Bretagne and homeward bound

I'm writing this post in our hotel at the Paris airport but time is short so it will not get posted until we get home to Portland.
We arrived in Brest on Monday late afternoon. The sun was shining and more wind was blowing! The yellow stuff growing there is a type of scotch broom!!!

We came via train to Lyon and then plane from Lyon to Brest. It was one of those running through the airport to catch a plane moments in Lyon so not a single photo of this very nice airport which is slated to get even bigger next year!
We  picked up our Fiat 500

and proceeded to Pont l'Abbé to surprise maman who was just finishing her dessert. She looks great at 95!!
We were staying in Benodet nearby and where we've stayed before only this time we were at the Grand Hotel Abbatiale near the little harbor filled with boats of all kinds.

After dinner we took a walk along the seawall under starry skies.

Morning however was rainy but our hotel had the best buffet breakfast so we sat and enjoyed delicious coffee and croissants until it was time to get maman and drive over to Concarneau.

We strolled in the walled city there until it was time to go to lunch in the little restaurant we like on the harbor.

As you can see it was rather chilly and windy.

There was a huge ferris wheel nearby probably because of Easter break and we passed by on our way to enjoy some mussels and frites.

I would really like to look this chic and snazzy at 95!!

I took a few shop photos after lunch since everything was closed for the noon hour. This is one of the typical French sailor shops....stripes everywhere actually.

This is a look inside the shop...so many stripe colors. Yes...I did get a stripe top but not here. I only had room in my suitcase for one slim item or else who knows!!??

The wind was pretty chilly so we decided to drive back to Benodet. This whole village has postcard views wherever one looks. The sky too began to clear a bit and when you are out of the wind the sun was nice and warm. Here is a view from in front of the hotel.

By 7 pm the sun was mostly out and we took a longer walk along the shore...the clouds in the distance were heading somewhere else. This is the beach we visited in July last summer...completely empty this time!

On Wednesday we took a drive over to Saint Marine across the bay from Benodet. A small local market was set up there.

We were quite cold (not maman just me and JC) so our lunch was perfect: soupe aux poissons among other items 

and these lovely desserts...cappuccino  mousse

 and  mini tarte tatin....

This is the view out the window of the Cafe du Port...

 we were a happy group to enjoy the yummy food and lovely view.

Outside we walked a bit in the harbor area and enjoyed the brisk air!!

Since the sky was clearing up we decided to go back to Benodet...you can see our hotel there on the left of the church steeple.

JC though we would enjoy a two hour boat excursion on the Odet river up to Quimper and back. It was a lovely ride and we all three cuddled up together as we glided along. Outside we had all weather systems like our friend JM says:"all seasons in one day." there was sunshine, wind, clouds, rain, hail and just plain dark sky during the boat ride.

Through the forest along the river you can see some stone châteaux. In one of them Emile Zola either wrote or began his novel Germinal.

We spent some time in the mornings walking around Benodet and I took a few photos. This pink house was just up the street from out hotel.

Here's the view towards the hotel which is on the right. The sky was blue and sun shining but the temperature was 32 degrees.

This is a tile map of Benodet on the side of our hotel...notice that JC is wearing the red wool cap I bought in Geneva!!

Here are a few views from our hotel room windows on separate days.

 Every once in a while there is a little pop of color like the bright turquoise shutters you can see on the far right of this photo...

All in all it was an invigorating visit and we were delighted to find maman looking, and acting so fit!!

We left Brest with blue skies again ready to get home to Portland!

Here's a rather goofy Brest airport selfie!! See my new striped top??

See you back in Oregon! A bientôt!!

Some more Avignon and other things

I still have quite a lot of photos of shop windows and other things we've done around here so I'm going to put some of them into this post. The magazine Côté Sud has its focus this month on Avignon "La singulière" so I'll talk a bit about the various short trips we've taken over there. It is great that this wonderful city is so close by and we know of the best, free parking lot with a view so whenever we feel the need to checkout interesting things we go over there. Even for an hour you feel like you've been gone for the day!!

We stopped over right before Easter so I could go to see my favorite hairdresser Corinne and of course the shops on that beautiful chic street had already changed displays. This shop had denim the first time around. Notice all the ruffles on the dress on the right...lots of that in the streets now too when there is no wind!

 These are the gorgeous strong colors of Olivades which you can see in their scarves as well.

There were these rather unique Easter decorations on the cement posts along the street.

Can you see the fluffy little yellow chicks in nests?? These decorations were very unexpected and so sweet. They stayed put even in the strong wind that started up that morning.

After my haircut, JC took me out to lunch in this lovely, enclosed garden restaurant just down the street. We got to sit outside in the sun and we were protected from wind gusts too.

 I'm looking a bit wind blown here!!

Lunch started with this vegetable assortment...the white is goat cheese wrapped in slices of aubergine! Yum.

This woman in her very up to date yellow blouse with wide sleeves and ruffles was waiting for a table...skinny jeans and ballet flats down below.

Here is some more yellow, this time eyelet, in a boutique down the street.

After lunch we strolled a bit and looked at all the stores and buildings. Most shops close for the noon hour so I could take any pictures I wanted. I just want to say again for you blue sky thirsty Portlanders that the sky when there is a Mistral is really this blue but the wind is really tiring after a while. Plus and minuses everywhere.

What do you think of these wonderful shoe colors in this very nice men's store? Personally I love them (and especially in a group like this)...I would choose orange or purple!! Those are socks in the back like slices of yellow and green pears.

This is the Repetto boutique...if the store was open I could never have gotten this great photo...I love the chandeliers and on the right hand side the wall of ballet toe shoes for dancers. All the little touches in here are so appealing...the little gold ladder to the toe shoes, the pretty round tables with street shoes. So full of panache!

In this boutique colors were mostly denim blue and natural shades. The skirt on the far left is layers of sheer organza. I've seen many women here in skirts like this but in layers of tulle like ballerinas...even women my own age and it looks really lovely! With a tee shirt....wow!

The name of this shop made me smile...is this a brand I've not heard about?? Anton and I like to collect sayings in English from tee shirts over here and one tee shirt said "Super dry Southside." Any ideas??  

I liked the creative items in this tiny shop...mostly specialty papers and stationary and also art pieces like the couple made of paper and also hand printed cards. I was sorry it was closed because I thought I spied some lovely notebooks inside and if you know me at all you know I just love a new notebook!

On a more somber note...this plaque is on the wall of the Lycée Joseph Vernet. It is a reminder of the war in Algeria because all around it in the stone walls are traces of bullets! A woman passing in the street saw us looking and told us the meaning of it. It was a very troubling time in French history from 1954-1962 with terrorist attacks and settling of debts in the streets all over the country. Made me pause and think. On the walls of a high school...les blessures de la memoire...(wounds of memory).

I am still collecting photos of the wonderful deux chevaux cars and although I've seen a few passing by on the road when we are driving this is the first one I saw parked and its a little camion...it was outside of the cathedral in Pernes and probably belonged to one of the gardians who brought the horses. This car to me has such a smiley look it makes me feel happy. Like that vanilla color too.

Maya likes this custard dessert which is a type of flan. You peel off the top, which has a quiz question for you, and flip it over on the plate. Then you pull off the silver tab and the flan slips out whole onto your plate. Pretty interesting don't you think??? Looks for food are very important in France!!

 Try this quiz question before you read the answer to the right (if you can see it ;-))...

Here's a nice message on a sugar cube from a café...

And the cheese course in a little bistro in St. Saturnin les Avignon...a very tasty selection I might add!

Here are a few last shots in Avignon...Maya doing her modeling (in a Columbia Sportswear vest) and the band we saw playing "Raspoutine" on the Place de l'Horloge and finally with JC on the way back to the car.

We are heading up to Bretagne on Monday (tomorrow for us) and I'll try to send out some more photos I haven't yet shared. I do really have lots more to share but sometimes the time just gets away from me. Now we have to pack and clean up the house so I'll say...à bientôt!