Home Again, Home Again....

As we are now back in Palmerston North enjoying a midwinter storm, I thought it time to round off my narrative with a final posting.
We were still in Guemene sur Skorff on last writing and enjoying one last and enjoyable day in this delightful little town. Our landlady, should she be called such, had recommended to us a small local hotel come restaurant in the village which, she assured us, would provide us with that authentic French experience one seeks on a holiday such as ours. We determined to sample it's fare on this, our last day, and so at slightly after midday made our way up to the said establishment. The number of cars parked nearby should have given us a clue but we were nevertheless astonished to find the place packed. Non! it would not help to return later the place was booked out and so that was the end of our authentic French experience to which we had looked forward. We took ourselves back down the street and on passing a Boulangerie succumbed to the temptation of a Cornish Pasty type of pastry before setting off once again munching as I went. Soon Mme. Landlady and friend passed us walking up the street. "They were fully booked"  we said  by way off excusing my bad lunch habits. Exchanges about what a shame followed and on we went towards the Media-tech shop where we hoped they would print our emended Air New Zealand tickets and allow us an extra bag on the Auckland- Palmerston North leg of our homeward flight. Before we could enter said shop however Mme. Landlady and friend reappeared with the news that we should take their booking as they could go back  another time and "Oh one of you will need to be a vegetarian" as that is what had been booked and it is a fixed menu and couldn't be changed.. After token resistance on our part we gratefully accepted, deciding we could share the Vegi. thing and made our way, together with Mme. Landlady and friend once more to the Very Authentic French french Hotel and after an explanation by our benefactor were soon seated and  enjoying a great experience. The lunch, four courses with wine cost 11 Euro. each and would have to be one of the best lunch experiences we have had. And we got our printing done on the way home.
Next morning and we departed quite early, France is a large country  and it was something like 500km back to Paris and although we intended to break the journey still had a long way to travel and places to see. Our main  stopover was to a town named Fourgeres, another of the  Medieval towns that dot the countryside around here. I  would recommend Fourgeres to anyone travelling in this area, it is quite lovely and has great cafes etc. in which the weary traveler may recharge themselves.

The Day A Little Dismal, But There Is Always A Damsel To Brighten It

The Castle Wall

We have noticed throughout Brittany some beautiful gardens and Fourgeres didn't disappoint. The town, particularly the old section is bright with colour. 

The Medieval Communal Laundry Alongside The Stream

Maybe They Were Shorter Then

There's That Kiwi Rose Again, The Public Footpath Alongside The Stream

I Peeked Over Someone's Fence

Even The Cathedral Has Lovely Gardens

A Novel Use For Old Jeans

All In All A Most Beautiful Town

There comes a time when the carnival is over and this was it as far as finding the beauty of the towns that the area has to offer. Next stop was in Dreux where we had stopped on the way over to Brittany and we had booked a Camponile Hotel, a budget but comfortable hotel chain in Europe before the final push into the capital itself the next morning. An uneventful night and the drive into Paris offered none of the Arc de Triomphe horrors of last week, altogether quite tame. Dropped of the car at Charles de Gaulle, booked into our hotel and caught the metro into Paris where we wandered up a street dedicated to supplying everything needed for Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and a lot besides, had a coffee in your typical Parisian Cafe, decided that as it was the day of the Bastille that we should avoid potential terrorist targets such as a busy market street and caught the metro back to the hotel. We had both thought that the other had a burning desire to go into the city but it turned out that neither of us in fact did, so a bit of a waste of money actually. What else we could have done that afternoon I  am not at all sure as we are not ones to have "A lie down" so there you have it.

Into the airport early next day and enjoyed the facilities in the Air France lounge before the flight home, must say their food and facilities were very good.

We has a stopover of eight hours in Guangzhou and as a consequence were given a room in the Pullman Hotel at the airport, a rather swanky affair where we were able to shower, breakfast and have a wee  nap in preparation for the leg to Auckland. I must say China Southern looked after us very well with the on-board  meals, service, stopover and the lie flat beds all of an excellent quality. The only complaint was having to pass through security and customs etc in Guangzhou, very hot and grumpy with all the queues even though we could go through VIP lanes. We would certainly fly with them should we go again which we are not so that's of academic interest only.

We have been home for a week now and only just recovering from jet lag and the climate change coming back to mid winter and 14, 15 degree highs.

That's it then we are home and I shall bore you no longer with my rambling.

Take care and all the best 

David

Josselin

Today,whilst talking with our landlady we discovered that we had an extra day here in Guemene sur Skorff where we have been for the past week. This gave us the opportunity to visit an interesting town some 70 km distant and so off we went. Arrived in Josselin at about morning coffee time and were soon ordering our drinks when the chap  at the next table offered a translation service. The waiter explained that he had received and understood so his services were not needed on this occasion. Turns out he was from Birmingham and has lived over here about 14 years. We asked him what his future  in France looked like after the EU referendum. Turns out that he and a couple of million other Brits living in Europe have no idea what their future held and hoped that there would be another referendum to sort the whole mess out.
I don't think that the issues were fully explained and there will be a few regrets further down the track, there was as much anti Cameron vote as there was anti EU, a bit like our flag referendum,
This town is very interesting, medieval and attractive. Central is the Basilica with it's impressive Bell Tower with some 180 or so steps up to the top which despite my fear of heights drew me as does a magnet draw iron filings. Up I climbed, around and around on a flight of narrow stone spiral steps. Now and then I would meet someone descending the same steps and found that passing had it's own challenge. Just as I arrived at ground 180 the bells started ringing, scared the bejabbers out of me it did.

The Bell Tower Which Must Be Scaled

The View Is Worth The Effort

Great Looking Chateau Within It's Own Walls

Going down is much easier than going up so I was back with the ever patient Mrs Currin before she knew I was missing and off we went on a walking tour of the old section of town.

Below is a short tour of Josselin, you have already seen the Basilica, it's Bell Tower and the Chateau.

Mrs. Currin Enjoying A Wee Rest On The Bridge Over The Canal

Canal Boat Similar To One We Shared With The Kearneys  A Few Years Back

Someone's Back Garden

       A Street Scene From Then

                                                                          And Now

Where The Ladies Of Yesteryear Did Their Laundry

The Mill

We found it really interesting how well preserved Josselin is and thoroughly enjoyed our day there. Got lost on the way home a couple of times but that's life.

The Bunting Is Up For A Forthcoming Medieval Festival

Valerie Jean?, This is the Street in which we are currently living.

It has been a tad cooler today, only managed 22 C but no rain tank goodness. Yesterday was the only really rainy day that we have had over here in Breton which is pretty lucky as I gather it as it apparently rains here quite a bit.

 Anyway I just thought some may enjoy our day out, we certainly did.

Take care and all the best

David

Langoustines at Lunch

Let me tell you about our day, slept in this morning, it was past eight when we finally emerged and readied ourselves for another day on the road. We have been doing this now for two and a half months, not rising at eight, but spending the day on the road. How could this one be different? To be honest it couldn't and wouldn't, but it did epitomize what we have been up to. As previously mentioned we are spending our time in the Breton region and today we went out to the end of the peninsular, to the Finisterre area, a name familiar to yatchies the world over. First stop was a small town, Concarneau, with it's old town situated within walls out in the harbour, time for a wander around and a late morning coffee.

Looking Down From Town Walls

A Fleet of Children's Yachts Moored Outside The Town Walls

Just Trying To Be Artistic, Perhaps Not Entirely Successfully 

I noted over morning coffee a square named Dumont d'Urville after the early explorer of New Zealand however my research uncovers no direct relationship with the town, the nearest he seems to have got is at the naval college in Brest. However this is a fine town and worthy of any visitor's time.

On next to Quimper, not to far up the road, and another cracker once the code is cracked that allows one to find one's way into it's centre. We eventually found a car park being vacated by another motorist, I stopped, indicator on, bus and other traffic behind all stop as well. Car vacating park stops also and hazard lights come on, woman gets out and wanders over to us in no hurry and offers us her "two hours left to go" parking ticket. Lots of thanks from us, she wanders back and derives off, we back into park and the traffic clears. Not one toot from an angry Frenchman. We had two hours to fill in so wandered off around past the spectacular cathedral and a Saturday market when my attention is drawn to a Seafood Restaurant, seemed to offer quite a good lunch for around $25 so down we sat. Well, I would have to say, it would be one of the best lunches that I have ever enjoyed.

Oh My! And I Have Eaten Most Of The Molluscs  In The Bowl.

Sorry Chris, Moose, Nikki and I almost forgot that Seafood lover from way back, Murray, but there was Langoustines (my absolute favourites) Crab (OK they're up there with the Langoustines) King Prawns (Yeh them too), Oysters (OK them as well) and a bowl of unrecognized, but delicious molluscs. Thoughtfully the restaurant  provided an assortment of instruments, a dentist would have been proud of these little tools, with which to extract the inner goodness from these delicacies. YUM! Mrs Currin also had lunch there but who knows what, I was pretty absorbed in my own. 

Life seems pretty good.

The town had the usual quota of wonkey buildings, I just love these constructions which pre-dated the invention of the spirit level by a couple of centuries.

The Wiggly And The Woggly, How Do They Stay Up.

Temperatures have been much warmer since we have crossed the channel and are sitting in the mid to upper twenties. I understand the weather has also improved in Britain since we jumped ship. We shall notice a big difference on our return to NZ, the sun is not setting till around 10.00 in the evening and God alone knows what time it rises, he hasn't let me in on this little secret and I have no desire to find out the hard way.

After lunch we continued on our merry little way and on to Crozon we went.

I Guess Beauty Is In The Ear Of The Beholder.

In The Absence Of A 40 Million Dollar Win On Lotto I Wondered If A Doer Upper Would Fit The Bill.

Even The Church Is Very Nautical

Beautiful, Rugged Coastline.

A Memorial To The Merchant Seamen Lost In The Second World War.

So, here we were 150 km from home and it's late, about six actually but late for us, so off we go for home. Only something on toast for supper after the big lunch so all is well.

It has been a very nice day today.

Yesterday we spent in St. Malo (p. Sanmar-loow the man in the shop tells me and he's French so he should know) and this is one of my favourites, a great maritime city, but on the way here we stopped of in Dinan and Dinard, both well worth the effort.

Dinard

L'Hermione A Masterpiece Of Replica Ship Building

In St. Malo were a couple of beautifully presented replica square riggers, the L'Hermione and the other one whose name escapes me. The L'Hermione is a replica of a French ship built originally in 1779 and then again in 1997-2015. She was sent to aid the Americans in the American Revolutionary War with General La Fayette aboard and saw action most notably at the Naval Battle of Louisville. The replica is really quite impressive and illustrates the number of ropes, sheets and halyards that every sailor needed to be able to name and to know what it's use was.

On our way home we stopped for coffee in Moncontour and were once again impressed by the friendliness of the natives, they really have shattered that stereotypical image of the  French which many seem to have. We certainly have had no problems.

Well that's another couple of days over and done with, only a week more and we shall be home.

All the best and take care

David

Goodbye England, Bonjour France

Our last few days in England gave little in the way of respite in neither our busy schedule nor the weather unfortunately. Probably the highlight of those final few days so far as sightseeing is concerned was a visit to Hampton Court, somewhere we had meant to visit on many previous occasions, but as with a lot of such things excuses a re easy to find. Had we but known it may have been better to have found one than not on this particular day. You see it was Sandown Races. Not only did this attract a lot of traffic but the rain showed no mercy upon their poor souls as well. We crawled and stopped and stopped and crawled our way to Hampton Court as the rain increased from steady to heavy back to steady, hooray, and then back to heavy. Mercifully we, at last, arrived and what a grand spectacle it turned out to be, probably deserves more than the 3 hours that we were able to give it. The gardens were in particularly fine condition as this was the day before the famous (well it is now) Hampton Court Garden Show started.

The Gardens are Looking Spectacular 

Even This Example of the once Abundant but now rare Henry III Tree

The interior of the palace is not to be intimidated by the gardens however and Henry did quite well when he set out to give the French and Versailles a bit of a bloody nose. 

  

One of the Magnificent Ceilings 

A Side On View

We made a hasty retreat back into the country and to the sanctuary of an hotel which we had booked in the uninspiring name of Crawley, the hotel prove to be a boppy dazzler though and we settled into it for our penultimate night in England.

Sunday dawned fine, and I think it stayed that way all day, which was good as we had plenty to do, move all our belongings into our hotel over the road from St. Pancras, return the rental car to Heathrow  and meet with our Niece Katie and her partner Cam (I don't know if that's Campbell or Cameron or something completely different, but Cam will do) which was a highlight of our stay. Now those of you who have had the pleasure of traveling with Mrs Currin will attest to the fact that she manages to cram an awful lot into that purple suitcase (mine is not much lighter) and we have managed to acquire a couple of new ones along the way so moving house is not for the faint hearted, but was managed without mishap or hernia or any other mishap. The car was returned and diner date kept with Katie  and Cam. It was great to see them and catch upon all their news. They are getting a bit excited (OK a lot) about the upcoming arrival of Ian and Val next month.

Two Pics for the price of one so we could get everyone in (I don't do Selfies)

This was our last night in England as Monday we needed to get our effects aboard the Eurostar and over to Paris, turned out to be easier than I had feared and by about half past two we and belongings were all in the Gare du Nord and we were of looking for the rental car office, fortunately a lift was provided for the journey down six floors into the very bowels of the earth and it was onto the streets of Paris with us. Driving along, by this time it is getting on for 5pm and so the traffic is building nicely and I spotted the Moulin Rouge, you know the one right in the middle of Paris. Next thing we are heading for....no, you guessed it, the arc de Triomphe, the thing most calculated to strike fear into my heart eight unmarked lanes of uncontrolled chaos. There are no rules governing this beast, have a crash and both drivers are considered to be in the wrong and you pay half each. Anyway we only needed to survive four exits and managed to do so without mishap nor adding to the noise of horns blaring, I don't think any were meant for me. It was really really good to see that sucker disappearing in my rear view mirror I can tell you, five o'clock and all.

We have booked a cottage in Brittany and arrived here last night after spending a night in an hotel along the way. It's a great little cottage and has a spare room should anyone fancy a wee break in France, only here until next Tuesday I'm afraid so you will have to be quick.

Great little Cottage in Brittany

 I should finish now, before I go to sleep on the job, so goodnight to one and all, be careful and all the best

David