A Night at the Chateau. 4-5 July

 Up at 05:30 and on the road, as planned, shortly after 06:00. Nice clear run to the Eurotunnel terminal, as a result of which we were offered the 10:20 crossing (we were booked on the 11:50). Great result! Except we then queued and queued as traffic crawled through the customs and security checks. Eventually we found ourselves on the 11:20 crossing - still 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Anecdotally, the return delays are currently even worse. Isn't Brexit bliss 😒.

We had booked a night at the Chateau de la Bucherie, just to the west of Paris. And French leg of the journey from the terminal was a s smooth as the journey to the terminal.

I can highly recommend the chateau. The price was very reasonable, the room spacious (all be it in the roof with only a moderate sized Velux window). 

The staff were delightful and friendly and the grounds (with impressive flora and fauna) were exceptional. 

The kitchen garden was well stocked and we weren't surprised to see its produce feature heavily in the evening's menu. The food was tasty, novel and not too expensive. We paid nearly a €100 euros for a three course meal for two - but that did include €33 on a bottle of wine).

The only disappointments on an otherwise wonderful stay were the poor WiFi coverage and the fact the room was very warm - no air conditioning and a nice but not especially hot day. The heat at night meant we both had a fairly wretched night (lack of) sleep. This is a shame as I would love to stay there again - but only if they have air-con in some of the rooms (something I have yet to check).

Next morning we were up at 05:30 again and in Uzerche just before noon, after another uneventful drive. The only incident of note was the need to show your Pass Sanitaire if your wished to have a breakfast at the motorway services.

On arrival, the house was fine (it being just over a month since we were last here) other than needing to replace one of the smoke detectors. We unpacked the car. It was a fairly full load again, including a flatpack kitchen island from Ikea that I assembled the same afternoon.