Panther Enthusiasts Club UK

As this was our last day before we drove back home or in some cases on to southern France or Spain, it was intended to be a quiet leisurely day with a picturesque drive to the tiny village of Longpont. Longpont is in a large valley close to the forest of Retz and although it is very tiny it has one of the most impressive religious ruins, a cistercian church the same size as the cathedral of Soissons and a monastery founded in 1131. The monastery buildings have now been converted into a private house, but parts are open to the public. An unusual feature of the monastery is its "chauffoir" (warming house) with a central chimney supported by 4 huge pillars. It was used from the 13th century to heat the monastery and is the only one of the type in Europe. Longpont also boasts a very nice restaurant which is always full. Because of this Mlle Lefevre (of the Belle Vue) rang the night before and booked us a light meal. The drive there (hoods down again!) was good.

An amusing incident occurred on the way that demonstrates how much the French love our cars. The convoy was negotiating the crossing of the N31. Most had crossed and were waiting for the last couple of cars, when a saloon swerved off the N31 screeched to a halt next to our cars and this young woman leapt out and wouldn't let us go until she had photographed all the cars! She was actually running up and down the convoy jabbering away excitedly. I wish I could have understood what she was saying.

We arrived a bit too early for lunch, had coffee and went for a short walk before lunch. Some of our cheeky lot even just walked into the monastery grounds without paying (they pleaded ignorance). Others walked down the lane and looked at the shallow (about 9 inches deep), but big pond where many large fish could be seen swimming about. "They're Carp" "No they're not they're trout" we will never know, but we can only assume they were not nice to eat otherwise they would have been long gone! Lunch was really good and Nigel commented that should we have a French weekend here (the restaurant is also an auberge) the trip would be full in no time! We returned to Coucy the way we came and most took advantage of the early return to visit Coucy's chateau ruins or stroll around the ramparts.


The Kallistas parked outside the church ruins - in spite of the "No Parking" signs	The rest of the village - I said it was small

We all make for coffee at The Auberge De l'Abbaye	Just a bit more sun and the venue would have been perfect

Coffee or beers for 23?	Digital cameras were everywhere

and a lot of happy faces	The ladies wouldn't have forgiven me if I hadn't included this photo.

Sue and Jennifer exploring the old archway	The cars were fine. Nothing else fell off the ruin.