up before the wet and rainy season. The farmers deliver the beets to the processor over time to allow the processor to keep up with the huge harvest. More recently, there are a large number of fields planted in winter wheat and the fields are just starting to shoot up. So everywhere you turn, you will see these large expanses of light green with the wheat from four to six inches high.

I mentioned in an earlier blog that no matter what direction we headed in, the ride turned out to be beautiful and scenic. We’ve probably been on close to 30 rides now and not one has been disappointing. Today was a typical example. Because the weather was less than ideal—low forties, winds of 10 to 12 miles an hour, and mixed sun and clouds, we picked a loop that started in Soucy and went out about ten miles in one direction, building on a ride we had done recently, but adding another 10 mile loop, so that the total was about 27 miles. We wound through colorful forest, picturesque small villages, and rolling hills. With the wind up, we generally tried to stay away from the open fields, but there was a 45 minute section of open farm land and strong wind. Nevertheless, we both thoroughly enjoyed the ride, our picnic lunch, and the time together. While riding today, I was reminded of why I wanted the time to do things like this while I was still young enough to really enjoy them. All in all, our riding here has been better than we ever imagined it would be and we started with pretty high expectations from our previous trips here. But having this much time to settle in and explore all the surrounding area has made it really special. Ken

The Election
The election was a big event here. The day before, we were at lunch in Paris sitting next to a French woman and her adult granddaughter. We talked abut Obama and she insisted on sharing her bottle of champagne with us and toasting to the "Feast of America."

We watched the results at a party in Paris for about 1000 Americans and Parisians. It was held in the Aquarium in the Trocadero, from 10:30 pm to 6 am. (Since the party did not start until 10:30, we spent the evening at the movies - MamaMia on the Champs Elysee, a fun distraction).

Food, drinks, and breakfast were served and everyone was very cheerful. We saw the results on a bigscreen TV showing CNN (another room, less crowded, was broadcasting Fox News). At 5 am when CNN called it, everyone jumped to their feet, there were great cheers and shouts of joy, hugs, and tears. I left feeling proud of being an American, perhaps for the first time that I was actually aware of it. (Since I am not running for office, I guess I can say that.)

Daily Life

When we are at Soucy (and not Paris), we usually get up around 8:00 or so, as it is fairly dark up until then. Ken makes a pot of coffee, while I heat milk and chocolate so we can start our day with mochas.

Over breakfast, since we do not get a newspaper, we often check the NY Times headlines and editorials by blackberry, one of us reading interesting articles out loud.

Around 9:45 each morning (except Monday), the Bread Lady arrives in her van and beeps her horn. We come out to the gate to pick up our daily baguette. On request, we also get a pain au chocolate. The baguette is about $1, and it is enough for lunch and dinner, and sometimes more. The Bread Lady is one of our favorite parts of the day.

The rest of the morning is usually spent on minor chores, work related time on the computer, personal emails, etc. On Thursdays we always go into the Farmer’s Market in Villers-Cotteret to do our weekly shopping. For the first 2 months, we did a bike ride in the late morning or early afternoon, usually with a picnic lunch. Our rides are less regular as the weather changes, but we are still getting them in now and then.

If the weather does not allow a bike ride, we might go for a drive to any of the neighboring historic towns and sites, of which there are many. We also swim, and have been in many interesting pools. Swiming all year round seems to be very popular, at all levels of seriousness (in some pools people seem to just stand at one end of the pool and chat). So far we have swam in Switzerland, Munich (a beautiful and historic Belle Epoque pool), Paris (a pool built for the 1922 Olympics, very nice and modern), Villers-Cotterets, Couloisy, and Compiegne.

Except for when we are in Paris, we almost always eat dinner at home. For entertainment, we have been to several local concerts given in the small churches of neighboring towns. Most (not all) have been excellent.

Ken outside the front gate, retrieving our daily baguette from the Bread Lady.