A Day In Camelot or Even Prince Arthur Uses Public Toilets
Before you're disappointed: No, this post doesn't include pics of Colin, Bradley, Angel or Katie, simply, make your choice, because a) I'm too much of a coward to take them, b) my ability to react is ridiculously slow or c) I was too busy taking in every little detail to remember taking pics.
(It's c), always has been. Sorry, je suis loser, but at least I can still see it all before me.)
Instead there's Anthony, Sarah Parish and a shitload of pics of the castle, with which I'm hopelessly in love now.
This is us in Camelot (from left to right: euraylie, wiccaqueen, gwy, ronsoftie and me - love you girls, and I already miss you) ! Right where the first meeting between Arthur and Merlin took place. A nice French technician took it.
The night before, watching the extras together to get into the mood. Okay, that's a lie, I think we all were very much in the mood already when we passed Pierrefonds on the way to our guesthouse.
The first glimpse down from the parking space. I was stunned enough to back into the car behind me. Ahem.
Gladly nothing happened, or the woman ensured me that her number plate had been dented before.
We went up the hill and immediately were greeted by little signs with the Merlin logo. Squee was had. No doubt for the guy at the barrier why we were there. We got to go up to the entrance through the set of the village! It was closed off later, but hey, we walked through Camelot and saw the famous water pump!
You get to walk around the castle once before you reach the entrance, that path is also where people ride to and away from the castle in the series.
The draw bridge with the entrance! We were in awe.
The courtyard with some medics, who must have a nice job, most of it is sitting around waiting for something to happen.
So this, is in the Court de Provisions, where the toilets are, and I tell you how it came that we entered here: We walked into the courtyard and who should stand/sit on the stairs but Bradley and Colin!
So surreal, especially since we had no expectations at all! We walked past - probably very inconspicuous (NOT!) - into the court and then had to just ramble a bit.
They were both in costume - Colin in the Merlin outfit sans neckerchief, in a turquoise tunic and Bradley in a simple outfit with a blue tunic, dark trousers and dark boots.
We then decided to pass them again, not looking too much and go have a look at the exhibit the friendly guide had pointed us at.
Colin was standing with the back to us, mostly, but Bradley was sitting there, reading his script. I kinda just stared for a bit, because he's seriously gorgeous, until he looked up at me. Oh, and to calm you all, Colin looks just fine in reality, skinny yes, but not too skinny. And he laughed at some guy (probably about us).
Needless to say that we caught next to nothing of the exhibit.
When we walked out again, Colin was gone (I think), we caught another glimpse of Bradley reading and then decided to have a look inside. We walked up the stairs to Gaius chambers.
Windows in said stairwell.
Oh, look, it's the slash dragon!
Entering the Great Hall
The light was gorgeous!
Really amazing room. The ceiling is a bit shabby, but the rest is just impressive.
Uther's throne! Amazing photo opportunity, but for the rope meant to keep visitors away. :/
The set, from above this time.
Shhhhh!
I don't know about you, but I always thought that this was on a higher level, but it's on the same level with the courtyard. That's also why we were wondering if it's that corridor or not.
Down to the dungeons
Now, down there they have a massive amount of fake graves with statues. Everything's dark, except for rainbow-coloured highlights and then they have these recordings of 'dead people's thoughts' in French, so you're walking through a dark room filled with whispering voices - CREEPY!
But then of course there's also this...
Dragon? Can you hear me?
There was a lot of taking pictures.
I thought the well was real by the way, but later on someone took off the upper parts. It's part of the set.
The entrance to Gaius' chambers. I think this I took, after Bradley had walked past us, belt in hand (he scuffs btw), and Angel sat down on the wall of the courtyard near to us. She was so pretty! Dressed in a purple dress that looked a lot like Morgana's dress. Katie joined her outside, equally gorgeous in green, and we just sat there, content to just be there and experience it all.
When they left again, we decided to pay the shop a visit and get postcards and stuff. I saw Bradley walking back, now with a leather vest on top of his outfit.
Then we just sat around, texting and writing postcards.
I can't for the life of me remember when Colin left the castle, but I think he was with Sarah Parish? He came back in after a while, carrying a misterious green plastic back with him all the time - yes, we speculated a lot.
Then Bradley came out again, taking the direction of the public toilets. Some of us went to take inconspicuous pics of him when he got back from the inside of the chapel (every time I say inconspicuous, I mean, obvious by the way. XD)
ronsoftie and me stayed on our bench and were rewarded with the view of Bradley standing there, arms outstretched, while the costume woman fussed with his tunic and belt.
And now comes the part in which Bradley totally loves the attention: When the costume woman was done, he stretched out on the stairs, just lying there, as if posing. In retrospect, maybe that would've been our chance to talk to him, but always the good German girls, we didn't want to bother anyone. (No, I did not imitate him later. Oh well, there's pictorial evidence, no sense in denying it, is there?)
He went back in after a while, only to appear at a window right above us a bit later, sitting in the frame, talking to the guy you can see on the left in this pic. He said something about 'Morgan' being 'cheeky' and that the guy should slap him if he saw him the next time - I'll just let that speak for itself.
After a while said 'Morgan' walked back in, with his plastic bag, almost skipping up the stairs (seriously, Colin so was the highlight of the day for me, just adorable), and then both Angel and Bradley left.
I took the opportunity to take a closer look at Bradley on my way to the loo, had to go there anyway, so why not. He's actually a bit smaller than he appears on screen, but just as nicely built. Oh, and he had light scruff on his cheeks, wonder if you can see that on screen.
Sadly, I missed Katie waving at the others when she walked past. I love that woman!
Then we decided to have a look at the surroundings. This is the view from the draw bridge on Pierrefonds. The town is so so lovely by the way, really cute.
When we first entered from here, there were knights sitting around having a fag, it was a bit surreal. XD
You can see Merlin's corner and to the left is where the tournament scenes are filmed.
We walked along this path into the forest and by chance found the place they placed the trailers. We didn't go near there though.
We got some snacks - the woman at the store talked to me about why we were there, and I actually understood her French. She asked about if we were there for Colin, looks like even the castle staff likes him. ;)
That's just before the moment Colin turned the corner, and since I was facing in that direction, I was the first one to see him and he looked at me and smiled and I was left gaping, I think. I still managed to alert the others somehow.
He walked past us, smiling all the while, with his green plastic bag and made his way up through the forest towards the trailers.
Most surreal moments of them all! I shall never forget it. XD
So, we were just sitting there, regretting that we hadn't seen ASH, when ronsoftie suddenly noticed these persons!
We were then asked by a lady to move away, because they would be shooting there.
So we sat down in the spot where Merlin met Arthur and just watched and waited for them to set everything up.
They adjusted their costumes and we were thrilled to see that ASH finally got his own coat, and boy, does he look good in it!
It was so great to witness a scene being filmed and see both Anthony and Sarah (who I adore since Blackpool) work, and hear them laugh (that man has a laugh!).
Gradually more and more people came just to watch, and ASH even took a bit of time inbetween to come to the barrier and give an autograph and talk. Sadly, he was called away before we got a chance to pose for a picture with him, but at least we got to see him just a mere metre away from us and he talked French to some guy. Gorgeous man and so friendly and nice. (sorry if I use gorgeous too much, but we saw a lot of gorgeous things)
We watched for a bit and then decided to have a look at the part of the castle that was closed off before.
Here we have to upper part of the chapel, aka the way to Lady Helen's chamber.
A well-know hallway.
The window!
Right across from the stairs to Morgana's room.
And next to another familiar flight of stairs.
And they left a banner for us - okay, someone carried it away after us, so I think we just got really lucky - and yes, we touched and posed with it.
The view from 'the window'.
And up the stairs
The top of The Stairs.
And a last look at the courtyard shortly before closing time. We were all sad to leave because it had been such a wonderful and exciting day!
Anthony was still kissing at the time, but everyone else seemed to have gone or was filming down in the set of the village, which was closed for the public when we tried to pass it again.
Merlin is everywhere though, even in Reims... ;)
So, all in all, we probably missed a thousand chances to speak to all of them, but I really don't care. Just like this I already feel incredibly lucky and privileged!
(Gonna be back for real once I made it to the parents again, gotta get started soon.)
(It's c), always has been. Sorry, je suis loser, but at least I can still see it all before me.)
Instead there's Anthony, Sarah Parish and a shitload of pics of the castle, with which I'm hopelessly in love now.
This is us in Camelot (from left to right: euraylie, wiccaqueen, gwy, ronsoftie and me - love you girls, and I already miss you) ! Right where the first meeting between Arthur and Merlin took place. A nice French technician took it.
The night before, watching the extras together to get into the mood. Okay, that's a lie, I think we all were very much in the mood already when we passed Pierrefonds on the way to our guesthouse.
The first glimpse down from the parking space. I was stunned enough to back into the car behind me. Ahem.
Gladly nothing happened, or the woman ensured me that her number plate had been dented before.
We went up the hill and immediately were greeted by little signs with the Merlin logo. Squee was had. No doubt for the guy at the barrier why we were there. We got to go up to the entrance through the set of the village! It was closed off later, but hey, we walked through Camelot and saw the famous water pump!
You get to walk around the castle once before you reach the entrance, that path is also where people ride to and away from the castle in the series.
The draw bridge with the entrance! We were in awe.
The courtyard with some medics, who must have a nice job, most of it is sitting around waiting for something to happen.
So this, is in the Court de Provisions, where the toilets are, and I tell you how it came that we entered here: We walked into the courtyard and who should stand/sit on the stairs but Bradley and Colin!
So surreal, especially since we had no expectations at all! We walked past - probably very inconspicuous (NOT!) - into the court and then had to just ramble a bit.
They were both in costume - Colin in the Merlin outfit sans neckerchief, in a turquoise tunic and Bradley in a simple outfit with a blue tunic, dark trousers and dark boots.
We then decided to pass them again, not looking too much and go have a look at the exhibit the friendly guide had pointed us at.
Colin was standing with the back to us, mostly, but Bradley was sitting there, reading his script. I kinda just stared for a bit, because he's seriously gorgeous, until he looked up at me. Oh, and to calm you all, Colin looks just fine in reality, skinny yes, but not too skinny. And he laughed at some guy (probably about us).
Needless to say that we caught next to nothing of the exhibit.
When we walked out again, Colin was gone (I think), we caught another glimpse of Bradley reading and then decided to have a look inside. We walked up the stairs to Gaius chambers.
Windows in said stairwell.
Oh, look, it's the slash dragon!
Entering the Great Hall
The light was gorgeous!
Really amazing room. The ceiling is a bit shabby, but the rest is just impressive.
Uther's throne! Amazing photo opportunity, but for the rope meant to keep visitors away. :/
The set, from above this time.
Shhhhh!
I don't know about you, but I always thought that this was on a higher level, but it's on the same level with the courtyard. That's also why we were wondering if it's that corridor or not.
Down to the dungeons
Now, down there they have a massive amount of fake graves with statues. Everything's dark, except for rainbow-coloured highlights and then they have these recordings of 'dead people's thoughts' in French, so you're walking through a dark room filled with whispering voices - CREEPY!
But then of course there's also this...
Dragon? Can you hear me?
There was a lot of taking pictures.
I thought the well was real by the way, but later on someone took off the upper parts. It's part of the set.
The entrance to Gaius' chambers. I think this I took, after Bradley had walked past us, belt in hand (he scuffs btw), and Angel sat down on the wall of the courtyard near to us. She was so pretty! Dressed in a purple dress that looked a lot like Morgana's dress. Katie joined her outside, equally gorgeous in green, and we just sat there, content to just be there and experience it all.
When they left again, we decided to pay the shop a visit and get postcards and stuff. I saw Bradley walking back, now with a leather vest on top of his outfit.
Then we just sat around, texting and writing postcards.
I can't for the life of me remember when Colin left the castle, but I think he was with Sarah Parish? He came back in after a while, carrying a misterious green plastic back with him all the time - yes, we speculated a lot.
Then Bradley came out again, taking the direction of the public toilets. Some of us went to take inconspicuous pics of him when he got back from the inside of the chapel (every time I say inconspicuous, I mean, obvious by the way. XD)
ronsoftie and me stayed on our bench and were rewarded with the view of Bradley standing there, arms outstretched, while the costume woman fussed with his tunic and belt.
And now comes the part in which Bradley totally loves the attention: When the costume woman was done, he stretched out on the stairs, just lying there, as if posing. In retrospect, maybe that would've been our chance to talk to him, but always the good German girls, we didn't want to bother anyone. (No, I did not imitate him later. Oh well, there's pictorial evidence, no sense in denying it, is there?)
He went back in after a while, only to appear at a window right above us a bit later, sitting in the frame, talking to the guy you can see on the left in this pic. He said something about 'Morgan' being 'cheeky' and that the guy should slap him if he saw him the next time - I'll just let that speak for itself.
After a while said 'Morgan' walked back in, with his plastic bag, almost skipping up the stairs (seriously, Colin so was the highlight of the day for me, just adorable), and then both Angel and Bradley left.
I took the opportunity to take a closer look at Bradley on my way to the loo, had to go there anyway, so why not. He's actually a bit smaller than he appears on screen, but just as nicely built. Oh, and he had light scruff on his cheeks, wonder if you can see that on screen.
Sadly, I missed Katie waving at the others when she walked past. I love that woman!
Then we decided to have a look at the surroundings. This is the view from the draw bridge on Pierrefonds. The town is so so lovely by the way, really cute.
When we first entered from here, there were knights sitting around having a fag, it was a bit surreal. XD
You can see Merlin's corner and to the left is where the tournament scenes are filmed.
We walked along this path into the forest and by chance found the place they placed the trailers. We didn't go near there though.
We got some snacks - the woman at the store talked to me about why we were there, and I actually understood her French. She asked about if we were there for Colin, looks like even the castle staff likes him. ;)
That's just before the moment Colin turned the corner, and since I was facing in that direction, I was the first one to see him and he looked at me and smiled and I was left gaping, I think. I still managed to alert the others somehow.
He walked past us, smiling all the while, with his green plastic bag and made his way up through the forest towards the trailers.
Most surreal moments of them all! I shall never forget it. XD
So, we were just sitting there, regretting that we hadn't seen ASH, when ronsoftie suddenly noticed these persons!
We were then asked by a lady to move away, because they would be shooting there.
So we sat down in the spot where Merlin met Arthur and just watched and waited for them to set everything up.
They adjusted their costumes and we were thrilled to see that ASH finally got his own coat, and boy, does he look good in it!
It was so great to witness a scene being filmed and see both Anthony and Sarah (who I adore since Blackpool) work, and hear them laugh (that man has a laugh!).
Gradually more and more people came just to watch, and ASH even took a bit of time inbetween to come to the barrier and give an autograph and talk. Sadly, he was called away before we got a chance to pose for a picture with him, but at least we got to see him just a mere metre away from us and he talked French to some guy. Gorgeous man and so friendly and nice. (sorry if I use gorgeous too much, but we saw a lot of gorgeous things)
We watched for a bit and then decided to have a look at the part of the castle that was closed off before.
Here we have to upper part of the chapel, aka the way to Lady Helen's chamber.
A well-know hallway.
The window!
Right across from the stairs to Morgana's room.
And next to another familiar flight of stairs.
And they left a banner for us - okay, someone carried it away after us, so I think we just got really lucky - and yes, we touched and posed with it.
The view from 'the window'.
And up the stairs
The top of The Stairs.
And a last look at the courtyard shortly before closing time. We were all sad to leave because it had been such a wonderful and exciting day!
Anthony was still kissing at the time, but everyone else seemed to have gone or was filming down in the set of the village, which was closed for the public when we tried to pass it again.
Merlin is everywhere though, even in Reims... ;)
So, all in all, we probably missed a thousand chances to speak to all of them, but I really don't care. Just like this I already feel incredibly lucky and privileged!
(Gonna be back for real once I made it to the parents again, gotta get started soon.)