Friday, July 8, 2011

Chateau Chantal


Traverse City, Michigan


A beautiful place to stay.  Sitting off the road at the top of a hill with the vineyards and the Bay visible from all sides.  We arrived late after a long drive and went past the front entrance to the next entrance, which was the wine tasting area.  As we pulled up by the door the first thing I saw was a statue of St. Francis.  I grabbed by camera and took a couple of snapshots of St. Francis who is one of my favorite Saints.  I felt this was a special place.  The carpet was a light blue with light pink full bloom roses.  Our room was named the Rose room and the sofa was in a pink fabric with roses.   Her book Feed my Lambs, Feed my Sheep; The Meals and Memories of a Lifetime by Nadine Begin is a wonderful keepsake.
Nadine and her husband Robert reside at the Chateau Chantal and were on vacation so we didn't get to meet them. 
In reading their story I learned that they were married on the Feast Day of St. Francis, therefore explaining the statue I saw when we arrived.  That and the fact that she had been a nun for twenty-two years and he a former Priest and they both had left the religious order to continue on a totally different path.
He building the winery and the Chateau.  A story only she could write.

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