We are all settled into our nice house and enjoying the amenities. The patio and view of the countryside from the patio are just so relaxing and beautiful. We try to eat there whenever the weather permits.
Over the past sev
eral days we have been exploring the area by bicycle. We visited the wonderful Parc Floral, with its numerous themed gardens and mazes. To enter we rode down a lane bordered by white hydrangeas in full bloom, with bees buzzing all around. Every farmhouse, barn and town has lots of beautiful hydrangeas, in vibrant colors, ranging from white and pale pink, through the whole pink/red spectrum and out as deep magenta. There are also pale blue, powder blue, deep blue, royal blue and purple. Some of the plants 
have blossoms in several different colors all on the same plant. Every corner we turn brings us another beautiful hydrangea.
Another day we packed the bikes up and went to Mont St. Michel, where we rode aside the river and along the levees, enj
oying views of Mont St. Michel that the tour buses didn't get to see. The line of cars full of tourists trying to get to Mont St. Michel went down the highway bumper to bumper for several miles. We dicided not to go into the facility ( we have been there several time) because it was just too crowded.
Yesterday we decided to ride along the railroad right-of-way that has been turned into a bike and hiking path. We rode over to Antrain and planned to see the chateau Bonne Fontaine. By the time we arrived in Antrain it was drizzling and we went in search of a restaurant for something hot.
We stopped at the little cafe at the base of the station, I think that was it's name, au Descente de
La Gare, and went inside for some lunch. No menu, you just take what they are serving that day. It turned out to be gigot, the leg joint of something. As soon as we sat down we were served a plate of cold cuts and bread, a bottle of wine, and then out came the delicious piping hot entree. Even though we both ordered the same thing, I got the joint of tasty meat, but Don got tender slices of luscious lamb. Dessert was chocolate mousse and cafe. Yummy, all for 11 euro each.
Almo
st as soon as we went into the cafe the rain changed from drizzle to a serious downpour. It rained and rained and Don and I stalled and stalled. Finally, the restaurant was clea
ring out and the owner, a quintessential crusty French grandma, was wanting to close up. We put on our rain gear and dutifully went out into the downpour. We decided to take the road home instead of the bike path, and off we went as the rain sluiced down. We were so happy to pull into our neighborhood, open the guard gate, and pull off our sopping cycling clothes, gloves, and shoes. We fired up the washing machine and did laundry since everything was wet anyway.
I decided to make some hot tea, but for some reason I could not get the stove to keep a temperature. The burners at both of our exchange houses require several steps to kick them into heat mode. First you push the master on button, then you push the on button for the burner you wish to use, then you push the up button to get the heat level desired. Every time I pushed the heat up button it would flash "F" (failure?) at me. I finally nuked the water (our neighbor, Jim, will shudder at this method of tea-making) and we had tepid tea. But, with the tea, hot showers and dry clothes we warmed right up.
After analyzing the stove situation I decided that the problem must be due to the fact that the power in the kitchen has gone out a few times and maybe there was a reset button or something. I emailed the LeBretons for advice and also asked the neighbor, all to no avail. After a few days of bbq and microwave cooking our exchanger wrote to get a status report on the stove situation. He casually mentioned that all I had to do was to put the pan on the burner, turn the burner on, set the temp and it should work. Following the instructions exactly, I learned that all I have to do is be sure to have a pan on the burner before I try to set the temp. Now we are cooking again.
Today we took a day off from cycling and went into Fougeres to visit the famous medieval castle here. We visited it back in the 1980s, in the dead of winter. The castle actually was not of
ficially open then, but the door was ajar and the drawbridge was down, so we went in and looked around. It was freezing! All I remember was being so cold I could hardly mount the numerous spiral staircases which led to a bunch of very cold, stone rooms. Thank goodness today was warm and sunny.
Today we were extremely pleased to find the castle has been well preserved and they offer a very informative audio guide to give some of
the history of the castle. There are several multimedia displays which set the atmosphere and give a good flavor of life at the castle over the centuries. The castle was built as a defensive fort in 1000. At that time Bretagne was part of the English territories and the frontier between France and Brittany ran from Mont St. Michel, south through Fougeres, Vitre, Chateaubriant and Ancienis. The castle at Fougeres was immediately burned down by the English, and the French rebuilt this formidable stone fortress to replace it. Medieval life thrived in the town for many centuries. We found the tour very enjoyable and informative and spent several hours there.
After visiting the castle we had lunch at a nearby cafe. The menu of the day was bavette, frites and salad. That turned out to be steak and fries and it was tender and delicious. We thought about dessert, but decided we could buy something at the supermarket, where we were headed next.
We had a fairly quick trip to the Carrefour and went home to our castle, where Don worked on his photos and I watched the news. Once again I am having Zen problems and I am afraid my Zen is down for the count this time. Alas. I need to find a more dependable MP3 player.
Over the past sev
eral days we have been exploring the area by bicycle. We visited the wonderful Parc Floral, with its numerous themed gardens and mazes. To enter we rode down a lane bordered by white hydrangeas in full bloom, with bees buzzing all around. Every farmhouse, barn and town has lots of beautiful hydrangeas, in vibrant colors, ranging from white and pale pink, through the whole pink/red spectrum and out as deep magenta. There are also pale blue, powder blue, deep blue, royal blue and purple. Some of the plants have blossoms in several different colors all on the same plant. Every corner we turn brings us another beautiful hydrangea.
Another day we packed the bikes up and went to Mont St. Michel, where we rode aside the river and along the levees, enj
oying views of Mont St. Michel that the tour buses didn't get to see. The line of cars full of tourists trying to get to Mont St. Michel went down the highway bumper to bumper for several miles. We dicided not to go into the facility ( we have been there several time) because it was just too crowded.Yesterday we decided to ride along the railroad right-of-way that has been turned into a bike and hiking path. We rode over to Antrain and planned to see the chateau Bonne Fontaine. By the time we arrived in Antrain it was drizzling and we went in search of a restaurant for something hot.
We stopped at the little cafe at the base of the station, I think that was it's name, au Descente de
La Gare, and went inside for some lunch. No menu, you just take what they are serving that day. It turned out to be gigot, the leg joint of something. As soon as we sat down we were served a plate of cold cuts and bread, a bottle of wine, and then out came the delicious piping hot entree. Even though we both ordered the same thing, I got the joint of tasty meat, but Don got tender slices of luscious lamb. Dessert was chocolate mousse and cafe. Yummy, all for 11 euro each.
Almo
st as soon as we went into the cafe the rain changed from drizzle to a serious downpour. It rained and rained and Don and I stalled and stalled. Finally, the restaurant was clea
ring out and the owner, a quintessential crusty French grandma, was wanting to close up. We put on our rain gear and dutifully went out into the downpour. We decided to take the road home instead of the bike path, and off we went as the rain sluiced down. We were so happy to pull into our neighborhood, open the guard gate, and pull off our sopping cycling clothes, gloves, and shoes. We fired up the washing machine and did laundry since everything was wet anyway.I decided to make some hot tea, but for some reason I could not get the stove to keep a temperature. The burners at both of our exchange houses require several steps to kick them into heat mode. First you push the master on button, then you push the on button for the burner you wish to use, then you push the up button to get the heat level desired. Every time I pushed the heat up button it would flash "F" (failure?) at me. I finally nuked the water (our neighbor, Jim, will shudder at this method of tea-making) and we had tepid tea. But, with the tea, hot showers and dry clothes we warmed right up.
After analyzing the stove situation I decided that the problem must be due to the fact that the power in the kitchen has gone out a few times and maybe there was a reset button or something. I emailed the LeBretons for advice and also asked the neighbor, all to no avail. After a few days of bbq and microwave cooking our exchanger wrote to get a status report on the stove situation. He casually mentioned that all I had to do was to put the pan on the burner, turn the burner on, set the temp and it should work. Following the instructions exactly, I learned that all I have to do is be sure to have a pan on the burner before I try to set the temp. Now we are cooking again.
Today we took a day off from cycling and went into Fougeres to visit the famous medieval castle here. We visited it back in the 1980s, in the dead of winter. The castle actually was not officially open then, but the door was ajar and the drawbridge was down, so we went in and looked around. It was freezing! All I remember was being so cold I could hardly mount the numerous spiral staircases which led to a bunch of very cold, stone rooms. Thank goodness today was warm and sunny.Today we were extremely pleased to find the castle has been well preserved and they offer a very informative audio guide to give some of
the history of the castle. There are several multimedia displays which set the atmosphere and give a good flavor of life at the castle over the centuries. The castle was built as a defensive fort in 1000. At that time Bretagne was part of the English territories and the frontier between France and Brittany ran from Mont St. Michel, south through Fougeres, Vitre, Chateaubriant and Ancienis. The castle at Fougeres was immediately burned down by the English, and the French rebuilt this formidable stone fortress to replace it. Medieval life thrived in the town for many centuries. We found the tour very enjoyable and informative and spent several hours there.After visiting the castle we had lunch at a nearby cafe. The menu of the day was bavette, frites and salad. That turned out to be steak and fries and it was tender and delicious. We thought about dessert, but decided we could buy something at the supermarket, where we were headed next.
We had a fairly quick trip to the Carrefour and went home to our castle, where Don worked on his photos and I watched the news. Once again I am having Zen problems and I am afraid my Zen is down for the count this time. Alas. I need to find a more dependable MP3 player.
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