Easter weekend in Sedan, France
Last Friday, we packed our bags and drove to Sedan, a little town in the Champagne-Ardennes region of France, just a little over the border of Belgium in Wallonia. Easter in the Netherlands and Belgium was an action-packed circus on the highways. Everyone was going somewhere with their cars, unfortunately not with their bikes, thus it took us 6 hours to get to Sedan.
Dutchman has not been feeling well since the morning so I was commanding the wheel. Lots of traffic on the road. In Brussels we encountered a sudden snowstorm. The car slewed a few times and I was constantly harassed by the winds and packs of snow hitting my windshield. Nightmare weather, I have to stay focused at my driving and I have a sickly Dutchman beside me...
Sedan town centre, its not the most attractive town of France. We came here for the castle stay.
We finally arrived at the Chateau Sedan 15 minutes to 10PM and we were so glad the woman in the reception spoke English. Being already harassed for the day, the last thing we want is someone welcoming us who can only speak French (which is by the way very common in France for people working in the tourism industry not to speak a word of English). The nice lady told us the restaurant is still open so we can have our dinner.
When we showed up at the castle’s fine dining restaurant called ‘Salle de Restaurant’, the manager, who was a cheerful middle aged little Frenchman greeted us with a huge smile, ‘Bonjour!’ He then playfully made a face with his lips pouting and pointed to his wrist watch. If we were in Spain, 10PM would have been the perfect time to arrive at a restaurant, but yeah, we are in France.
We quickly explained that we just arrived after being hijacked by a maze of Dutch-Belgian traffic and not to forget the snowstorm of course, and reminded him that we have cordially made a reservation prior to arrival.
He ushered us to a snug corner of the restaurant by the window. The castle hotel restaurant’s windows are draped with long red velvety curtains that matched the high windows and ceiling giving a very graceful and royal ambiance. Beautiful restaurant.
We had live entertainers that evening as well. We were serenaded by a trio (guitar, violin, and double bass) playing popular French music. The restaurant manager later joined them with a trumpet. Very cool. And as the evening drew to a close, the musicians bouyed up and the guests joined in with singing and some dancing as well. Nice party we have here!
It was a beautiful evening. We had great food – the foie gras was rich and my bacon scallops in creme and wine was succulent, great music – live entertainment, we had a wonderful time.
It wasn’t a bad way to end an exhaustive and tiring day after all. It was in fact a great way to open our Easter holiday in Sedan. We retired into the night, in the castle, hopeful for a much better day the next day.
Well, I didn’t have pictures of our lovely dinner but I have pictures of our little walk in Sedan the next day. Let me show you...
Moi and snow flurries.
In France it is legal to sell toy-fake guns and display them openly in the shop windows, even if they look like it’s the real thing. This is not the case in the Netherlands though. You can be fined or even put in jail if the police caught you in possession of these goods.
Bakery selling yummy eclairs.
Locals hanging out at the bar.
We had coffee and tea.
Wild boar with the tusks (Sanglier) seems to be a very popular animal figure in Sedan? At the castle they were selling this hideous creature as key chains. I am still trying to figure out its existence.
On our second evening in Sedan we dined outside the castle at a restaurant called Le Nassau. It was the only open and nice-looking restaurant we could find in town that evening.
The dinner was surprisingly very cheap. €10,50 for entrée, main course with salad, dessert, €12,50 with fromage - had to take a foto of the menu with the prices so I can show off this discovery, ha-ha. They had the best desserts, marshmallows swimming in creme and caramel.
Restaurant Le Nassau's cheap menu and service was not bad at all.
Travel Period: March 2008
Destination: Sedan (Champagne-Ardennes), France
Dutchman has not been feeling well since the morning so I was commanding the wheel. Lots of traffic on the road. In Brussels we encountered a sudden snowstorm. The car slewed a few times and I was constantly harassed by the winds and packs of snow hitting my windshield. Nightmare weather, I have to stay focused at my driving and I have a sickly Dutchman beside me...
Sedan town centre, its not the most attractive town of France. We came here for the castle stay.We finally arrived at the Chateau Sedan 15 minutes to 10PM and we were so glad the woman in the reception spoke English. Being already harassed for the day, the last thing we want is someone welcoming us who can only speak French (which is by the way very common in France for people working in the tourism industry not to speak a word of English). The nice lady told us the restaurant is still open so we can have our dinner.
When we showed up at the castle’s fine dining restaurant called ‘Salle de Restaurant’, the manager, who was a cheerful middle aged little Frenchman greeted us with a huge smile, ‘Bonjour!’ He then playfully made a face with his lips pouting and pointed to his wrist watch. If we were in Spain, 10PM would have been the perfect time to arrive at a restaurant, but yeah, we are in France.
We quickly explained that we just arrived after being hijacked by a maze of Dutch-Belgian traffic and not to forget the snowstorm of course, and reminded him that we have cordially made a reservation prior to arrival.
He ushered us to a snug corner of the restaurant by the window. The castle hotel restaurant’s windows are draped with long red velvety curtains that matched the high windows and ceiling giving a very graceful and royal ambiance. Beautiful restaurant.
We had live entertainers that evening as well. We were serenaded by a trio (guitar, violin, and double bass) playing popular French music. The restaurant manager later joined them with a trumpet. Very cool. And as the evening drew to a close, the musicians bouyed up and the guests joined in with singing and some dancing as well. Nice party we have here!
It was a beautiful evening. We had great food – the foie gras was rich and my bacon scallops in creme and wine was succulent, great music – live entertainment, we had a wonderful time.
It wasn’t a bad way to end an exhaustive and tiring day after all. It was in fact a great way to open our Easter holiday in Sedan. We retired into the night, in the castle, hopeful for a much better day the next day.
Well, I didn’t have pictures of our lovely dinner but I have pictures of our little walk in Sedan the next day. Let me show you...
Moi and snow flurries.In France it is legal to sell toy-fake guns and display them openly in the shop windows, even if they look like it’s the real thing. This is not the case in the Netherlands though. You can be fined or even put in jail if the police caught you in possession of these goods. Bakery selling yummy eclairs.Locals hanging out at the bar.We had coffee and tea.Wild boar with the tusks (Sanglier) seems to be a very popular animal figure in Sedan? At the castle they were selling this hideous creature as key chains. I am still trying to figure out its existence.On our second evening in Sedan we dined outside the castle at a restaurant called Le Nassau. It was the only open and nice-looking restaurant we could find in town that evening.
The dinner was surprisingly very cheap. €10,50 for entrée, main course with salad, dessert, €12,50 with fromage - had to take a foto of the menu with the prices so I can show off this discovery, ha-ha. They had the best desserts, marshmallows swimming in creme and caramel.
Restaurant Le Nassau's cheap menu and service was not bad at all.Travel Period: March 2008
Destination: Sedan (Champagne-Ardennes), France
