Nemours and Le Relais du Picotin

This weekend I went horseback riding in the countryside! I loved the horseback riding but what I loved more was who took us... I came up with the idea a few weeks ago when I was staring at the giant horse poster that takes up half the bathroom wall here. Apparently one of the Chalufours million children had a thing for horses. So I started to poke around on the internet and by chance came across this place called "Le Relais du Picotin" in Nemours, France, about an hour from Paris by train. I called the guy up and after struggling through the phone call (no matter how well you can speak, phone calls are ALWAYS a struggle!) we made a reservation and he told us he would pick us up at the train station at 8am Sunday morning. The train ride was pretty cool... Once you get outside of Paris you see the fog rising up over the fields mixing with the pink from the rising sun, and you can't help but smile. It looked like this :
Looking out the train window I really had to reevaluate how lucky I am to be here. I didn't even know the half of it! When we got there we shivered outside the train station for a few minutes before an older man with a white handlebar mustache and two sheep dogs in the back seat pulled up and waved us down. As we drove he showed us the sites in his beautiful town, Nemours. Apparently the town was built over a series of canals, so it's laced with little rivers and docks. Nothing could be more charming! Here's a picture I took of the main river:
And here's a picture of the cathedral that's been there for hundreds of years:
Talk about picturesque right?? It was gorgeous. So anyway Christian, our host, drove us about ten minutes outside of town and just as I was thinking it couldn't get ANY better, we pull up to this: Le Relais du Picotin

This place used to be the stable house for an old chateau. It was AMAZING. Apparently Christian bought and renovated the place a long time ago. He lives on the second floor but eats all his meals with his clients. He says he thrives off of making people feel at home. He's pretty good at it too. We walk through a giant doorway into a kitchen that I could live in for the rest of my life. The dogs follow us in of course and lay down at our feet as we're offered coffee from beaten up mugs while Christian introduces us by name to everyone who comes into the room. Here's the kitchen, with Christian at the head of the table.So after breakfast we saddle up and take a ride. That is something that I can't stop thinking about either! Here's me and my horse, Naia:

Isn't she pretty?!! It made the little girl in me come out again. I just wanted to break down in my "Hoysthes!" voice all over again. It was hard to hold back. The girl who led us around figured I was a good enough rider that she'd let me go with the more advanced group so, get this, I got to GALLOP!! I know for all you non-horse enthusiasts out there that may not seem like a big deal, but it was amazing. I was galloping through a french forest with the leaves all turned fall colors and the breeze on my face. It was perfect. Here's what the forest looked like :
So ANYWAY this is getting long. It was AMAZING, we came back, had a picnic outside, and Christian wrote us a secret note telling us the "Carolyn, Amy, Sarah" special that he'd give us if we wanted to come back. He said he loved having us so much that we'd get half price, free lodging, and free meals if we ever came back. I would LOVE too. Here's a parting shot: