lost in a french enchanted forest

After we left Germany (here and here) and The Czech Republic (here), we drove in our rental car to Paris. It turned out to be a touch longer than we anticipated, but we were itching to get off the beaten path of trains and planes and see some sights for ourselves. Nate says that our drive was one of the highlights of the trip for him. It was such a great experience to see all of the beautiful landscape and watch it change, along with a striking shift in architecture as well, as we left Germany and entered France. We took the Romantic Road, which turned out to be a bummer due to torrential downpours in the morning. However, once we made it into France the weather was clear and beautiful. Champagne Valley is definitely a sight worth seeing as is the sudden presence of fresh baguettes in gas stations.

I mentioned before that our GPS system was old and didn’t work well, meaning we got lost a lot. It would shut down every time we crossed a border and seemed to pause and reload at crucial navigation moments. Nevertheless, we took this annoyance in stride because we were childless for this adventure! It didn’t matter if we spent an extra two hours driving in a French enchanted forest because we had no little person demanding a strict schedule. This freedom was liberating!

Our goal for the drive was to see castles yet we kept getting turned around and the GPS took us to random places. At one point we were literally driving on a dirt road bypassing signs that most likely told us not to enter yet we couldn’t understand what the sign actually said. We saw the cutest little family of deer and felt like we were truly in a magical forest. I mentioned all sorts of theories related to Once Upon a Time while Nate felt validated about naming every wild animal we came across. We wondered if we were making a wise decision by getting lost in a forest in France. And then, we emerged from the forest onto the cutest little kingdom. It was closing in on sunset, naturally, and I was bursting with excitement. We knew we were on the cusp of a fairy tale castle.

Our random and off kilter journey made us feel like we really “discovered” this little slice of heaven. Obviously, we didn’t but what’s a fairy tale without a little make believe?

The forest we drove through is the Forest of Compiègne and the beautiful castle is the Château de Pierrefonds, originally built in the middle ages. Getting lost and stumbling upon this stunning castle (that I am certain Cinderella must have lived in) right as the sun began to set is an experience I’ll always remember. Nate and I were the only two people walking around which made us feel like the only people in town; like this discovery was ours and ours alone. I think it’s a great metaphor for life, don’t you think? We all get lost at times, yet perhaps if we roll with the unease for a while we can end up with something beautiful and perfect.