Friends, Brittany Sunshine, and history

France's northwestern beaches have been a pleasant surprise - again and again. A day at Damgan showed a different face, a little more rocky but a shell collection treasure trove - amazing that despite sunny and warm weather, the beach was virtually deserted on a Saturday.

Since the arrival of friends Janice and Charles and Logan on Sunday, we happily assumed the role of tour guides - and together we have seen so many of France's bright spots!

La Baule is claimed to be on of the continents best beaches and it certainly did not disappoint the day we visited - water that the teenager claimed was "definitely swimable" actually was tolerable - for most of us - especially after some time in the stunning sunshine, and between frisbee and football games. Nearby Guerande is the longtime centre of salt extraction - a neat and ages old local product.

The seafaring walled city at St. Malo is a relatively intact walled and quite obviously wealthy city with a fantastic natural setting and tides that are really fascinating - we hiked to the Grande Be to view the city from the sea side, and walked the whole circumference of the wall... beautiful! Jacques Cartier's statue is featured prominently on the promenade, acknowledging his role discovering the Baie St. Laurent. After the trek around the city we had a nice break on the nearby cliffs on the Pointe du Grouin and watched the incredible tide come in.

On the cliffs above la baie du Mont-Saint-Michel watching the inflow of Europe's highest tidal flows - where the water can recede 15km at low tide!

It is no surprise that Mont. Saint Michel is considered one of the most special and most visited places in the country. Acknowledging the signs at the parking that warned us the tide would consume the parking lot by the evening, we arrived at the Mont early and proceeded through the knarly old streets, up to the Cathedral on top, and marvelled at every turn at the human effort and vision involved in 1000 years of mountain top construction and spiritual endeavour.

We took the opportunity to see some of our local R-en-T sites when Ome Jan and Tante Thea arrived in their return trip from walking in Spain, to their home in Holland. The Chateau in town and the second half of the Grees walk was a nice sideline for them and for us. We even got to celebrate Jan's birthday with a great diner, delivered courtesy of the weekly fish monger who delivered us some wonderful seafood!

More Breton living

The beach at Penestin, La Mine D'Or, holds a treasure trove of iron pyrite, marine life, sunny sand, and lovers of wind sports, fishing and relaxation. The golden cliffs along this beach are incredible, with lots of intricate nooks and crannies.






The historical port and fortified position at La Roche Bernard is now a recreational hub of the region. Inhabitated by the Vikings as early as 919, the "modern" fortifications were largely established in the 1500's, though the local Notre Dame chapel had already been there serving the area since around 1100. The crepes and beer found at the local fair are still fine to this day!

Overlooking the river Vilaine in Roche Bernard.




A sunny day at Carnac meant lots of time to explore the fascinating stone alignments, Menhirs and Dolmens, that are amongst the oldest known human manifestations and a testament to the prehistorical and mystical nature of Brittany.
The local beach was quiet as the mad summer rush has yet to come, though it is long and beautiful and surely a busy holiday destination in July and August.
Local farms are already in full swing and we took advantage of the great pick your own strawberries just outside R-en-T, so more crepes followed that evening.




Sadly, Alex and Scott's time with us in France ended when we delivered them to Paris and their flight home on June 16.
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The Dukes of Brittany established a hunting lodge in @1218 near Sarzeau named "Suscinio" that was expanded and built upon with drawbridges and towers through the 14th century. Extensive restorations allowed us to visit most of the main living areas of the castle, and we even enjoyed the rehearsals for an upcoming opera in the huge courtyard.

Rochefort-en-Terre

Strolling the main drag of Rochefort en Terre

We arrived in our new home on Tuesday. It will be nice to settle again in a place with more permanency. All six of us travelled by high speed train to arrive in Redon and were met by our host Tanya and her Irish neighbour David. It was so nice to finally meet her as she and I have been correspondance friends for 8 months. Tanya is just as I imagined her to be and her children, way cuter than could be imagined! We have been having a wonderful introduction to the Breton way of life... gallettes et crepes for dinner one night, a real fish feast the next, quiche, croissants purchased from the twice morning delivery man and cider and salted caramels... all delicacies of the district of Bretagne. There are markets almost every day of the week in neighbouring villages and some really cute shops right in town. We said goodbye to Tanya, Gabriel, Morgane, Raphealle and Tristan on Thursday in Rennes as they began their month-long holiday in Ontario - two weeks at our house in Peterborough, and two weeks in Ottawa.

Yesterday we packed up early and drove to the city of Vannes, a city on the ocean at the Gulf of Morbihan. Beautiful!!! We boarded a ship that took us to Belle Isle, a magnificent island in the ocean about a 45 minute cruise from land. Our trip took about 2 hours because we cruised through the tiny islands in the gulf. The fun biking along the coast included lots of crazy hills, lunch in the village of Sauzon, and the dsicovery and exploration of WWII armories and gun positions.

Above Sauzon, Belle Isle

Today we hiked one of the local R-e-T trails, LES GRÉES, that takes you above the town along a high ridge. After a warm and energetic hike that ended with some village time in some of the many shops we headed to the lake for a swim. Next stop: the beach!!

Overlooking the Chateau in Rochefort en Terre

Paris, full of delights!!

Our time in Paris has been an exciting one, living in a vibrant quarter of the city, a city so full of beautiful things - architecture, painting, sculpture, and history.

Below Sacre Coeur Church in northern Paris

We have enjoyed many built highlights that the city offers, including churches at Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, St Eustache, Ste. Marie Madeleine, L'eglise de Blanc Monteau and countless others.

The Louvre captured our imagination for a good portion of the day on Sunday. It is hard to believe there is so much creativity and art compiled in one place, and in such a magnificent and expansive home. This former fortress, constructed in 1190 by King Philippe-Auguste is such a piece of art in itself, with a fascinating and long history. We were pleased to see so many fabulous pieces, including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and much of the ancient Egypt exhibit - Meagan's choice, which we all enjoyed. Visiting the medieval Louvre (the excavated foundation of the original fortress) was really interesting. With another 3 or 4 days we think we could cover most of the museum!

Walking the Ile de la Cite and the paths along the Seine of course was very nice with some street music thrown in for good measure. Even the Metro was musical, as we were treated to a tuba solo on the train between Chatelet and Tuilerie stations.

Today, cousins Alex and Scott joined us from Washington, D.C. Our visit in Paris with them will be a short one - and wet as it turns out. We did get to the top of the Eiffel Tour, saw the Ecole Militaire and the Grand Palais, and walked the Champs Elyesee to stand under the Arc de Triomphe. Like so many of the notable sights in Paris they are all the more special and maginficent in real life, and seen in person, in the context of the city.

After some more Paris time tomorrow we will begin the next leg of our jouney as we head south-west to Rochefort-en-Terre. We are looking forward to speeding along at over 300 km per hour on the TGV (train grand vitesse). Adieu until we write again!

Paris

We have now begun the France portion of our journey and were both sad to leave Belgium but excited to arrive in the Marais and begin exploring this fabulous city. By happenstance we found a great exhibit on Gustave Eiffel at the nearby Paris Hotel de Ville and his many engineering and construction exploits - fascinating stuff. We got a birds' eye view of the city from the top of Europe`s second highest tower at Montparnasse, which really whetted our appetite. We are looking forward to more time in this very interesting quarter of Paris, and to seeing what the city has to offer...

Belgium, and more beaches!

BELGIUM

May 28 - time to say goodbye to our wonderful time in the Netherlands. Travelling via train to Breda and then courtesy of Mathieu by car through Cadzand-bad, we arrived in Duinbergen (Knokke Heist) to meet our friend Phillipe, for a tour of our temporary Belgian home, and of the neighbourhood.

Once settled we took a long walk on the excellent sand beach, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the wind turbines and gantry shipping cranes of nearby Zeebrugge. After a beach jog, the kids felt the need to have a swim, so had an introductory jump in the waves. The sea at this time of year has an active crowd of windsurfers, kite surfers and sand sailors - taking advantage of steady winds and flat flat beaches, with few people - at least on some parts of the beach.

We have spent many hours enjoying the sand and the surf, and even took in some beach polo (who knew) that was part of a holiday weekend and ongoing seaside patio scene in Knokke.

We have had many bikes trips around the area, to the north to the Zwin natural park, up and down the busy boardwalk, and to visit the recreational and fishing port in Zeebrugge.

Sunday we took the short train ride to visit Brugges, one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Europe. A beautiful day of architecture, history, and several terasses to take a break and to take it all in. We also took a boat tour on the canals around this fortified city, and enjoyed wonderful Belgian chocolates and beer, of course.

This is a picture of a boat cruise within the city of Brugges.

A visit to Brussels on June 2 was an opportunity to spend some time with Phillipe, Pascal and family. Phillipe showed us many beautiful highlights of this incredible European capital, including the Stad Huis (city hall), many cafes, and the King's residence on the Grand Place. The built environment and the statuary are testaments to the long and storied history of this wealthy and important centre of commerce and international diplomacy. We had an overview of Belgian history at the Belvue museum (which is within a former princess' home next to the Royal Palace), and attended the opening of an exhibit of surrealism by Magritte.

Our home exchange host and 'tour guide' du jour, Phillipe, in front of the Royal Palace, used for official royal business and to host guests of the royal family.