Ah...lovely Dourdan!! Such a cute little town. Now that I've been to the Chateau de Dourdan, I can tell you that it was started in the 10th century and from the 13th century onwards has seen Kings and Queens, nobles and un-nobles, a few wars and a few pigeons. The town itself has an old centre around the chateau and Gothic cathedral, with a beautiful forest surrounding it. It used to be a royal forest (before they decided to treat the royals like trees and chop them down) and there are tracks all over the place, perfect for a jog in the evening. There are deer and boor in the forest, a danger for drivers in the evening.

A fairly small town, 10,000 Dourdannais, but it has everything, 3 patisserie's, a cinema, rugby ground. Every Wednesday and Saturday there is a market in the town centre, plenty of good fruit and veges to be had, and an odd horse-meat stall! Mmm...Mr Ed anyone?

Our house is only a minute from the centre by foot, within the old town. It's a beautiful old 3 story house with a wine-cellar (cave) and a little garden at the back. Built in the 1700's (we think), it was on the route of the escape path from the chateau and so is linked by underground to all the houses around. Unfortunately they blocked all the underground off after the Second World War when they became dangerous.