My Weekend in the Country

A friend of mine on the program, Morgan, lives with a full family in the 16th Arrondisement, who happens to own a country house north of Paris. This past weekend, they invited her to come there with them, and told her to bring a friend, so she invited me!


It was an incredible weekend, straight out of a Conde Nast Magazine French Countryside Special. It didn’t hurt that we were there on Valentine’s Day, so the picturesque experience fit the weekend perfectly!



The funny thing that wasn't mentioned about the house until we got there, however, is that it isn't a house....it's a chateau!

On Friday night, I went over to Morgan’s family’s apartment and had dinner, and then we all drove about an hour and a half north to a town called Boran-sur-Oise, where their family chateau is located. It originally was built for a courtesan’s/noble’s mistress, and was passed on through the family for a couple centuries. Uncle Christian (one of the many family members there this weekend) joked that his in-laws are descended from a sinner! Over the years the building has also been a working farm, a barracks for German soldiers, etc, but now it is simply a home for the extended family.

The view from our window




Morgan and I were showed into a lovely room on the second floor, which was covered on all walls by portraits and paintings of Napoleon (they’ve probably been there since the 19th century…). The next morning when we woke up, we realized that our windows looked out on either side of the house, to the front driveway and lawn, and to the back field. The property was immense!
We started the day with a breakfast in the “servant’s” kitchen, and then took a lovely stroll through the fields and then the horse pasture. We were in need of a good boot cleaning afterwards! There were so many beautiful horses out in the field, and I believe the family owns two of them that their daughter rides. We then threw sticks to the three dogs that were there for a long time…One of the dogs, Doushka, is a five month old puppy who is indefatigueable…she could have kept playing fetch for hours!

The Chateau behind me and the horse field

We all had lunch, and then Morgan and I set out for a 3 hour bike ride through the countryside! We were aiming to find a Chateau in Chantilly (I forget the name), and ended up finding another one, which had been converted into a hotel. Only in France do you get lost in the countryside and come across the wrong castle!

on the bike ride:

We biked around for a really long time, probably about 15 miles, and made it home just before dusk. We had a lovely dinner with Morgan’s family and extended family, and then all gathered in the huge living room (which has a mish mash of antique furniture, and 20 foot ceilings) to watch “Borcalino & Co,” a movie from the 1940s about the French gangs in Marseilles. It was very entertaining!

The next day, we slept in, had breakfast, and then took another walk around the property and played with the dogs some more. They made me a little homesick, because they reminded me of my Ebony back home L We also found a very old pond and well, but the layer of water on top of the pond was completely iced over! We spent literally half an hour taking pieces of the “ice-glass” and making a make-shift sculpture out of it. I felt like a little girl again, when Avery and I used to play in the yard like that.

After lunch, and a short afternoon nap in an armchair, we drove home with Morgan’s host-sister’s aunt and uncle, who live down the street from them in Paris. It was a wonderful weekend, and I am so well-rested! Morgan’s host-father implied that we should come back in the spring time, so I hope I get to…it was such a relaxing break from being in the city! And so gorgeous and green.

For more pictures, see the album to the right in the list of links!