Vacation Flashback (Chateaux Edition)

During the last few days of our vacation we had a really nice run of castles. Starting with a leisurely visit to the Chateau du Champs de Bataille, also known as the "Versailles of the North".



Karl and Henri right away figured out that the old German term of "Lustgarten" (or pleasure garden) should be taken literally. So since "chateau" rhymes with "let's go" so they did....



On the way back we decided against the usual truck stop and passed by some nice towns on Lake Constance. We ended up having a surprisingly reasonable lunch at the Schloss Montfort. So that was number two in a row...



...followed by number three, i.e. Nymphenburg Palace, where Grandpa "Opa" Paul organzized another concert for kids. This time with the Kammer Oper (chamber opera) of Munich. It was a puppet show version of Mozart's "Servant of two masters". The story was way too complicated (Mozart operas tend to be screwball comedies with casts of at least six characters alternately betraying and loving each other). He got a kick out of the music and the following backtage visit though. The week was topped off with a visit to my old school mate Georg's parents' digs. Georg lives in London right now, but on trips to Munich he stays at his folks' Schloss Aufhausen. Don't ask me why they own a castle (and if actually follow the link and watch the video, don't you dare sknicker at my old buddy's family, they're trying to make a living there, selling the castle as a party location). They are indeed aristocrats, but that tends to not mean much financially since Germany's been a Republic ca. 1918.
Between three school friends of us we managed to assemble nine kids. It was a summer castle classic. With fowls and pet rodents to chase around, an aging German Sheperd, tons of toys from many generations of kids, a tractor ride with the whole party sitting on hay bales on a trailer, with a barbecue on the patio of Bavaria's oldest bowling alley built in 1897.
So by now Karl at least must think that life in Europe indeed alwas includes a castle or two, to be used at liberty. Had I mentioned the original suit of armor Karl almost toppled? He just wanted to play a bit with the sword, which turned out to be 4 feet long and made out of solid iron. As those mighty sword of our brave knights tended to be. Oh well, if you do let the Kreye brothers onto historic grounds, history might be rewritten.