Bretagne

The beach was our main focus in Bretagne; rain or shine! Lots of rain and wind but also a few good moments of sunshine (still windy though). The local seafood was a focal point too (scallops for Maarja) and also some special time to visit with Nini.
Here are Anton and Maya ready to go down to the shore!

Maya and I took a selfie after our our beach walk. Check out those pink cheeks!

On Sunday at  Sainte Marine getting ready to have a delicious lunch with Nini...

 which included salted butter and....

 fresh oysters (yes she had all of them and then the main dish and dessert too!)

Some discussion over the frites that came with Maya's poisson...

dessert.....

The restaurant  is called Café du Port and I found this photo of Breton women on the shore taking the ferry boat really interesting...a very cozy bar interior as well...(note the green cushions). 

 This is the same location as in the photo above. Across the water is the village of Benodet where we were staying.

Another view of the beach and some beach art work created by Maya from shells collected on the shore.

This is a little street in Benodet near the harbor we saw from across the water. See the little palm tree next to the church?

This photo is taken on the boardwalk not far from our bungalow...I am geared up for a walk along the beach...three layers under my raincoat and my new knit cap and boots which were absolute necessities!!!

JC and I drove over to Lescronil to get some cough drops in the pharmacie which was open on Sunday and I loved this little house with the purple flowers dripping over the wall.

 Also...do you notice the great colors here? Especially the house on the far left...chartreuse door and shutters with a magenta band over the shutters. So great on a gray day!

On Monday we went off to Ile Tudy and a little crèperie for some authentique Breton food.

We are waiting  for our lunch and some Breton "brew" which is not cider.

The day was very windy with a few sun breaks but as soon as we stepped out of our car there was a downpour and I regretted the fact that I did not have my camera ready to shoot the "inside out" umbrellas as we tried in vain to stay dry! Then the sun popped out for a while in time for us to get these shots. Could they be a poster for the Bretagne tourist office???

Looks like we are having fun right???

Here is an idea of the wind velocity....these pj's were hanging out to dry nearby...notice how many clothespins are attached???

I liked the colors around this little house as we made our way back to the car...

 And how about this fellow having an afternoon nap in the sun in a wind sheltered front yard!!! Love his pink socks!!!

Departure was for Wednesday so I'll have a few more photos to share later...in the meantime bon weekend, happy mother's day and...happy birthday Sunday to Lena-Liis.

Still en route....and arrival to rainy Bretagne

Well...I am writing this from our hotel room in Royan! I was having a terrible time getting my photos to load from my phone in Benodet since we had a very LIMITED internet connection in Bretagne. (This is not Estonia where internet is just a plain, normal part of everyday life and available everywhere....hmmmm!)

We left the caverne and drove through Ardèche to Le Puy....

We got to Le Puy and immediately were lost. This fellow in the yellow beret came to our assistance...he turned his head as I was snapping his photo and immediately produced a map of Le Puy and sent us on our way to our chambre d'hôte. Note the name of the place just ahead of him...very à propos.

Our chambre d'hôte...Maya lost tooth number six here and we hoped for a visit of the tooth fairy/mouse (yes they came).

  Our room... they use names of plants instead of numbers.

This is the farm where the chambre d'hôtes is located...our room has the red shutters. At breakfast we looked out the window and a herd of cows came past on the way to pasture! We were having homemade yogurt at the time! Wish I had had my camera with me.

We drove out of Ardèche and down into valleys...sadly it began to rain...

I was intrigued by the difference in the stone of the buildings...this is a church on the way to Limoges.

We arrived for the International Felt symposium in Felletin under lots of rain...so sad because it was May 1st and it is a holiday in France which usually brings out many visitors!

The curated exhibit of the artistic felt pieces was set up in the cathedral (which you can see in the distance of the photo above). It was beautifully set up and here are a few photos of the various exhibits. Of course I am very interested in anything wearable....

This white piece made me think of the marvelous felted dress hangings felted by my friend Maris...I think she should have had her wall piece here too!

We headed over to Aubusson on our way West...can you see all of the liquid sunshine here??? Aubusson is the center of tapestry and wonderful weaving but the rain was coming down so solidly we just continued on our route...we still had a few hours to go before we bedded down for the night in Cholet.

Interesting how the road seems interminable when it is raining right???

Here is a view from our window in Cholet...we all just collapsed into bed...we still had about four plus hours to drive in the morning.

 No early cafés open in Cholet so we gave in and went to Macdo...this was the best they could do for breakfast! Not even an Egg Macmuffin...they were in "rupture de stock" as the manager told us!! Is this possible in a MacDonald's????

Arrival in Vannes was our welcome to Bretagne...a long traffic jam(we could not figure out why) and rain.

But in Concarneau we had our reward....

the BEST moules frites we have EVER had...could it be the rain or the drive but these were the best...Maya finished her entire bowl of moules...how many other six year old girls do you know who would do that???? (or even order them in the first place)?

We arrived in Benodet and of course first thing was...buy boots, knit caps and head to the beach.

More on this later!!!

En route to Bretagne....

Thursday morning we packed up the car and headed out for the long drive to Bretagne to visit JC's maman...we all call her Nini...she lives pretty far away in Pont l'Abbé and we decided we would do the drive with two stops along the way so it would not be so long for Maya.

Bye, bye Oscar...see you next week!!

First leg took us to the newly opened Caverne Chauvet in Vallon Pont d'Arc. We had tickets to visit the reconstruction of this huge cave. The original is not open to the public but like Lascaux this is a duplicate. It is located in the Ardèche and an interesting fact is that part of JC's ancestors come from this region of France not far from where the original grotte was discovered.

I wonder...could one of the ancestors have been an artist in the caverne????

On the way to Vallon Pont d'Arc we drove through Orange. I think it is pretty amazing to drive through downtown and around this Roman arch which has been standing here for centuries!!!

Seems almost crazy to have traffic going around it! Ahead on the national highway (we did not take the autoroute) we had plane trees overhead. Later we saw that they are trimmed differently in Ardèche.

And we passed by towns like Montdragon in the Rhone valley. The sky was blue and temperature was perfect!

The visit of the caverne was really very impressive. The center had just opened about five days before so there were some loose ends but we enjoyed the visit. We were given our visit time and then waited in line at the entrance to the site.

  We lined up against the wall to wait our turn....and just entertained ourselves.

This French lady dressed up for the visit...

Maya really liked the drawings of the lions and rhinos and the handprints.

 After we left the cavern visit the first stop for us was near Le Puy en Velay...home of the Le Puy green lentil and also a starting point for the walk along the Camino...La Route de St. Jacques.

Before we left Carpentras we went grocery shopping for the trip. This field of poppies was almost electric the red was so intense.

No poppies in Bretagne however!

A few days before we left there was a total downpour outside and I took a picture just to prove that it can rain hard in Provence too!!!

The forecast for Bretagne is for more of the same but we are prepared and have boots and umbrellas ready!

Our neighborhood horses came over to the fence to send us off.

I'll have more to tell you if I can get my photos to download!! I am writing this from our vacation bungalow in Benodet in Bretagne and just a hint...we have jackets, pants, socks and boots drying and sand swept up from the floor! I am sure you are waiting to see what we have been doing!! A bientôt!