Brittany, France 2009

THE FINAL REPORT

2009-08-31T07:19:00.000-07:00

Over the next few days we continued our day rides into the country.

On August 26th we cleaned house, did laundry, and packed up the car. We drove the peage to Paris, cutting off to go across the south part of the Parisian suburbs to Evry, where we picked up our rental car. The first car they gave us was a pile of junk, with scratches and dents everywhere, and chrome and trim hanging off the bumper. We rejected it and took another that was in a bit better shape after Don took photos of the damage. I understand the agency was just dumping it's worst stock, since we would be dropping the car in Geneva.

We found Yohann's house with no trouble, thanks to Trexie. He was waiting for us and we handed off his parents' car. Now we were off to Geneva, with a stop planned half way in Auxerres. The kilometers zoomed by as we switched off driving every hour or two and we got into the good old B&B Hotel easily. The next day we continued on the peage to Geneva .

The trip went smoothly and we forked over our money at the end of the peage and headed to our airport hotel, the Median, to check in and deposit our luggage before returning the car to the nearby Europcar office.

After leaving the peage we drove a short distance to the Swiss border. We were really just headed for the French side of Geneva, but the road passed through a tiny strip of Switzerland to get where we were going. Surprise!!! The Swiss hit us 30 euro, almost $45 to drive 6 miles to the French side of the airport. We were outraged. We even told the border agent that we wanted to go back to France, but he wouldn't let us. Our blood pressure was at the boiling level over this outrageous and unexpected charge. But, we paid up and the agent slapped a sticker on our windshield and we drove our 6 miles back into France. We were even more disconcerted when we found out that we could have taken a red road around Switzerland and not paid the sticker fee.

When we arrived at the Median we were able to check in and drop off our luggage. Even though the hotel was very shabby, we chose this hotel because it is close to the airport and advertises a shuttle. This was the only hotel we could find with a shuttle. And, when we arrived at the hotel I saw the very nice, shiny minivan that said "navette" parked right in front. It was rated 3 stars should be 1 star.

We completed the paperwork for the hotel and got our key. Oh, did we want petit dejeuner, just 12 euro per person. Yikes, that is $35 for our morning crust and coffee. No thanks! Also, as we checked in, I asked the desk clerk about scheduling a 10am ride to the airport. She looked very dubious and said I would have to check with the head clerk tomorrow when she came in, and oh, by the way, it is 9 euro per person. That would be another $25. I asked about a taxi and was told that would probably be a bit less. We were right next to the runway and thought maybe we could just walk. So off we went to return our car and check out the walking opportunity.

We checked our Europcar computer map, which showed the office just a few blocks away across the highway. We drove across the main road and started looking for the office. Nothing, nothing, nothing. For three miles there was no office, no sidewalk, no pedestrian possibilities, and then we were on the ramp into the Geneva Airport, actually driving under the runway and back into a fenced-in French zone underneath the terminal on the Swiss side. I was thinking to myself, if I have to pay another fee to get back into France someone is going to lose some short hairs! I spotted a sign for returning rental cars and we followed the odd directions, down a ramp, make a u-turn around the island, down another ramp before going into the lot where we parked. Damn! Forgot to fill up the gas. So back we went, still looking, to no avail, to see if there might be any safe place to hike back to the hotel after we were without a vehicle. Got our gas, and then proceeded back the long road to the terminal and parking area. This was turning out to be a difficult day.

After parking the car in the proper rental car return area we went into the airport terminal to turn in the keys. No sign of a desk or directions of any kind. We wandered around looking for signs for rental cars or any indication of where to go. Finally we gave up and asked at the tourist information. She very kindly gave us the complicated directions to walk up and down and across and over to the Swiss side of the airport, 2 or 3 blocks, where there was a desk tucked away in a remote corner, and we turned in the keys. By this time I was quite hot, sweaty, agitated and irritated, so I threatened the poor boy at the desk, telling him that the car was in very damaged condition when we got it, we did no additional damage to it and there had better not be any damage charges, or else! Don was trying to drag me away as the poor kid shivered, nodded his head emphatically, and swore on his mother that there would be no additional charges of any kind. We shall see. Those Swiss are on my list!

Ok, so now we are carless and we ask the tourist information again, how to get back to the hotel. Take the Swiss bus #5 to the Sacconex stop and then change to the French bus #F. We found the bus stop and tried to put in our euros to buy a ticket. Too fat, the machine will only take Swiss francs. Over the ramp, down the stairs, across the terminal to the ticket bureau. Finally we got our tickets, wrong ones, but oh, well, its an honor system anyway, and went back to wait for the #5 bus. Actually the bus ride was pretty easy, so we decided to use this method in the morning to get from the hotel to the airport.

We marched from the bus stop back to our hotel, ready for our glass of wine. We stopped at the next door Lidl market to pick up a few things for our petit dejeuner. The market was packed; by now it was 5pm. Uncharacteristically there were many shoppers with huge, full baskets of food, making a long backup to check out. Usually Europeans shop every day and I have never seen a full cart at any European supermarket. Some people even had two carts full of stuff!! After analyzing the situation Don and I decided that these were the canny Swiss neighbors, coming over the line to buy cheap French food. We gathered up our oj, croissants, milk and fruit and marched back into our hotel. Thank God, the air conditioning was working. As I sat on my bed, savoring my hot wine, I had these thoughts about the day:

SWITZERLAND IS TOO EXPENSIVE.
THE SWISS ARE OUT TO GET EVERY CENT THEY CAN OUT OF ME.
THE VALUE FOR THE MONEY IS NOT THERE.
I WILL PROBABLY SKIP SWITZERLAND IN THE FUTURE.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND SWITZERLAND FOR A VACATION UNLESS YOUR IDEA OF FUN IS BEING CHARGED FOR STANDING THERE AND OVERCHARGED FOR EVERYTHING ELSE.

So, Don wants me to mitigate this a bit by remembering that our Swiss exchanges were great, the people we met were very nice, and the scenery was exquisitely beautiful. He is right about all of this.

The next day we both woke up at 5am, so we were ready to leave by 8am, even though we had a 12:15 departure. We munched on our breakfast, laying out our tablecloth on one of the beds and scooting the chair up to it. We packed up for the final time and we took our heavy bike cases and backpacks and got the bus to the airport.

The trip went smoothly and we were dropped off at the international departures, but of course, that is not where the Air Canada checkin is located, so we schlepped our bags along to the next terminal, checked in and following the signs to terminal B, went through security. Once through security, we could see an arrow to terminal A and another to terminal C. Where the heck is B??? Shouldn't it be in between A and C?

After quite a bit of mulling around and asking for directions, we found it. It is between A and C, just on a different floor. Who knew!?! Finally we were in and waiting for our flight, albeit 3 hours early.

The flight was good. I still like Air Canada. We went through customs in Montreal and got to SFO on time. Took the shuttle to the San Bruno Super 8, found our car, where our exhangers had left it, and loaded up. It was great to get home, even though the pool was green, and it was wonderful to go to sleep in our nice, big, king sized bed.

LES MATIÈRES DE FERME

2009-08-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

So, the last several days have been bike riding in the farm country. Each ride is much of the same, and not very interesting reading for you bloggers, but, I do have several farm-related comments to make, so I am dedicating this report, which is really just a venue for Don's photos, to farm matters.

The first thing to talk about, which can be tied into the farm theme, is the very nice couple we met at the Chateau du Bois Guy. Leon and Marie Dominique are from Bercheres St. Germain, near Chartres. We started talking with them while we were enjoying our beverage after our tour of the chateau. They seemed to understand my French well enough, so we were able to have a nice conversation.

Leon and Marie-D have a vacation cottage in the nearby town of Villamee and they were spending a few weeks there. They saw the open sign for the chateau and since the former owner was a bit stuffy and wouldn't welcome the hoi-poloi, they decided to get a visit with the new owners.

As we sipped our coffee and juice drinks we swapped stories about travels, family, bicycling and home exchanging. Leon is an educator for special ed kids and he will be retiring next year. I think Marie-D is hoping to do some travel and she was very interested in info on home exchanging. As we stood to continue on our bike ride, they invited us to stop by to see their vacation home, which is a restored farm. AHA! and you couldn't figure out the farm connection until now.

We rode out through the countryside and had a nice ride, finishing up back at the chateau, where we picked up our car and headed out for Leon and Marie-D's house. We found it with their good map, and also the fact that Leon spotted us and stood out in front waving. They showed us around. They use half of the long building and rent out the other half. Leon was born nearby and his brother lives quite close, so this is a family area for him.

When we first went into the house I thought it was just a big kitchen/sitting room and a bedroom, but as they showed us around I found out that there are 5 bedrooms and a big attic. It is much bigger than it looks. They have quite a bit of land, too. Leon's brother has a vegetable garden there and there are several fruit trees too. It was a nice visit.

Another farm item I want to mention is that the cows here. In California we see lots of Holstein and Guernsey cows, like the happy California cows, with big blotches of white and black or brown. The cows here in Brittany are not like that. They have freckles! And, they wear too much eyeliner. All along our bike routes we pass many dairy farms and most of the cows are white and brown spotted, with small spots, like freckles. Invariably, the cows with freckles have very pronounced black rings around their eyes. It is interesting and fun to look at them. Click any cow for more photos.

All of the cows calmy eye us pass by, while they munch on their crunchy green clover, and wonder why we are expending so much energy. Crazy humans!
As we ride out through the farms I love the views of the rolling, green hills, and the fields of contented cows, and the sweet smell of clover and apples plopping from the trees. Once in awhile we come to a cute little village, clean as a whistle, quiet and sleepy, with baskets of pretty flowers everywhere. Sometimes there is a little village square, or a nice picnic table under a tree on a patch of neatly tended lawn. The farms are all clean and prosperous looking. The farmers seem to have lots of big, expensive equipment.

By the way, I am officially naming the cornfield of the farm Bouche de Lavage, at the corner of D158 and D224, as my ONE-MILLIONTH cornfield. We passed it on our ride yesterday, and we have passed many this trip. Don has shown a lot of self control this trip and refrained from the silage lecture, so far. Since we leave in a week, maybe I will get out of it this year.

On our ride yesterday, we did a little cross country riding, by design or accident, I am not sure. All I know is I was riding down a little hill and Don told me to take the next right. As I eased into the turn I saw a big red X painted on the road and when I looked up I was in someone's barnyard. Don was talking to Trexie about the situation and he wandered up a possible road that looked more like a grassy hill. Pretty soon he called me on the radio and said to come on he could see n Trexie that we would meet up with the road in a bit. We hiked along, pushing our bikes in a trench for quite awhile, and then Don started to ride the single track. This is not my favorite thing to do; my technical skills need practise. But I decided to be a sport and jumped on my bike too. Of course I hit a rut and a bump and tipped over and off my bike into the bushy tufts of grass and all tangled up in the cow fence. Every time I tried to untangle myself I got a little shock because the fence was electrified. That was no fun. But I finally made it up on my creaky old knees and got out of my shock therapy.

We went in search of another mystery chateau, Chateau Jaune le Mare, and rode through the Foret de Fougeres looking everywhere, to no avail. I decided that it must be the old ruin we spotted behind a wall along the way, but Don was not satisfied. We rode up and down the forest roads looking and asking everyone we met, to no avail. When we got home Don went on Google Maps and search the aerial view, and finally gave in to my opinion that the old ruin must be it. It was a very nice ride though, with rolling hills, green country hills and leafy forest. Moo

MAKING FRIENDS AT CHATEAU DU BOIS GUY

2009-08-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

The next day we returned to the Chateau du Bois Guy, the one we saw on our bike ride to Louvigne. There was a nice OUVERT sign by the big stone gateway, so we went in and approached the chateau. Don stopped the car at the head of the central drive to take a photo, and soon a fellow came out the door and began to beckon us up the road.. So, we drove right up the center route toward the front doors of the chateau and along the way we met Matt.

Matt and Michel are the new owners of the Chateau du Bois Guy, and they are the most welcoming chateau owners we have met in our 25 years of chateau visits. They welcomed us into their castle and Matt took us on a tour, explaining that they just bought the castle 4 months earlier.

The Chateau du Bois-Guy has quite a history. It is named after a young former owner who was a General during the French Revolution. He joined the army at the age of 15 and was such a good tactician that he achieved his high rank at the age of 19. Unfortunately he was also killed at a very young age, so his brother named the chateau after him.

The Chateau was abandoned and fell into disrepair during the 19^th century. In 1994 an architect bought the castle with the idea of making it into a hotel, restaurant and conference center. He did a masterful job of reconstructing 2/3 of the chateau. At some point he became disinterested, disillusioned, or ran out of money, or all of the above, and so he sold the castle to Matt and Michel, who have always dreamed of living in a castle and are hopeful that they can make a going concern of the operation.

The Chateau du Bois-Guy is really perfect for weddings, corporate off-sites, tour groups or large parties. The location is ideal for touring Brittany, being situated between Mont St. Michel and Fougeres, and near to Rennes. The setting is very nice, with lots of garden space and lawns. And, best of all are the facilities. There are 12 rooms, each en suite, a handicap friendly room, a comfortable lounge, a charming breakfast room, plus a private dining room. In the next building, which used to be servants’ quarters, can be found large rooms for banquets or meetings, wedding receptions or other large parties. In addition there is a charming Rococco chapel, painted in pink and blue and gold, and full of cherubs and a lovely Madonna.

Wouldn’t it be fun to spend the night at a castle! Le Chateau du Bois Guy, Chemin de Bois Guy, 35133 Parigne, France. Telephone 02.99.97.34.60 Fax 02.43.05.45.14 or www.boisguy.fr. Bed and breakfast start at 60 Euros. Table d’hote is available. Matt is reputed to be an awesome chef. You won't find warmer or more hospitable chateau owners anywhere.

RAIL TRAILS AND TOW PATHS

2009-08-16T23:08:00.000-07:00

The weather has been good and we have been enjoying our bike riding. One day we went along the old railroad bed, which has been turned into a nice bike and walking trail. The route went from St Germain en Colges to Louvigne du Desert. Along the route are many train stations (which have been turned into homes now) and even though they all look just the same, Don takes a picture of every one.

The rail trail is very good riding, wide and good surface, shady in the sunny afternoon, with nice green scenery and not very busy. From time to time we meet a family riding along, and since the wild blackberries are getting ripe now, sometimes we meet people with buckets of blackberries they picked. I want to do that!

Along the route Don spotted another unknown chateau. He has started a hobby of going to the many chateaux in the area that are privately owned and not open to the public. It is sort of a challenge to him to see if he can get in or at least breach the privacy screen of iron gates and gardens and get a photo. We have stopped at several during this trip, just to find we couldn’t get in, but Don took a photo anyway. So, when he saw this new chateau he took a photo across the fields, and decided to return another day to try to visit.

The next day we drove over to St. Sulpice and took the very nice bike path along the river Rance to Rennes. Since it was Sunday there were many people on the trail, either biking or walking, and also lots of boats in the canal, going through the locks. We saw two little sisters with their pink parasols, taking a walk along the riverside with their daddy. The younger sister, about 4, tried and tried to get her parasol up and finally just said, phooey, and busied herself with picking wildflowers and looking at lizards, and talking to herself all the while, because big sister was ignoring her. The trail is good riding and even though people were out, it wasn’t crowded .

Along the way we watched as the lock-keeper would run out to open the lock and fill it up with water to move a boat upstream. There must be some signal system between locks, or maybe the boat owners telephone to notify the operator, because they seem to run out and get prepared before the boat appears.

We rode the trail all the way into the medieval center of Rennes, where we rode around and admired the 14^th century half-timbered buildings, the huge Palais du Parliament and the beautiful theater. Throughout the city are bike rental stations, as we have seen in many of the cities of Europe. Here the rental was reasonable, about 5 euro a day, and we saw several tourists cycling around the town on these bikes.We thought about stopping for lunch at one of the cafes, but ended up riding back out the canal and enjoying our picnic as we sat in the nice park near a lock and watched the activities along the river.

Vacation to the Cotes d'Armor

2009-08-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

We decided it was time to take a little vaction, so off we went on a road trip to visit the northwestern coasts of Brittany. We packed up our bikes, enough clothes for a few days and our standard picnic lunch fare and headed out for the coast There are several peninsulas that jut out into the English Channel, lots of little islands and many touristic routes.

Our first day we went to Cap Frehel and drove all along the coast, enjoying the pretty views of beaches and ocean. We finished up the day in Langueux, where we had a very pleasant evening bike ride before returning to our hotel for a shower, dinner and bed.

The next day we continued west to Paimpiol and Pointe de Arcouest, where we thought we would take the ferry over to the Ile de Brehat. It was another nice drive out t o the point, along the coast enjoying the pretty farmland and coastal sights. When we arrived in Pointe de Arcouest we were reminded that August is a busy tourist season. The narrow point was packed with tourists waiting for the ferry boat, the pay parking lot with 600 spaces was "complet", as were the two alternate parking areas. On top of that, the fare to go the 2.3 km to the Ile was 8.50 euros per person, plus 15 euros for your bike! It seemed a bit out of line to have to pay $40 each to go over the short distance, so we skipped the ride, took some photos and continued our coastal tour, up one side of the peninsula, and down the other, around the end of the inlet, and on to the next peninsula.

Since it was cloudy in the morning, we again took an pleasant evening bike ride arount Pointe du Chateau. We spent a couple of hours in the pleasant evening sunshine, riding down the hill to the plage, then back up the hill to the bluff, 500 meters along the bluff, and then back down to the plage and back up to the bluff, kind of like a bicycling merry-go-round. It was very interesting at this time of day, because the tide was out at least 2000 meters. There were people walking way out on the sand where the ocean usually is. Seeing this reminded me of the big tidal wave in Aisa a year or two ago. I always wondered why someone would see the ocean retreat so far out and then actually walk out that far. Now I can see that this is common in this part of the country, so I guess people aren't startled when they see the ocean so far out from the normal level.
The farm country here is very green and lush. The crops are different, because of the weather. They grow artichokes and other cool weather crops. We also saw huge greenhouses, one block square, and discovered that they grow hydroponic crops, mostly tomatoes, in these enormous buildings.

Another lovely farm sight was the quaint stone barns bordered by a row of ten or twelve enormous hydrangea bushes laden with giant pompoms of brilliant pink, deep blue, and snowy white. Even though I saw many barns like this, each one was delightful.

This far into Brittany we are noticing some interesting cultural differences. All of the towns have the name presented in French and Breton. This is like the Basque country, or Catalonia, where the population admits to being French or Spanish, but they kind of wish they weren't. Many people still speak the old Breton lanugage and the Celtic influence is very heavy. Many of the town names would fit right into rural Ireland or Wales--Tor Heut, Guimaec, Beg Douar.
When we got back to Plougrescant, where we left the car, it was very busy. The big event in this little town was a special puppet show, Guigol, and many families had finished their dinner early so they could drive into town and take the kids to see the show. We quickly packed up, gave someone our parking spot and headed down the road to Morlaix, where we stayed the night.

The next morning we took the scenic drive out to the Pointe de Primel, which gave us another chance to enjoy the seaside sights. The ocean in this area is full of rocky islets, sometimes just a small pile of rocks jutting out of the water. There is not just one or two, either. There are hundreds of them all along the shore, about 2.5 km out in the water. What a treacherous place to try to operate a boat!

Well, we had had enough vacation and enough shoreline sights, so we hit the freeway and scooted back to St. Germain en Cogles. Don was glad to have dependable internet again, and a nice sofa for a nap while he listens to the news. The afternoon and evening have been lovely and sunny, so we had an early dinner in the back yard and then started to work on this report.

One other note, we have been Skyping our family regularly. We talk to San Leandro on Tuesday mornings at 10:30 California time. This week we talked to Jerry only, because Pauline and her two sisters are on a short trip of their own. We reached them at Susan Davidson's house and had a good chat about their adventures in Northern California and Oregon. This Skyping thing is great.

St. Malo

2009-08-09T23:02:00.000-07:00

After our rainy day the weather turned very nice, so over the last few days we have had some good bike rides.

One day we took the car and went back over to Antrain where we visited the Chateau Belle Fontaine. The Duke and Duchess still live in the chateau, so we just got to see the grounds and gardens there.

Then we rode out through the rolling hills and forests to another chateau, La Bailue. This chateau is also someone's home, so again we just enjoyed the ride around.

We continued our ride to the village of Broulan where we had our picnique on the bench in front of the medieval church while tourists, clutching guide books, wandered around checking out the old buildings. One family, with three teenagers, spent quite a bit of time, dad with guidebook, enthusiasticly reading all about the church, frescoes, stained glass windows, etc., while the teenagers scuffed their feet and tolerated.
Sunday, August 9th was another sunny, nice day and we went up to St. Malo to tour the old walled city and see the port. The fort here was designed by Vaubon, the famous fort architect. We have visited his military creations in many cities throughout Europe. He was a busy guy back in the 17th century. We walked the full circuit around the ramparts and out the long pier to look back at the city. Being a sunny Sunday there were lots of tourists in the town. Luckily we got a pretty early start and had no problem getting parking. When we finished our visit and went back to get our car there was a long line of people waiting to just get into the car park as it was controlled by how many cars were already in the parking lot. Each time a car would come out the next car in line would be allowed in.

When we left St. Malo we went on to the town of St.Suliac, which was billed in the tourist brochure as the most beautiful town in France. Always looking for photo ops, we decided to stop by for lunch and pretty pictures. Again, our timing was good and we got parking and strolled through the town, which I thought was pretty standard French village material. They do have a nice sheltered seaside location. The local kids were jumping off the pier and swimming because by the afternoon it had warmed up and was really a nice day.

We stopped at the only open cafe for lunch. Don had the local specialty, une galette avec oeuf, jambon et fromage and I had the other local specialty, moules frites. Don's galette was a buckwheat pancake folded over ham, egg and cheese. My mussels were great, cooked in a light marinara flavored broth. I got an enormous pile of them, so Don helped me eat them. But, the little mussels inside were not a lot of meat, so the big pile worked out about right for the portion.

After lunch we strolled back to our car and set Trexie for home. Another nice day.

Countryside and Castles

2009-08-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

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 several 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, enjoying 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.

Almost 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 clearing 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.

Across France

2009-08-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

Our departure from Estavayer-le-Lac went very smoothly. We were able to depart on time and we made very good time across France to Paris and the CDG airport. We got there at 2pm and Don unloaded all of our stuff at terminal E. We had a lot of stuff, with our bicycles in cases, our edclothing case, and we got lazy and stuck some stuff in other bags, plus I had 3 bags of groceries. So, we stationed ourselves and our pile of stuff right at the beginning of Terminal 2E and waited for the LeBreton Family to drive up. We were supposed to meet them at 2:30. Don told me to watch for a Ford sedan, so I craned my neck, checking every silver car for the Ford logo, all to no avail.

At 2:30 I decided to go into the terminal to see if I could find the LeBretons. Oops, the French police were there, armed with machine guns, closing off half of the terminal and preventing anyone from going to the station where the flight was supposed to check in. So, I went back to our lookout area, figuring we stuck out like a sore thumb and surely they would see us. We waited and waited and Don was getting madder and madder. He told me not to arrange to meet at the airport, and he was right because it is too crowded and busy, but I didn't know another place to suggest.

I tried to call Philippe LeBreton, but couldn't get through on my phone. Then I got a fellow who was standing nearby to call on his phone for me and it went to voicemail, so I left a message. Finally Philippe called me and told me he was at station 7, but I couldn't make out if it was terminal E or A. Earlier 7E was closed by the police. Anyway, I finally found him at 7E and we had a chance to chat briefly and get keys and information and meet Yohann, his son. I was completely tongue-tied and forgot any French I ever knew, so I probably seemed like an idiot. At 4pm, when they had to check in, we said our goodbyes and I took Yohann down to meet Don, who was sitting on our pile of stuff. The two guys went off to get the LeBreton car and finally he came by and we loaded all of our stuff in the car and headed out for Giverney. Don wanted a chance to go back to Giverney, the home of Claude Monet, because last time we were there his camera was broken and he didn't get to take any pictures.

It was a long day of driving and waiting, but we finally arrived at the town of Evreux where we checked into the B&B Hotel. This is a budget chain, 39 euros a night, but it was very nice. The room was very small, but fine for sleeping, and the room was clean and the bed was comfortable. They had a nice buffet breakfast in the morning.

After our breakfast we drove a few miles over to Giverney and the sun came out and so Don was able to get some good shots. The gardens were in full bloom and looked beautiful and colorful. The tour buses began rolling in and it was getting quite crowded, so we finished up and headed out for St. Germain en Cogles and our next home exchange.

The drive was several hours and we were tired when we arrived, but I had Don stop at the supermarche, and despite his admonitions to only buy enough for 3 days, I was so happy to find reasonably priced food, I bought quite a bit. It was pouring down rain and I didn't have any bags, but I just put the groceries back into the cart and unloaded them into the car that way.

Don had programed Trexie (our GPS) for the house and we found it pretty easily and pushed the control to open the gate, fitted the key into the door and entered our new home. The house is very nice, with a new, large kitchen, dining room, sitting room, 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms. The yard is quite large and overlooks a green belt and cornfields. Michele LeBreton has some beautiful, colorful fuschias in her yard and lots of lush houseplants inside.

We had a light lunch, made a heartfelt wish that our son would meet the LeBretons at SFO, and went to bed.
The next morning Don put our bikes together and we went for a short bike ride to Fougeres and explored the town a bit and remembered the last time we were here, 25 years ago. Things have changed and the town has grown, it seems. Of course we were there in December, and froze to death and the chateau was not officially open, although we got in anyway. There were no people around at all. But on this visit, during the high season, the cafes and bistros were full of tourists and the tourist areas were bustling. We saved our visit to the castle for another day, stopped at the Tourist Information Center, and headed home.

This evening we had Chaucroute Garni for dinner and called to talk to DJ and Gary and Grandkids before calling it a night and popping into bed. Weather is dicey and I hope it clears up in the morning. The news is full of reports of major traffic jams heading south to Provence. The freeways here are never crowded, but I guess they were this weekend, with bumper-to-bumper cars full of French vacationers. I am glad we are in Bretagne and not Provence. We haven't run into unbearable crowds, except at Giverney.

Tomorrow and in the future days we plan bike riding excursions in the countryside, maybe a trip to Mont Saint Michele, another excursion to Jersey, and who knows what else we will find. We will keep you posted.