A Day out in Vannes

Leaving home around 10.30am, we headed out to Vannes, on the south west coast of the Morbihan Department. Brittany, like all other 'states' is divided into 'Departments'. We are bound on the north west by Finistere Department which basically means...Land's End. Very Apt. It is THE most westerly point of the European Continent.
However...Vannes was our destination today. It is a Medieval city with a modern population of around 52,000 people, a Port and a the remains of a Walled City.

We took forever to get to the motorway, twisting in and out of little country Hamlets (always makes me think of what my sons call that...Little Pig...get it? Hamlet!) and towns where I have to change down from the normal 90kph to 70 for the Hamlets and 50 for the towns. I don't mind, as it means we can take our time checking places out. We usually go through the Centre Ville (Town Center), so we get to look, and sometimes stop there and find out what makes the place special. Usually there is a Catherdral or Eglise (Church) in the middle of town...typical in most of Europe...and they are usually built of stone. Their spires are long and skinny and many figured, with plenty of Gargoyles and places for pigeons to sit and poop...yes, that is a real problem, often addressed by netting on both roofs and special statues in and around the church. There is a wonderful movement to resurrect these lovely buildings and clean and renovate them in general. It is amazing to see what the centuries have wrought on the figurines...some of them are barely recognizable now. You will see this in some of the photos yet to come.


Most of the 'country' roads we travers are barely one lane wide.. but wherever you look, you see little settlements in between the pasture..Hamlets and Towns.

 

There are still plenty of fields of Maize out there. Lots of them are being cleared and new crops for winter are being planted.

Before getting to the autoroute, we went through the small town of Malestroit, which is noted as a Town of Particular Cultural Interest, in the guidebooks and also on the sign as you enter the town. All these towns have cultural significance in one way or other.  Malestroit is significant for its Medieval feudal beginnings in the 11th century. Parts of the town have buildings dating back to the 11/13/16th centuries, and of course most of them have been rebuilt at some stage or other. This is Living History!

This is the bridge into the town. It goes over the Nantes to Brest Canal (northbound). Yes, boats have to be low to get under these bridges!

This barge is apparently a Taxi for hire.

We went for a walk along the tow path, for a ways, and then turned in between the houses, back to the main road, which had no sidewalk, and motorists who were not good at giving us some space, walking tight up against the houses. This is common here, where the houses are right on the road in many places. You literally come out the front door onto the road!

Finally we hit the autoroute and were happy steaming along at 110kph, and finally exiting to Vannes. We passed through the industrial part of the city before entering the ancient part of town. Finding a parking space on this Friday was another matter. En France, it pays to be patient...something the French are not good at. Not only are they not patient, in general, but they are also tailgaters, or did I already tell you that.? They leave no room for indecision AT ALL, so we have made some motoring decisions that have necessitated some U turns as a result. Better that than being rear-ended! non?

We ended up driving along the Marina, therefore waterfront, in Vannes, and it was old eagle-eyes Waz who found our parking lot that was Gratuite...Free!yay! All the others were pay places and those create their own problems, as we have to then read the wretched meter! :) Our free parking lot was up a steep hill...good for walking down, fresh of limb, but not for walking up, after a few hours on our feet...more on that later.

We went around and around and finally spotted someone coming up the stairs and heading for their tiny car. We asked her...Vous Allez, Madame? (You are going?) Oui! Ahhh! Merci!! Tres Bien!

So we followed her to her car, giving her just enough room to back out so that the car behind us didn't sneak in in front of us, as they are want to do! We parked in a space wide enough, for once, and locked and went down the hill. Immediately we got to the Marina at the bottom of the hill, we regretted that we didn't have our jackets and scarves. The wind was FREEEZING!

Not far along the waterfront we spied a restaurant, this now being 11.30am..Lunch time. We know it costs more along the tourist route, but we fancied sitting in a restaurant eating and looking at boats..ha! I wonder why???:) We tent to gravitate to water, no matter where we are.
We decided on the Plat du Jour for 11euros each for Cannelloni Saumon et Poirons  (Salmon and Leeks), which was delicious and we decided on a Café Crème to follow, which was a treat. Lunch came to 26euros, which wasn't too bad, and we were full!

Now replete, we started towards the Medieval center of the town which is marked by a figured gate, and lots of people were pouring into and out of it's mouth. We stopped for post cards at the entry, .40centimes each. I guess you could say we have disobeyed all the rules of being a tourist, so far today.

As was typical, in Medieval times, a fortress or Chateau was built with a Ramparts surrounding it, and in time, villages grew within its confines for the safety of the citizens, but also because there was always a need for commerce within. As these were feudal times, safety within the walls was good for everyone, and many crafts were fostered by the Lord and master, and different areas became known for different crafts and products according to the countryside....fishing near the cost, blacksmith near the farming towns etc. This small city is on the Marle Estuary. In the center of the old town is the Cathedral of Saint Pierre which is undergoing much reconstruction and renovation of its exterior.

The Gate to the Medieval City of Vannes. YEs, that is a tourist train to the right, in the photo! It was full

 I took a photo of this post card to show the estuary of the river, and the old walled city of Vannes. You can see the Cathedral in the bottom of the photo. and to the left are the gardens, which I will show your shortly.

We entered the gate and immediately spied a culinary  shop...of course we had to enter therein and ooh and ahh over all the fantastic cookware:) and even buy something...which I cannot divulge because it is for my youngest son for his 24th birthday. He is a total foodie and excellent cook, and it is always fun finding interesting 'things' to add to his collection of cooking apparatus.
It appears that the whole of France is festooned with flowers, this summer. I know this is the end of the summer season, but they are all still in bloom and we are enjoying them all immensely. Love these bicycles!

 Yes, we did think it would be nice to eat one of these..yes, just one...well, maybe of each kind>>>:) but we just looked. It helped that we had full tummies from our lunch earlier. They are so pretty to look at, aren't they?

Ok, now for he good stuff. This Catherdral is being renovated, as you can see by the scaffolding. Thank goodness it is, too. It looks a million buck from this side, but the other side shows it's age!

 What a stunning building it is. and we stood for a long time looking at all the details...and photographing a lot of it.
Some of the figures were so badly aged that they were almost unrecognizable:(


Lots of Timbered houses, which is pretty common in most places in Europe. They are mostly from the 13th-18th century. Some of them were very rickety looking and definitely not square.

 The garden below the Ramparts was lovely. We didn't get down there, but enjoyed it from above. An interesting color mix in most of them. You can see the ramparts on the far left side if the photo.

 Like I said....not many of the really old houses are square!

This is the one remaining tower in the Ramparts. Parts of it date back to the 13th century. You can probably see which parts!

The wonderful doors on the Cathedral. I went inside, but it was too dark to see much and there was plenty to look at outside. The older man in the photo, with his back to us, was offering the younger man some wine. There were a few Gypsy beggars inside the old town, but we weren't inspired to give them any money.

We marveled that someone had to get up there and re-roof that dome! Don't you love the Frieze?

Such wonderful embellishments everywhere we looked.

Now these pastries are Breton specialties, so of course we had to try a couple. You can find the other pastries anywhere, but these are 'local'. We bought a Cointreau and another butter an caramel pastry. Very delicious, but very buttery, both of them. One was plenty.

This made me laugh. I really took this photo for my middle son who is a gun and knife fanatic...

This pretty garden had been planted in what looked like a dead end, in the Ramparts.

Look up and this is what you see, in the same garden space.

The Hotel de Ville is not an Hotel. It is the Town Hall, and this is it. Fancy huh!

You would laugh...we were walking along, minding our business, per usual..yes, really! and there in a shop window was an All Blacks jersey. We went into the shop whch was dedicated to all the Rugby World Cup clothing, and declared that the All Blacks would win the cup again! The shop assistant agreed with us, and all the French we have met so far are All Blacks fans. They don't think the French are great Rugby players at all! :) We have to agree of course, and we can always  make ourselves understood when it comes to talking Rugby, around here. They are fanatics, and the Cup is about to begin. We hope to watch the matches on one of the TV in the Manoir.

We drove home around 4.30pm...rush hour. I was a little frazzled and happy to get off the autoroute and onto the country roads again.
We got home in daylight and went to visit the animals before feeding them and putting them to bed for the night. Dinner was a simple affair, fortunately, as we had some Chipolatas..yes, they have them here...everywhere. They are good too, and ALL meat! no fillers.

Another day gone, and lots more to tell tomorrow. Au Revoir!

A Visit to Carentoir and more

In an effort for us to get to know our surroundings, we did a small Tiki-Tour to Carentoir, which is 3 miles to our left (turning out of the driveway) vs 8 miles to Guer, turning right, out of the driveway:) you get the picture?:)
We have previously only driven through the town or visited the Super U supermarket on the outskirts, this side of town. The supermarket is a nice one and the choices are great!...more on the food later.
First...we found a War Memorial, just after Waz said that we hadn't seen any...so far, obviously!

The Memorial is in front of the lovely Cathedral in the center of town. The lovely plantings were everywhere.

We thought that if we parked behind the Cathedral, we would be able to find our car, such is the manner of French Villages....lots of little streets that one can easily get lost in. Fortunately the town wasn't that large, and we could always see the spire of the Church, so no problem finding said car.


The streets are invariably clean and well cared for. Few if any derelict homes in the town central, though the same cannot be said for the outskirts, where there are many old and run down buildings. By old, I mean centuries old!!

I always said I wanted to live in France in an apartment with a window box and Red Geraniums growing therein...how Romantic!:)

Le Centre Ville (town center), which has a couple of roundabouts, a square, to the right, in this photo, and with some pretty planter boxes full of the last of the summer flowers, and parking. The houses are all attached, and it isn't until you get towards the end of the street that you find the semi-detached, and the completely detached houses. They might even have gardens, on the outskirts! These places might have garages down the back alley...if they are lucky.
There is good bus service between towns, it seems, and people appear to make good use of them. Children are bussed to school, in these parts, and it all appears very orderly, unlike some of their American counterparts.

Of course there was much more to the town than just a couple of photos....well, not, actually...and we needed Kitty litter, so off to the supermarket yet again....they are beginning to recognize us now:) for better or worse, lol. I'm the weird lady that takes photos of all the food:) I did explain that I am a New Zealander, in the hope that it might explain the strange activity! They smiled politely and nodded sagely..I think it was sagely...I might never know! Je ne comprend pas! (I do not understand!)

I get a bit excited in Supermarkets, so while Waz was off doing the decent thing and finding the Kitty Litter, I was ogling the gorgeous fresh...FRESH...fish...so many different kinds. I should make this a quiz, to see how many you recognize, but I don't think you would succeed very well...but go ahead, if you like!

 

No extra points for this one!

 You might already have identified this as Skate...if you didn't, don't worry! I know it from long ago travels.

 These look like hefty crab claws.

 Arent these Langoustine pretty!

Aren't these shells gorgeous! I don't know what they taste like, but was very taken by the aesthetics of the whole thing!

Bear in mind this is a small regional or rather town supermarket. The town would have a population of around 2,544 (1999 census) people, and there are other supermarkets in nearby towns.  This is the bread selection at the end of the day.  I know you cant read the names or prices very well, but I can tell you that the prices are small.

Oh look!! more fish!:)  I had to show you the Atlantic WILD Salmon, at 17euros per kilo. Good price, and it looks wonderful.

 The wrapped cheeses....most of the cheeses in supermarkets are wrapped, of course, but sometimes there is a counter selling slice per customer. We drooled over most of these...

So, then we found ourselves on the road to Redon, except we never got there. Instead we bumped into..almost literally...Gacilly, which has a pop. of around 2,277 (1999 census! lol)...Waz isdoing the research tonight!....anyhoooo, this was a totally inspired bumping of the best kind.

The town is on a hill, and we parked on the wrong side of the road, as they are apt to do, in these parts...any parking space, anywhere! and walked up the hill to one of the main streets, where we encountered an Art Happening. It looks like this small town is full of Art Atelier, and we found a few of them.


Looking up the road to the top of the hill, from where we parked in Gacilly

Looking back down over the gorgeous garden opposite the car.

 Some interesting art in a shop window

 Public art

 More public art outside the artists workshop. No photos allowed in the store of course, but they are the kind of weird things we might collect. :) Good thing we live on a boat, and cant send it back from France!

Rather like this fella!

 

. There was plenty of outdoor artwork and photography. I believe this is part of an Arts Festival.

 

This door and surround had obviously been newly painted. Loved the color against the traditional 'Pierre' (stone) house

Of course this alley way says "Walk down me" to us, so off we go!

 Of all the Typical French Scenes one might find at the end of the Rabbit Hole:) A Vespa with a wicker Panier (basket) on the back. Tres Jolie (very pretty)

The grape vines outside this home had grapes dying on the vine. We could have sat underneath and eaten till we were full to busting!

And then we had to go home....to find a bathroom. We were sure there was a public toilette somewhere in town, but couldn't remember where we had seen it, or was that the last town? who knows, so crossing both legs, we made our way back down the hill and a quick trip (French Rally Driving style) back home down the country roads. I can zoom up the long driveway in second gear, faster than Nikki Rikonnen (Finnish Rally Driver...forgive the spelling!)

And now we come, yet again, to food.

I love the prepared foods in France. These are Lardons. They  are pre-cut chunky bacon which flavor the food only. I use ordinary thick cut bacon and do the cutting myself, in the USA. Loved finidng these ready made, because the knives in our apartment wouldn't but pussies foot, as the saying goes.

 Into this pan went the lardons, then the mushrooms and courgette (zucchini in Italy and elsewhere) and the pre-cut chicken breast... another convenience I am very happy about.Add a dash of fresh cream, and some grated cheese of the Parmesan kinds, and Voila! Dinner!

How the Lardons are packaged. .97 euros, thanks. for two!

And joy of joys....I found, in the cheese sections, something I have been talking about for years...something I used to eat of lot of in  Aussie, to be exact, and finally found it...Walnut Cheese.
Heaven sent!

Waz has a new favorite...Mousse de Canard....Duck Pate. It is the smoothest loveliest pate you could wish to eat! That with Roquefort cheese on Ciabatta! For lunch!

And, following such a lovely chicken dinner, we had to have one of the prepared Tarte au Citron (lemon tart with meringue) Meringue, with fresh raspberries and Crème Anglais (custard) superbe!

I know you will all be drooling by now!! well, I hope you are:)

 

Time for bed. The cup of tea is over, and it is bed time.

I have another couple of days to tell you about, but it will have to wait until tomorrow..Sunday.

 

Au Revoir, and Bon Nuit.

More Construction!

With great enthusiasm we were up early and on the job in no time, after a scrambled egg breakfast with Croissant. We needed the protein, working this hard. What a great feeling it is to be ready to sleep at the end of the day:)

We had to go into Guer yet again, to the Brico Mache hardware store. This time we got it right! yay! We also decided to take half an hour, on the way home to check out the little town. what a pretty place! A nice cathedral in the middle, of course, and plenty to look at...including buying some patisserie! yes, we bought a chocolate and a café (coffee) Religieuse (Chou pastry with crème patissier in the middle)....thus...with frosting on the top!..we had to eat it for lunch, of course.

 

I didn't take a photo of the Croissants aux Armande, but I can tell you, they were wonderful for breakfast the next day!:) and no, we aren't putting on weight, just in case you thought we might be:)

Just as well we are driving a small car! we parked on this side street and walked around the Centre Ville (town center). On the corner (right) is the stone building where the Patisserie is! and below, Waz is holding the beautiful package that is our pastries! Pyramid of loveliness:)

Everywhere, in all the towns, are baskets of summer flowers...some of course are past their best. The morning temperature is very cool indeed, now.

I will have to tell you about our trip into Carentoir, tomorrow. Time for bed, and another work day tomorrow. Au Revoir!

Being Constructive!

Oh how we love to get our hands dirty and really get stuck into something. The next day we slept rather late. Perhaps the time difference of 6 hours (forward) was catching up with us. After a breakfast of more croissants and fruit and tea, we took ourselves off to the Apartment we are renovating. Donning our coveralls we set to, spackling the very uneven concrete walls, so that they can be painted and don't look totally munted (kiwi terms for dreadful) afterwards. The spackle is taking a long time to dry, so I go from one wall to the other. There are plenty of walls to spackle!
In the meantime, Waz fits the new door handle...a bit of blue air, but for the most part things go well. We do have to go into Guer to the Hardware Store Bricomarche, to find some bits and pieces before we can go further. We did ok with the language, and found most of what we needed there. We did get a little bit lost getting there, and had to go via the Tourist Information office to ask....not sure why they don't speak English there, as there are so many English visitors to the region! Anyhoo...someone there knew a little English, and with my little French, we each made ourselves understood and got to the Marche. Problem solved!
The problem with these little towns is this: The roads are skinny between the houses, and it is a bit like a maze! seriously! one can literally go around in circles...well, maybe a few circles! didn't we just come down here???yep!

The last person to spend their time at the Chateau 'helping out', did some really 'interesting' things...like extending the door. You can see the original door with the door handle now on the extension. Waz installed that today.

This is the view as you walk into the apartment, straight into the Kitchen, with the large bathroom ahead (ladder in there). Waz has to put three new lights above the kitchen counter...not an easy job undoing what is already done! more blue air!:)

Someone had a nightmare and sponge painted the walls in the bathroom. The only good part of that is that you cannot see how horridly pocked the wall is. This is what I have been spackling...and the part underneath. On Saturday the drywall arrives for the toilet surround, ceiling and behind the shower stall. Waz will be installing that. We have some scaffolding to install to do the ceiling, which will be a large job!

 

This is what the wall looked like BEFORE I got in there with the mud. It took me ALL DAY to spackle this wall. There are four walls in the Bathroom, and three others in the kitchen, to spackle.

 

Looking back to the front door

 

The Caretakers apartment is above the garage. Such a pretty setting with lovely big windows on all sides . You could have a party in the bathroom, it is so large:)

We pretty much worked all day, and felt tired and well accomplished. A long walk down the road after dinner, and picking some wild blackberries! yum! End of the season though, so some of them are a bit old.
More tomorrow!

Nous Sommes Arrivons En France

Yes, we have arrived in France. More precisely, we arrived yesterday, 31st August, at Chateau Le Mur.
Let's go back to the beginning of the 30th August, Sunday. Waz and I were up at 6am, and decided to go to Waffle House for a good protein filled breakfast. Having packed everything up at the boat and made ready to leave, we didn't have much left to do. Our goodbyes with various people were  leisurely affairs and essential, as so many of them may not be at the Marina on our return. With Hurricane Season in full swing, as we left the country...3 in the Pacific region hovering around the Hawaiian Islands (my kids on Maui will hopefully be safe, though they wont be enjoying the 102F the last two days have given them), and Erik dissipating over the Florida Peninsula, we now only have Fred to worry about, somewhere in the Atlantic.....we did the best we could with making the boat ready for pretty much anything.

It is only a 15 minute drive to the Golden Isles Airport, Brunswick, and a fairly casual place to leave from. Parking is free, which is nice, compared to the hundreds of dollars required to park in either Jacksonville or Savanah Airports. Ticket agents checked our single large bag through on Air France, all the way to Charles De Gaulle/Roissey, Paris. We shouldered our backpacks and moved into the lounge through security, to await the arrival of our small aircraft.

On board the small jet aircraft, we sat on the tarmac with engines running for a full 45 minutes. As there is no Control Tower at Brunswick, they take all their instructions from Savannah, apparently. We waited for two planes to land, in that time, before getting the all clear. At least the Capt. kept us all informed, if a little impatient. No drink service on that 45 minute flight.

Arriving in Atlanta...wow! what a huge airport!. Caught the shuttle train to the International Terminal, found the Food Court and a healthy lunch of  wraps and a Latte, of course.

Just as well we had plenty of time between the delayed Brunswick flight and our Paris flight! It took the whole hour allotted, to seat the full plane. Some unreasonable people aboard, making demands which adds stress unnecessarily to all those around. Only one of the flight attendants was a French speaker, which added to the stress, with many passengers being non-English speaking. All was sorted in time to take off, and the flight was otherwise uneventful. I took a sleeping tablet which only afforded me 2 1/2 hours sleep, and Waz stayed awake the whole time. We watched various movie choices...two I might not have seen otherwise, but was happy I watched them. Don't ask me the titles...completely flown out the other ear!:)

Arrival En France was 20 minutes early at 10 mins to 6am. It appeared that a gazillion flights had the same arrival time and the French do not believe in air conditioning their arrival hall. Waz advised me NOT to take a photo of all the people there at the same time...seriously....it was chock full of almost every nationality you could imagine. Too many Douane (customs) officers lurking around (fully armed), and I didn't want to lose my brand new spy camera!

Some photos you just HAVE to take...like this one:)

As it was so early, and we had enjoyed a small (emphasis) breakfast from a cardboard box, on the plane at 5am, we sought what any good kiwi would, when overseas...a Latte or whatever might pass for same. A Capuccino did just fine, in conjunction with  a Pain Chocolat, and later two more Capucinno and a large Pain au Raisin..you have to have something to do when you have almost three hours to wait in the Gare Charles de Gaulle....waiting with large crowds in Railway Stations in the heat, with people who don't know what a deodorant looks like...seriously!!! means you seek other places with fresh (albeit polluted) air outside.

Our second Breakfast....

Outside of the main Train Station at Charles de Gaulle airport, where we attempted to find some fresh air. This is where the smokers are allowed...so it wasn't too fresh. We made do with the cooler air, anyway.

Our train to Rennes in Brittany arrived and we duly boarded, found our comfy first class seats and settled in. We were feeling pretty spacey by this stage. Sleep was hard to come by, although Waz did manage a few winks towards the end of the 3 hr trip. It was great watching the countryside whiz by, being on the TGV (Train Grande Vitesse..or Very Fast Train) and we could see all kinds of interesting sights on the way. Small towns dotted all over...Large fields of Maize and some of sunflowers, now all past their bright best, and hanging their heads ...Some church spires, the odd chateau in the distance on a hill, but mostly farm land. France is still very much like NZ, an Agrarian Country.

Little cars everywhere! You forget the necessity for small cars...big ones just wont fit down some of the skinny village streets, and besides, they are expensive to run, insure and keep. I read this morning that the French are terrible drivers...another thing they have in common with Aucklanders!...and also there is a lot of car theft in this country. It almost doesn't pay to have a new vehicle! Insurance is expensive too.

We arrived at Rennes around 1.30pm and sought a bathroom. We know they are hard to find, and the public toilets we have visited so far have been none too clean. I bought some croissants for our next two mornings breakfasts, at a boulangerie at the train station. I made the purchase successfully, in French, and we then went in search of our Rental car...or the rental car people. This was accomplished, the car inspected for dings and anything else, and away we went....albeit slowly, at first...or perhaps I should say...with a few rabbit hops, stalls and much laughter. It has been 20 something years since I drove a stick shift (manual) vehicle, and it took a lot of concentration to remember to put my foot on the clutch to change gear, and then to synchronize everything. Waz is such a patient man!

With the GPS on, and instructed to take us to the Chateau Le Mur, just out of Carentoir, we had a 40 minute drive ahead of us. We found that the French like to tail gate and then zoom past you, if you are not going as fast as they think you should.

We arrived without too many hassles and wrong turns and after stopping at a Supermarket of sorts in the small town of Guer, just about 6 miles from the Chateau. This is a weird sort of supermarket that we have since returned to. Not big box, but not standard fare either. We bought wine...nearly falling off our perches when we saw the price...1.99euros! eh? yes, we had to look three times, before loading 6 bottles into our trolley:) Also bought some pate...canard (duck), which is divine!!!, some Roquefort cheese (blue) which was so inexpensive for a large wedge (2.49 euros) some grapes, tomatoes and other fruit and a few veg, some Crème Anglais (custard), and a couple of little soufflé vanille which we have enjoyed for dessert. ...have I digressed again? oh dear me!

Back to our arrival. Terry and Ernie (Owners) were at the Chateau, where they live with their daughter and grandson, as we drove on up to the front door. I guess they thought we were arriving earlier, but we had told them late afternoon. It was in fact 4pm  by the time we pulled the car to a stop.

Ernie showed us to our apartment, down the drive and around the corner from the Chateau. It is one of five apartments in the Manoir, opposite the Dairy. The property is 181 acres, and includes many outbuildings, a Manoir, Chateau and Dairy Farm. This latter is leased to a French Farmer. The smell of cows is ever present, but we don't mind. We are kiwis from the 'country' (rural) , after all:)

We were left to settle in for a bit, before going up the driveway on foot to find out what is expected of us while we are here and to earn our accommodation for the 4 weeks.

We are happy to be off the boat and doing something interesting with our time. We really don't mind the exchange that is taking place because it gives us a chance to be 'local' and go to stores to buy things that we might need...building supplies mostly, and all with the idea that we might like to find our own little piece of paradise in France somewhere (near water) for a few years or more and to enjoy the lovely food, countryside and all that France has to offer...including all the History. Something about living with and discovering all this history around us.

We slept well our first night, waking initially around 4am, and then going back to sleep for another couple of hours, rising around 9am feeling very groggy. Should have risen at 4!

We spent time having some breakfast and getting up before meeting with Ernie to discuss some further progress on the building front...our jobs while here.

It was decided to go into Rennes, initially for Lunch and then to a large Home Depot type of Hardware store. We spent the best part of two hours in this store finding all the bits and pieces needed to do the job we have for the rest of our time here. Renovating the Caretakers Apartment above the garage. Ernie and Terry are hopeful they will find a Caretaker to live on the property and do all the things Ernie has been doing to date but doesn't really have time for anymore. It is a LOT to take care of, and would be pretty much a full time job. There is need of a vehicle too, as there is no public transport locally, and the two towns are rather isolated, though not far from the Chateau.

We slept well for our second night, after enjoying some delicious food... and cups of British Lipton's Tea, which tastes wonderful.

Breakfast this morning was the last of the croissants and Viennoiserie...little pain au chocolat, pain au raisin and mini croissants. VERY good. Fruit and cappuccino!

We were up and at it early, getting to the job around 7.45am....oops...I forgot to tell you about the lunch yesterday! aiee!!

They took us to a Chinese Buffet just this side of Rennes. We thought this was rather weird initially, but the food was excellent, a bit different to what we are used to in the USA at these kinds of places, and it was inexpensive at 10euros each. The ice-cream for dessert was superb! and so was the flan au citron (lemon pie) ...the other food was pretty good too:)

Back to today. Our hosts have gone and left us to it. Waz installed a new door handle and lock, removed the old oil heaters in the bathroom, installed some new lights in the kitchen and many other small tasks. I put on my overalls and began the spackling in the bathroom. I am trying to make the old walls smoother than they are...which isn't hard, frankly, and tomorrow, if they are dry, we will sand them and the living room, if we can. I still have some spackling to do in the bathroom, but that should be possible tomorrow also. Nice to be working and doing renovating...we like this kind of work!

This is giving us a good look at what it is like to live En France, and to see if we would like to live here for a while. Real Estate is not very expensive, and if we could find the right property near the ocean, we could be tempted. Lots of places to see and things to do in the meantime. We may not be able to do this for a while. The boat has to sell first! Who knows what our future holds, right now.

Tomorrow, after a good night's sleep, we will up and at it yet again. So satisfying to be working hard, using our brains and feeling tired at the end of the day so that we look forward to sleep.

Au Revoir...

Sorry for the lack of photos...having trouble uploading them.