The Netherlands has palaces too !

It might surprise some of you to know that, yes, we do still have quite a few royal palaces here in NL !

Last weekend was open monument weekend, and to "celebrate" we went to Apeldoorn to pay a visit to Paleis het Loo (literally, the Woods Palace). The palace was built between 1684 and 1686 for Stadtholder Willem III and his wife Queen Mary II of England; and remained a principal residence of the Oranje Nassau royal family right up until 1975. It was the favourite palace of Queen Wilhelmina, who died at the palace in 1962.

Between 1976 and 1982 the palace was extensively and lovingly restored, and since 1984 has been open to the public as a museum. The original stables now house a collection of cars formerly used by the royal family, distinguished by their AA number plates, and former royal carriages, including the white feathery funeral carriage of Queen Wilhelmina, and a cute little orange billy cart made in 1969 by Prince Claus for his 3 sons Willem Alexander, Johan Friso and Constantine :-)

The most surprising element of the palace grounds were the extensive baroque style gardens at the rear of the palace. Perfectly symmetrical and immacutely manicured, the gardens are laid out with gravel walkways, fountains, basins and statues. Wasn't really perfect weather to wander around outside when we were there, but you get an idea from the photos below.

Apeldoorn itself is also "famous" for de Naald (the needle), an obelisk shaped monument just around the corner from Paleis het Loo. De Naald became national news last year when Karst Tates drove his black Suzuki Swift at high speed through the Koninginnedag crowds finally stopping when colliding with de Naald. It was an attempted attack on the open bus in which the royal family were travelling through the streets of Apeldoorn, and unfortunately lead to the deaths of 8 people (including himself!).

Alli xxx

Chateau Castelnaud

Facing downriver, from the southern bank of the Dordogne river, towards its arch rival in Beynac is the imposing fortress/chateau of Castelnaud.

Founded in the 12th century, the fortress was a formidable bastion that held out during many attacks, and during the 100 Years War was often in English hands.

By the 17th century the chateau was rarely inhabited, and by the French Revolution (1789) was totally abandoned. It fell further into disrepair and by the 19th century was even being used as a quarry to provide stone for local construction projects!

In 1966 it was finally listed as an official "historic site" and has since been lovingly restored and bought back to life by the Rossillon family. Today it houses a much visited museum of medieval warfare, featuring reconstructions of siege engines, mangonneaux, and trebuchets (the last being THE most feared war machine of its time).

Alli xxx

Les jardins du Manoir d'Eyrignac

A totally unexpected find in the rolling hills of the black Perigord were the beautiful and immaculately manicured private gardens of the d'Eyrignac Manor.

Set in the middle of a 500 hectare protected forestry estate, the 10 hectares of formal gardens and living green sculptures were established back in the 17th century on the grounds of a family estate that has been handed down from generation to generation for the past 500 years. The family still actually lives on the estate, and the gardens are now open to the public, with the entry fee largely contributing to the cost of maintenance.

The 5 full time gardeners are kept busy constantly trimming, shaping, mowing, replanting and nurturing new plants in the resident nursery. All the pruning is done by hand with shears, plumblines & rakes, and the 5 gardeners require a full 8 days just to prune the row of hornbeams at the entrance to the gardens!

Alli xxx

Sarlat

The small medieval city of Sarlat is THE capital of foie gras and the famous black Perigord truffle! Perigord (or more specifically the black Perigord) is the area of the Dordogne where we were. The grey Toulouse goose is the symbol of the area, and you see signs of it everywhere - shop windows, hotels, restaurants, even in the snow dome we bought!

Wandering the streets of Sarlat you would be forgiven to think that every second business was a store selling foie gras and truffle products, because it is!! And the other businesses are cafes/restaurants. The locals are extremely proud of their products, still produced today by mostly traditional methods, and animal liberationists don't really get a say here!

The town itself looks likes it has been forgotten by the modern world. It remains still largely preserved and retains that original 14 century look you can see here in the photos.

Oh and the covered market, found in an old church, has THE biggest doors I have ever seen.

Allli xxx