Jour de Gloire: French Presidential Election

Only in France would a polling place be located inside a chateau. Sunday, May 6 was tense with excitement (French media is not allowed to make forecasts before the polls close, so Pierre and friends were checking out the Swiss media to get the scoop before 8 p.m.) so we made an excursion into the Limousin countryside to get our minds off politics.

The nearby village of Nexon is situated on the Route of Richard the Lionheart. Back in the day, Richard I of England waged war over these lands (not to mention all of that crusading in Sicily and Cyprus.) In fact, he was killed here in the Limousin in 1199 at the castle of Chalus. Today it's privately owned by some Brits, who allow visitors to get all dolled up and feast-- Middle Ages-style. (Mutton and goblets of mead in front of a roaring fire, I imagine.)

We arrived in Nexon and headed to the magnificent chateau to check it out. Walking through the gates, we realized that the Nexon mayor's office is actually located inside the historic chateau; signs pointed the way to the voting booths. The hum of voices led us into a large room where we discovered the local politicians hard at work counting the votes. Seated around heavy, wooden tables, they manually sorted the envelopes into piles. The light from the chandeliers flickered across the Medieval tapestry on the walls.