We've been everywhere, man!

Oh my goodness....where to start??
It has literally been weeks since I posted last. Not because I haven't wanted to, but because we have been so busy, and blogs take a long time to write and organize etc. Enough excuses, I am here, and now!
I am actually sitting in the lovely modern library in Carentoir, actually known as a Mediateque. We are here because the 10gb that are allotted for the MONTH at the Chateau, have been used up in a matter of 3 days! Are we guilty? NO! Something is going on, for the second month in a row, that we don't know about. Our hosts need to investigate! In the meantime, we have no internet at the Chateau and are forced to seek refuge in the library either in Carentoir or Guer. Their hours are 'interesting' to say the least, but I love the fact that everywhere, they take the obligatory 2 hrs for lunch. We were kicked out of the Guer Mediateque last week, as it was 12 noon, and therefore they were closing! Very civilized! But not convenient.
In the meantime, we get plenty done.

 The Library stands in direct contrast to the old stone Presbytere and its Dependences, next door. It was once the presbytery for the large Catholic Church, across the road. The HOUSE is behind the building to the left.

I will have to go backwards, per usual, because that is the only way I remember things, sorry.

We are enjoying the cooler weather, which arrived about 3 weeks ago. We have been wearing our sweaters ever since. We don't mind this at all, and I can still wear my old sandals in the garden, but I am glad to put some sox on in the house.
The sunsets and Sunrises are glorious, and I have enjoyed some of the foggy mornings for the light in the valley below the house. The Chateau is on the highest point in the district, and the view out over the valley is stunning. We have taken to sitting, late afternoon, with a cup of tea or coffee, surveying the scenery below us. You would too, if you were here.
This photo is from this morning.

The contrails lit up as highways in the sky, which I guess they are!

The early mornings are cool at 10C (50F), but very pleasant nonetheless. This is what I call the Morning Terrace, but it is perfect in the afternoon too, of course.

Well, Autumn (Fall) is here. I took this photo of some Liquidambar trees next to a Lidl (ly dill )Supermarket, in La Gacilly (Ga see yee) on Sunday. We had been out tiki-touring around, looking for a house we found on the internet in St Jacut les Pins (Saint Ja coo lay parng). We didn't find the house, but we found so much more. Some of great interest.!

 After looking on the top of a large granite hill in the town of St Jacut les Pins, we drove down to the river level...this being the OUST River, in the town of St Martin sur Oust ( Saint Mar tarng ser Oost), which we REALLY like very much.
After an ice-cream and a Grand Crème (double shot espresso) at a Cider Bar opposite the river, we needed a pit-stop. We have found that most Churches have outside Loos, and we weren't wrong in that guess here. This is the VERY pretty public Loo in St Martin:)

Wayyyy before that, on the way to St Jacut, we passed a place we had been before...we had an AHA moment upon finding it again, and stopped long enough to take a photo of the Frenchman fishing on the Oust River, and the Peniche (left) and the Penichette (right) tied to the docks on the river.

 Someone on the Peniche was sanding, as you do on boats (interminably!). On our return through  here some hours later, the white Penichette was gone and the Peniche was now tied up in it's spot. I believe this is a free dock.

Carrying on up the hill in our house hunting quest, we found this lovely little church. That hill is really steep, by the way! it is out in the middle of nowhere! We find a lot, like that.

So, we got lost. Waz will say that he knew exactly where we were, but the GPS lady was telling me to make a U-turn, constantly. I literally backed down a bumpy gravel road, in order to turn around.

The Forest is so reminiscent of NZ forest. Bracken along the roadside (ferns).

 The natives thought we were nuts!! This was our first real and up-close sighting of the small deer found in these parts. This looks like mother and child.

 There are worse places one could get lost!:)

 We had seen paddles of a Windmill (other than the large new variety) as a silhouette against the sky, from some distance away. We then found the sign on a post, and investigated further.
Because this hill is granite and there was no water up here, the mills had to use wind power instead of the customary water power to grind their grains. This doesn't operate anymore, and is a popular stop on one of many walking trails in the area. Plenty of local people out walking this afternoon (sunday).

 The large Granite blocks used as the grinding wheel.

And so we came down off the Granite hill, and back into St Martin sur Oust. Two reasons: The first is because there was coffee here. The second, because there is a property for sale right next door! This is the view from that property.

One of our many criteria for choosing property is that there has to be water nearby, and even better if it is literally across the road. Woohoo! Waz was in heaven! But wait! Back up the horse, Gloria!!

First we had to have aforementioned ice-cream and coffee, which was cause for comment from the Cider man. He spoke pretty good English, and at the end of the day my Franglais was pitiful, so our conversation was in English. We told them that we weren't English, but NZ'ers. They said that we all come from English stock, so no matter! lol. They pegged us correctly as the Grandchildren of English Immigrants to NZ. Do we have a sign on our foreheads?
So..this is the property we had to investigate. Bear in mind a few things, before you make hasty comments...well, go ahead, make them, then figure the rest out! It is a former pub/hotel etc. They also used to hold marriages and the receptions, here...out back. I have NO photos from our inside investigations, mostly because I wasn't prepared for what we found. I know...must be something else if I can't remember to take photos,  right? :)

And before you jump to ANY conclusions....We have NOT made an offer on the property and we probably wont, but in the meantime, it was fun investigating it and considering how we could make it into something nice, given that it is DIRECTLY across the road from the OUST RIVER! and that view in the previous photo.
See how someone has added another floor and line of windows up top? Interesting that. there are somewhere in the vicinity of 17 bedrooms with attendant bathrooms/sinks/bidets et al in this Hotel.
The ground floor opening almost directly onto the street is a large pub and dining room. it is a lovely sunny place, with a bar in the middle backing onto a HUGE kitchen filled with equipment to feed a couple of armies. Really!!!
Well, how this all came about....
As the smart mouthed Cider man (whose sister owns and runs the restaurant (traditional Breton Cider and Cuisine) to the left, in this photo (you cant see it) ) and we were chatting, we told him why we had come into town. We felt a bit like Old Western kind of travelers who get off the Stage-coach in a strange town, to be honest.
He told us that the pub had been vacant and for sale for the past 5 yrs. The old owner had died and nobody seemed to want to buy it because it costs a lot of money to re-open an establishment for food and booze, when it has been closed for so long. He was most insistent that we wouldn't want to do this!!! We know he was protecting his own, in this manner, but we would have no intention of doing so. Our days of that kind of Hospitality are well and truly over.

So, he took us on a tiki-tour around the back on his own property next door, down a lane and then another lane until we reached the back of this Pub property. AIEEEEE!! Who would have thought!!! The back area is HUGE! It has a newer addition to the Pub...all joined, where they held the Marriage receptions. I digress...We walked around further and up the back steps (concrete, damp and mossy) and pulled on the door handle and VOILA! It opened! Oh glorious day!!
Mr Cider Man said he had never been inside, and didn't know what to expect. We could believe him because of his exclamations over everything. His dog also came along for the 'experience'! which it truly was.
Imagine in your worst nightmare, that you stuck in a series of long hallways that seem to go on forever, and everywhere there are bedrooms with sinks and bidet in them, and you cant find where it all ends. The floor goes up and down steps (one or two) and around corners, is carpeted for the most part (poo!) and there are beds still in the rooms, with the odd (being the operative) dresser, and flies buzzing at the windows, because someone thought to leave windows open for air! I think it might have been a wise move, actually!
We found some back stairs (they may well have been THE stairs down) and went cautiously down after Cider Man. At the bottom it opened into a kind of vestibule that took you into the newer part of the property. There was a large skylight, and a wall of windows on the sunny side, which was quite pleasant. This then opened into another room, which opened into the large room for 300 people. This has a raised dais for bands and a long bar across the sunny side. Across this room there was a 'coat' check and bathrooms for men and women.
Going back to the bottom of those stairs...You turn the opposite way, and come into the kitchen.
The whole thing was a bit 'titanic-like' in that it looked like it had been operating just yesterday. All the equipment was excellent, in the kitchen, and I'm sure it could easily be sold, if still in working order. Stainless steel everywhere!
There was the requisite wet room, for dishes et al, and then into the bar and dining room. Large sunny space opening onto the street.
So, here we were, along with Cider Man, ripping out the floors (three of them) and internal works etc...Our imaginations were in overdrive at this point, and we were 'high' on possibilities. Were we nuts? YES is the short answer.

The whole internal space is about 650 sq. meters, or about 6,500 sq. ft, for those of you who don't know metric! YES! That big! lol

We eventually found the dog...or it found us...after we returned to the bar and paid for our food and drink. We thanked Monsieur for his tour and for his advice to offer less than half the asking price on the property.
I don't think we will be doing that, but if it is still on offer when we sell the boat, who knows!! the structure itself is sound and we could do a real number on the place to make it an excellent modern home and business. Stand by on that count. haha!

On the way home we schemed and renovated in our heads and drove ourselves nuts for 48 hrs...ok, maybe we are still nuts, but we wont be making an offer this side of Christmas.

Saturday morning dawned foggy. This is the same valley that is giving us such glorious views and sunrises/sets.

On Saturday morning we had been invited to a Degustation and Tea tasting. The Degustation was Breton Cookies and Financiers baked by one of the many Wednesday Market Stall holders. He is a rotund fellow who was gracious enough to speak slowly so that we could have a conversation. Bless him! We had to then buy some of his cookes, known locally as Sables (which means Sand....Sar blay). His Financiers (feen nonce ee ayes) were light and delicious, in lemon (citron) Almond (armande) and Coconut (Rocher) flavors. YUM! is about all we can say to all of them.

The Sables came in three flavors, which we purchased, of course.Two each of the Dark chocolate (noir), the Dark with Orange peel and white chocolate with salted caramel, which Waz liked the best.
I just liked them all! lol.

I am being given the nod here. It is time to leave, but I will be back soon.

Lots more to share, and some more funny tales to tell.

Au Revoir!