You Have Bewitched Me, Body & Soul & I Love Thee

One of the things I was looking forward to most while I was in England was exploring the areas that Jane Austen wrote so romantically about in all her novels. I am absolute hopeless romantic and I can’t believe I’m in the places she wrote about so many years ago. Bella, thank goodness, is just about as obsessed as I am so when the idea was brought up to visit “Pemberly” a.k.a Mr. Darcy’s House this past week, we both jumped on the idea. So on Thursday morning we woke up before the sunrise and caught a train to Chesterfield! It was another episode of Trains, Planes and Automobiles to actually arrive at Chatsworth House “Pemberly”, as online it made it sound so easy to navigate but in reality it was way out in the Peak District and it once we arrived at the train station we learned it was still like 15-20 miles away. However, once we got there it was absolutely breathtaking and totally worth the pain to get out there!

I can’t even explain how beautiful the house was; it was incredibly breathtaking and absolutely surreal that I was actually there. The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire have always, and currently do still reside at the Chatsworth House, so the house had been kept and restored to a historically accurate perception of the era. The carving work, the cathedral ceilings, the frescos and murals were beautiful. One of my favorite parts of the house was the grande dining room which was a deep burgundy color with fresh, crisp white accents and some of the most dazzling chandeliers I’ve ever seen.

Then we explored the gardens which went on for acres and acres. Statues and artwork dotted the landscape amongst the lakes and waterfalls along with quaint hide-away spots high up in the trees. Between the distant smell of burning wood, the vibrant colors of autumn leaves, and the brisk breeze- I truly felt like autumn had arrived; and there I was, smack dab in the middle of Pemberly to experience it :)