We flew this time on 12 May 2017 courtesy of Qantas as they offered the best price last November of $A1500.00 return. This new arrangement brought us into Paris Charles de Gaulle at 2.30pm so we booked a night at the airport Ibis Hotel.
A friend of mine, a seasoned flyer, said we must be having a long stopover somewhere as we were leaving Sydney at 6.30pm. This prompted us to have a look at the fine print and, sure enough, we were actually stopping at Bangkok before proceeding to Dubai. Not only that but the carrier was Emirates Airlines and we would be flying in the double decker A380-800 Airbus, a first time for me, from Sydney to Dubai, the same plane all the way.
Very comfortable but there's always a negative isn't there? The earphone socket was dicky. You had to get it in the plug just right or the sound was lost in one ear. Damned irritating!
Arriving in Bangkok we get the usual instructions that few people take note of because of the buzz of excitement. "We will be in Bangkok for one and three quarter hours. If you wish to leave the aircraft take all your belongings with you blah, blah, blah."
Cathy decided to stay and stretch out over three seats so I exited with passport and boarding pass and was told its OK to leave hand baggage as wife was with it. So, making careful note of which gate I came out of, I set forth. The airport had changed since we were last here and is HUGE. It seemed about 1km to the first junction then I turned right and walked another1.5km, ambling along sightseeing when I thought I heard my flight to Dubai being called for boarding!! So the rush begins! I find that there are hardly any people on my journey back. Eventually I arrive at the gate I came out of to meet another plane load of passengers being disgorged and get stopped by staff. "You have to go back to immigration point, pass through there and go to the boarding gate". Something which didn't register with me on the plane. Panic now begins to set in as I realise how far I have to go. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was given the 3rd degree search at immigration, "who is this fool with no baggage and in such a hurry?" I needn't have worried the boarding room was full and only just beginning to move.
CAR PROBLEMS
Different airline to usual so different arrival gate. There is a phone on a wall somewhere which we always use to free call the lease car people. Used it a dozen times but could we find it? No. The information desk people had no idea, the rental car people were being as useless as they could be as the lease car we get is a competitor of theirs. Then we find out that the pile of documents we have printed out (Isn't that always the way with travel organisations?) doesn't contain one phone number of any use here at the airport. The Hertz lady, who is Franglais, explained in a London accent that the 1300 number is 0300 here. That didn't work. Another hurdle was that the Peugeot Lease company do not call themselves EUROCAR as Renault do (We have always used Renault in the past) even though they use the same office in Sydney so we are basically jetlagged and stuffed.
Back to information where the lady sorts us out on her computer and calls the Peugeot office. Go to departure gate 16 a courier will be there in 2 mins. By the time I get back Cathy is in conversation with this bloke then walks off and leaves him. "He asked me if I was waiting for a hire car and I said No I'm waiting for a shuttle bus from Eurocar (different name remember?). So for half an hour we hover around each other, Us thinking he is toting for business, him thinking we are waiting for a specific lift. Eventually I think "This is ridiculous and walk up to the bloke and say "Are you from Peugeot?" "Yes". That did it. Being a Parisienne he found it difficult to hide the fact he was pissed off so I had to give him a big Aussie hug and apologise profusely in French. He was OK after that. He advised us that 'The phone on the wall' no longer exists!
Ooops! I have a confession to make. It was my fault. In defence though I have to say I already had 27 sheets of paper from the car lease people (Isn't this supposed to be a paperless society!). The final transmission from them had an attachment, another 25 pages in all. I visually gave them a quick scan and when the first item was a coloured photo of the gate to the pick up depot where we have been a dozen times before, followed by other photos, I didn't bother to print them as the printer was low on ink anyway. Of course the all important telephone number was buried in there!
Interestingly there are five names connected to the Peugeot Car European Lease scheme.
Drive Away Holidays: The company in Australia who act as their leasing agent. They also do all the hire companies.
Peugeot Europe: On all the documents supplied in Australia.
Citycar: Who the shuttle bus driver in Paris said he worked for.
TT cars: The lot where you collect the car and finally.
Peugeot Open Europe: On all the documentation provided with the car.
Having had this gripe, the Peugeot 208 runs beautifully. Not so glam as the Renault Clio, no reverse camera or warning signals, no automatic windscreen wipers, an old fashioned clunky ignition key, no chrome trim but it does have a very good Sat-Nav (GPS) system. Then again it was $800 less to hire so presumably is not so expensive to buy as the Renault Clio.
PHONE AND INTERNET
As usual we have the usual difficulties with France Telecom. I ring the number and eventually get a nice lady and ask her to reactivate our phone. "Yes" she can do that within a day but the Internet will take two weeks! In the process I find out she is in TUNISIA!
I've had this before so as soon as the phone is on I ring the English Language Hot Line. The guy tells me there is nothing they can do to speed up the process but the net will be switched on as soon as they are able.
I liked his line "We are not here to annoy you but to help as much as possible!" The internet was on a day later, much the same as last year!!
THE HOUSE
We were greeted as usual by a musty smell but after a few hours with all the windows and doors open and a five hour cleaning blitz of the ground floor by Cathy it was fine.
We had a couple of mysterious water leaks. It turned out the drain pipes at the front of the house were severely restricted by moss and silt - not bad after 12 years - so had to go up the long ladder and clear them. I think we caught the problem in the nick of time as there had been heavy rain recently but only minor damage had been done inside the house. The other leak was associated with a connection on the bath. They have fitted us with a new meter in the street and in doing so possibly sent a surge through the pipes which disturbed the fitting. All OK now.
(NO, it's not!! We have a couple of fissures due to rust in the gutter. Got to go up there with Sika tape and seal them. Not looking forward to that. Magic stuff Sika tape, not expensive but sealed the cracks in the gutter for the rest of the time we were there)
Our lease car a Peugeot 208 outside the house which is being aired.
The back yard. I've taken twelve wheelbarrow loads of mainly leaves across to the river block. Not surprising when you look up at the spring growth already.
The gate to the garden by the River Scorff after a trim.
Behind the gate.
The River.
Lawnmower needed! Unfortunately the mower won't go. Due to other priorities and no means of transporting mower to service depot except by foot it remains this way when we leave in August.
Strange agricultural machinery at 20kmph.
Rose, still going strong among brambles at the ruin.
Crops beginning to emerge. Always amazing how there don't appear to be any gaps.
Never seen garlic growing on this scale before.
GALLIC ROAD RAGE
Had some fun with a French driver in the country road leading from this field. I saw him coming but to me he was a long way off when I started moving and I didn't appreciate how fast he was going. Within seconds he was on my bumper bar lights flashing and horn blaring. OK he made his point and the Sat Nav said this was a 90km road, but he wouldn't stop. He was obviously a local but I'd be reluctant to go more than 60 at any time on that road. Eventually I found a place to pull over and he went past still carrying on. I couldn't help myself and gave a gesture. I did have the presence of mind to have my thumb up - good - not my middle finger - bad! A bit further up he comes to a junction stops and leaps out. Uh oh, I could be dead here! I let the window down and kept an eye open for a swinging arm as he raged on about me cutting across his path and then going slowly. Pretty sure he'd had too much to drink. He calms down a bit when he sees Cathy who explained "We are Australian and don't fully understand what his problem is" but still carries on with his verbalising. Eventually he gets back into his commercial vehicle and his passenger closes his door. Probably prepared to join him if there was a melee.
The funny thing was he then proceeded into the town ahead 10km over the speed limit, where he turned off !!
House looking a bit more lived in with geraniums on the window sills and conifers at the front door.
We've added gravel to the courtyard. Our neighbour calls it "Guemene Plage" (beach).
MAY 26th
Today Cathy and I think about our mothers. Both of them shared the same birthdate. Sadly no longer with us.
PETER AND BARBARA
Peter and Barbara, from Australia, drove down from Lille in Northern France where they had been doing a tour of the battle fields looking for the grave of one of Peters' relatives (which they found). It took them 8 hours to get to us, with breaks.
Peter is a Grandson of Dads landlady when he was stationed in Australia and stayed in Mosman, Sydney during the final year of WW2.
PONTIVY
The French general elections are about to be held and this is a photograph of the new Presidents EN MARCHE party representative for the region. That's her standing in the doorway.
We took a trip to the south coast of Brittany taking in Carnac, Quiberon, Auray and St. Goustan.
CARNAC
Carnac is the site of a fascinating array of standing stones which date back up to 5,000 years.
The granite stones are of local origin and are possibly monuments designed to be seen from a long way away. The area once was forested but was cleared in the Neolithic era when man became sedentary and began farming.
Le petite train. We've seen several of these at different locations moving tourists about. Some manufacturer has done very well out of them.
QUIBERON
Peter, a keen fisherman, standing alongside a local who has done rather well!
Quiberon is now a tourist town but has had a colourful history. It stands on a peninsula where the British landed a French Royalist army in the late 1700's in an attempt to overthrow the revolution. It failed.
The Germans fortified the area in WW2 and left behind a lot of evidence of their visit.
It was also once famous for its mackerel fishing cannery.
ST GOUSTAN
The Romans once made it to St. Goustan, which is adjacent to Auray. Lots of old buildings and good restaurants. We visited the one in the white building with four windows.
Tasted good too!
ST MALO
The next day we went to the North coast of Brittany to St. Malo. Because there are no major roads in that direction it took longer than we remember but it was a good day out.
Tourists.
Inside walled city of St Malo. Buidings date from the 1700's.
Sharing lunch with a local!
Roofers in what looks like a scary operation from down here.
SNAKE
Just had my first ever encounter with an adder (may have seen one in the zoo). It was about 600mm long (2 foot) and thick as my thumb. I didn't have the camera with me so had to borrow this one from the net. Mine was not so pretty but definitely the same variety.
I have always been careful when in long grass but will be doubly so now! A bite from one of these guys can make you very sick. It was heading away from me along the path behind the ruin and disappeared into a pocket left behind by a burnt out cross beam.
BRITISH ELECTION JUNE 8TH
Polling booths closed at 22.00 hrs (23.00 here) which was a bit frustrating. In Australia they close at 6pm so you get a result before going to bed. Awoke in the night and wondered how things were going but had to go to the Sydney Morning Herald website to find out.
Not at all surprised by the result but disappointed the swing wasn't more convincing as it looks like difficult times ahead.
THE MELODYS'
The last time we were in contact with the Melody family was when they came to visit us during their trip to Australia last September. Here's Pat with Robbie, Cathy and dog Phoebe outside their "Chocolate Box" cottage 10mins away from us.
VINTAGE CARS
It seems like an annual event. A stream of English vintage cars pass the front door on their way to, probably, Lorient from Roscoff or Cherbourg maybe. I just happened to be standing by a window with the camera.
THE PARK
The park across the road had been getting more and more like a jungle. We gave them the benefit of the doubt and guessed they were getting the most out of the Spring flowers. It then got beyond a joke and Cathy spent ages composing an Email for the Mairie (Town Hall). It took a long time as "Spell Check" refused to accept French words (Ville - Town became vile etc!).
Maybe it was going to happen anyway but the following day June 17th work commenced to clean up the park. It took them about half an hour!
It took another Email 6 weeks later to get them to cut it again, but maybe they were going to do it anyway?
PROJECTS
The main project we wanted to do this year was to line the Cathedral Ceiling on the front house with plaster board. We decided to get a local contractor to do the job for us but, due to commitments of the builder, it looks like we will have to wait until we return to Australia before work gets started.
This has allowed me chance to concentrate on modifying a wall for a built in cupboard in the bedroom of the second house.
The guy who built the walled structure for bathroom etc. blocked part of a window and the whole thing looks like "The house that Jack (Rene!) built"! The mouse hole is where the drain for the toilet used to come through.
There is space over the stair well for a cupboard.
STEP 1 Fit floor in space over the stair well and cut hole in wall.
It's amazing how the smallest of jobs requires every tool in the shed, which you have to fetch one by one. In this case the shed is up a ladder to the loft where it was stinking hot! The walls are made from a steel structure clad with plasterboard, a whole lot more fiddly than a wooden frame.
BARKERS' PLAYHOUSE!
All we need now is Henry to put on a cameo play! Audience to sit on the stairs.
FRENCH ELECTION - SUNDAY JUNE 18TH
The second round election of Parliamentary members took place on Sunday June 18th. The first round, a couple of weeks previously, would have had about 10 candidates. The two most popular now face off.
The end result was a resounding victory for the new party EN MARCHE set up by the recently elected President Emmanuel Macron.
So that's how you do it "French Style". You marry your school teacher, build a film star image for yourself, win the Presidency, set up your own party and take over!
As I said at the time on Facebook "You don't drag half the population, kicking and screaming, in a direction they don't want to go". "British Style"
Signs up around town.
LAKE GEURLADEN
A year ago this lake was empty as they did renovations on the hydro electric equipment in the dam.
This ruined monastery called Bon Repos is at the feeder end of the dam.
DOUG AND DOT
We have now been coming to Guemene for15 years and have known this couple Doug and Dot, who are from Wales and friends of Jan up the road, for much of that time. Doug is President of the Merthyr Tydfil rugby club. They spent 10 years living in Quebec, Canada at one stage.
TOURISTS
It's that time of year again and the tourists start to arrive. The Ancient Mill, then our Peugeot, then the Poubelle (Rubbish depository). At least the green stuff in the park has been trimmed. It used to be a nice lawn but after the neglect followed by the shock therapy of shearing, only the weeds are fighting back.
BARCELONA
On Friday (30th June) we set out on a road trip bound for Barcelona, Spain. We have booked a hotel in Bayonne near Biarritz and the Spanish border for three nights.
That should be about 7 hours away.
The following four nights we are booked in at Barcelona, 6 hours further on. Then four nights in Agde an ancient town in Southern France, three hours to the North, near where sister Sue is staying with a friend.
The trip took 11 hours! The time got frittered away with major traffic jams around the three major centres on the way down Vannes, Nantes and Bordeaux. Heavy downpours of rain didn't help.
ARCACHON
We also stopped for a while at Arcachon about 30km West of Bordeaux. We were told it was worth visiting and that there was the biggest sand dune in Europe close by.
It is obviously a popular tourist resort and a lot more built up than we expected. Because of the weather there was nobody on the beach but it did make it easier to get around. In trying to avoid the chaos surrounding an accident on the road coming out we again got into a tangle over "The Shortest" or the "Quickest" route on the Sat Nav. In the end we had to overrule Beryl and make for the motorway when we saw a sign to it.
Missed out on the "biggest" sand dune.
BAYONNE
Cold and blustery on arrival.
BIARRITZ
Cathy did a very good job of researching this part of the Basque country on the internet
Next day we did a tour starting with Biarritz. Again a major tourist area and we were surprised by the extent of housing development between Bayonne and it about 25km away. No idea what the occupants do other than be involved in tourism. Probably many holiday homes.
Again the weather played into our hands. It was perfect to walk around in and because of the wild weather the Atlantic Ocean put on a good show and we were able to find parking and get about.
Two hardy female lifesavers looking out for three lady swimmers. Saturday was their swim day and no storm was going to stop them!
Religious statue on the rock but pedestrians were barred because of the surf conditions.
Can't resist a market!
ST JEAN DE LUC
Close by Biarritz.
Johnny Depp, pirates of the Caribbean, paying a visit!?
SARE
Small village, about an hour from Bayonne in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Popular with hikers who can walk to cave systems about 40mins away.
It doesn't seem as though the revolutionaries thought much of the Basques.
Church interior.
AINHOAA very old established village in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Once a centre of smuggling across the mountains to and from Spain.
These buildings look modern but have dates on them like 1661!
Espadrilles, a Basque sandal.
LA BASTIDE DE CLAIRENCE
We were told one of the main attractions for tourists here apart from the preservation order on the village is to see the artisans.
This guy makes braid work of the type you see on military uniforms, although that business has gone to the Chinese because it can be made by automatic machines. Unfortunately he had a sign up "no photographs" so I can't show his work (check out: www.patricecantalejo.fr ) but the items were extremely elaborate in gold and other precious metal woven braids and fetch large sums of money. Some items took 300 hours or more to make and cost well over1000 Euros. All very impressive.
Playing a popular Basque game with hard rubber ball and wooden bats.
The work of another artisan. Made from wood.
BAYONNE
The third day of our visit to Bayonne, which was a Sunday, we left the car in the Hotel car park and walked.
Can't resist a Vide Grenier or Street Market!
Great music system played Jazz mainly, from vinyl records.
Liked the way the church and Pub were joined on. Both social centres!
Remnant of city wall. Must have been tough in the "old days". They went to a lot of trouble to keep the unwanted out!
Stupid goat on city wall. One slip and he had a long way to fall.
His mate wasn't satisfied with grass either.
Old bridge
New bridge
The Basque Museum. Free on Sundays!
Cider press in museum.
BAYONNE to BARCELONA
We set out at 10.45 and arrived at 6.45pm on what was estimated to be a 6 hour trip!
A couple of events slowed us up. We decided to have a look at Pamplona on the way as the "Running of the bulls" is due to take place in three days, July 7th. We thought we may be able to park somewhere and walk around but the Sat Nav took us right into the thick of it. Right up the streets where the crowds would be - no chance to get out and look around. We were so close to one pub they could have handed drinks to us through the window. Great fun but a bit nerve wracking!
Snaps taken with the I-pad through the windscreen.
The nearest we got to seeing any bulls!
Decided to press on as we weren't sure of the time needed to get to Barcelona. Suddenly the 120kph ground to a halt on the motorway and we sat there motionless for half an hour. Turned out a truck had caught fire.
Views from our room at the Catalonia Atenas Hotel.
The terrain between Bayonne and Pamplona was beautiful, lush green mountainsides with some spectacular rock formations as we passed through the Pyrenees but practically no place to stop and take photographs. After Pamplona it couldn't have been more of a contrast, dry, barren, flat country. Though that gave way to vast orchards. How they got water to the crops in what was basically a desert is hard to understand and how they harvest what look like stone fruit economically is a mystery. Far too much to be hand picked but awkward to do by machine. Will have to check that out..
BARCELONA DAY 1
Just spent 5 plus hours on the upper decks of sightseeing buses with gaps. I have many very average photographs as it's hard to get decent shots from that situation. Most of the Spanish population under 30 years of age must have been here plus an equal number of tourists. Great to have Jo Brand the English comedienne talking us through over the ear phones (No jokes).
Barcelona is incredibly detailed and interesting. Not really taken with Gaudis stuff but it's certainly different.
How did he get Planning Permission for this? Looks a bit like an over sized termite mound to me!
Statue of Christopher Columbus, famous Spanish explorer.
Lots of people everywhere.
Taking picture of boyfriend with Barcelona FC scarf outside their home ground.
From hotel balcony.
Queue for Picasso museum.
Alleyways around museum.
Miniatures of famous people. All pooping.
Catelonian flags are on show. Barcelona is the capital of Catelonia a province in the North East of Spain. It is the wealthiest province. They are having a referendum in October to have independence from Spain. I'm not comfortable with wealthy people trying to annex their part of a country.
A symbol found everywhere in the region.
L'ESCALA DES EMPURIES
About an hour and a half drive North of Barcelona and still in Spain is a location, near the sea, where the Greeks and Romans lived side by side BC. The Greeks were accepted there as they did not come to conquer but to trade. They brought goods with them which they traded with the Iberian tribes for wine.
A voice, which had to be Tony Robinson the English comic and archaeological buff, talked us around the excavations. All very fascinating. The Roman settlement is still only 25% excavated. The discovery was only made a few years ago.
The museum.
The Greek site
Roman coins found on site. Most were minted in Rome but some in Southern France.
Roman settlement about 500 metres away. Little columns indicate under floor heating.
Beach adjacent to site. Times have changed!
FUEGERES
Not far from the site is the town of Fuegeres which was where Salvador Dali, the artist, was brought up. He designed and had built a museum there for his work.
Didn't realise that Salvador Dali's body was under that white slab on the floor. It was to be exhumed only a couple of weeks later on 20th July as a woman is claiming she is Dali's child and believes his fortune currently held by the Spanish Government is rightfully hers. Now waiting for DNA results.
Footnote: September 9th it is declared the lady in question is NOT related to Salvador Dali. Wonder how the expense of this exercise is going to be met?!
AGDE
July 6th we arrived in Agde 20km from where sister Sue is staying with friends. We have booked in at AirBandB accommodation. Imagine a stairwell with a bed in it! comfortable and as it turns out interesting.
The terrace is actually a hole in the roof.
View from our window. The place opposite is owned by an expat Englishman who fancies himself as an author and is recovering from illness. Entertained us for an hour with his stories.
Sue on the left with Sam, Ian, Cathy, Sheila and Mel. Sheila owns this town house on the marina at Cap d'Agde on the coast. Ian, Sue and Sheila all live near each other in Portishead, Bristol. Mel and Sam are English but have lived on a property nearby for 25 years or more. They are both in a Swing Band which plays in venues round about.
Lunch at the Marina.
The villa backs on to the marina and there is a fun park nearby.
Lunch on our 50th wedding Anniversary, July 8th..
MONTPELLIER
I wont forget Montpellier for a long time. We took a trip there and had lunch at a restaurant in the town centre. I had steak Tartare which is basically a pile of raw meat with cheese and other things added. I thought this is not going to be good but decided to tuck in anyway when it arrived ( when in France do what the French do etc...) The following day and for two days I had severe Delhi Belly!
SETE
A coastal town on the way back.
We arrived at a "happening".
A jousting tournament. We have seen this on a Rick Stein TV show. Now we get to see it live.
Red team
Blue team
Blues jouster psyching himself up.
Ready for off.
Girl below thinks now is a good time to fix the eye lashes!
The two teams advance on each other.
Brace for joust.
Contact
Reds man the winner (I think), as he dislodges blue jouster, though he ends up falling into the Blue boat and hurting himself!
Cathy at Sheilas marina site.
SEAGULL STORY
Sue relating her seagull story which goes something like this:
She had been swimming at the marina and was relaxing by the water when she noticed a seagull apparently in trouble. It was trying to fly but couldn't get off the water. So Sue dives in (without a thought for her own safety!) and goes to investigate. On arrival she realises she has a problem, gulls have sharp bits and aren't afraid to use them! She feels around under the water, trying not to get too close, and finds the bird is caught up in a fishing line. She then swims back to shore with the bird in tow. Someone provides her with a knife which enables her to cut it free whereupon the seagull flies off to a round of applause from all in attendance!!
CABRERETS
After Agde we plan to go back to the Western side of France calling in at a property owned by a fellow I play golf with in Australia (seasoned traveller - recall at the beginning of this blog). On the way Cathy has discovered there are some famous caves near Cabrerets so we stop over for a night at an excellent hotel owned by the fifth generation of a family who discovered the caves.
Two children about 14 went down a hole they were curious about at 2pm. They got lost in the caves and didn't emerge until midnight with the whole village out looking for them.
Houses built into the cliff.
GROTTE DE PECH MERLE
We visited the caves.
Plan of the cave system. They believe a river once ran through during the ice age and that the entrance was blocked and sealed.
Entrance to caves.
Cave markings (borrowed from web).
Insignificant oak tree with question mark on its trunk has a root which goes from ceiling to floor, about 20ft in the cave.
This is the root - I think (photo from web).
Mural depicting evolution of man since the cave dwellers remains were found. The length illustrates the time span with most of the action in a small piece up this end. They have deduced that people were sheltering in these caves 27,000 years ago and they were more or less like modern man in height etc.
ST-GERY
Close by cave site
CAHORS
20 mins from cave site.
Historically interesting as it was a centre for religious persecution. In 1562 there was a massacre of Huguenots (Reform Church of France) by Catholics. It is rumoured that I am a descendent of Huguenots on mothers side - (named either Verrier or Bette).
LAUDIBERTIE, FESTALEMPS
Target of our next stop over.
Field of sun flowers, grown for their oil. The flowers all point in the direction of the sun.
We stopped over with David and Ping at their home in Laudibertie near Festalemps. the area is mid way across France and has a climate which switches from Atlantic to Mediterranean.
Enjoying elaborate ice creams at a restaurant run by a Swedish couple.
The guy rode this bike all the way from Sweden!
The side of David and Pings house.
Their adjoining house we stayed in.
COGNAC
Now heading for La Rochelle on the west coast. We took a small detour to visit Cognac.
Grape fields.
Larsen, a Cognac maker. We also saw the Martell and St Remy Wineries.
LA ROCHELLE
Is a port on the West coast. Rather than try to get back to Guemene in one go which could have taken 10 hours we were recommended and decided to visit La Rochelle. Luckily Cathy managed to make a booking at the Ibis Hotel in the Old Port as the town was having a five day Festival which was a cross between Glastonbury and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I was able to get parking in a central parking station by ignoring the "House Full" sign at the entrance. There must have been more than a million people in town by the evening we arrived with armed Police and Military about in groups.
Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery power at this point so you'll have to take my word for the crowds the night we arrived. These were taken next morning.
Floating man!
BACK TO GUEMENE
We had a twenty minute delay on the motorway because of this severe shunt which forced four lanes of traffic into one. This is one of only two traffic incidents we encountered during the entire two weeks. Pretty remarkable considering summer holidays are getting into full swing.
By the end of the trip we have covered 3000 plus Kms and circumnavigated the Pyrenees Mountains which divide France from Spain.
DEBIT CARD
Cathys debit card with our bank here Credit Agricole, expired in June which was a surprise, so Cathy calls in at the bank to collect a replacement.
"Oh it's been sent to Australia".
" OK not much we can do about that so can we order another one please?"
"Yes, no problem, just sign these forms please"!!!
These are both sides of the forms. The half sheet is where it was blank and was useful for a shopping list.
LA GRANDE VENTE (SALE)
Every year about this time our favourite charity organization hold their Grande Vente when all their outlets pool their goods for a sale at Redene about 30 mins from here. It has become a tradition that we go to these events for even though we need very little in the way of furniture etc. now, you never know!
A sample of the cars mid day. This is repeated at the other side of the entrance.
I left Cathy there as I needed to go to the hardware stores in Lorient about 15 mins further on.
...and this is the result. A Secretaire (writing desk) 25 Euros! Solid wood mostly.
A pure wool carpet (New Zealand wool), original cost 600 Euros ours for 40 Euros! I suspect FiFi did a small pee pee on it, hence its disposal, but there was no smell and the smallest of stains on the back. Cleaned up a little is good as new. It's nearly an inch thick.
We also got two pictures for 9 (make that 8!) Euros.
LE PROVOCATEUR
Last night Sunday 23rd July we had five French neighbours and a small dog for aperitifs (snacks and drinks).
Our guests arrived about 7.15pm and we had an enjoyable evening.
About 10pm I spotted Monsieur in a motorised wheel chair passing the window. I drew everybody's attention to this event as almost every day since we arrived in May, Monsieur would do a sharp left before the PooBelle (rubbish depository), hop agiley out of his wheel chair (like a sketch from "Little Britain" and pee in the bush there. It had become a standing point of light discussion with the neighbours but now we are all gathered to witness it together. Sure enough he performed on Que.
What surprised me was the reaction of our neighbours. Three of them hopped up immediately, one lady and two men and went out the front door. One of the men yelled out to him in what I assumed was good humoured banter (as the neighbour had a smile on his face) I couldn't hear what was being said but it went on for a while. Next thing Monsieur was outside our front door remonstrating with the three. I wasn't prepared for this so left them to it. It seemed like in typical Gallic fashion all was peaceful and suddenly let battle commence. I only had a wine glass for defence!
After a while Monsieur stopped waving his fists got back in his chair and headed for home. He only lives 500 meters from here around the corner! Not sure why he can't hang on a little longer?
The guests calmly got back in their seats and resumed where they had left off.
"PROVOCATEUR" proclaimed another guest. "Used to be great friends with the last Mayor who died a couple of years ago, always complaining about something and got involved in a car accident. Now he is on a disability pension, chair supplied etc. Bit suspicious, in fact most of the evenings conversation revolved around how many people in France are rorting the system and the number is growing.
We are now a bit concerned as we feel our house has been drawn to his attention and he might start peeing on our doorstep next!
Anyway, apparently Monsieur called into our neighbour (provocateur) this morning and apologised for his behaviour. So life goes on!
Monsieur heading off to the pub today, July 25th. One nostalgic look at his bush as he heads out!!
....and off up the road presumably to the pub at Locmalo about 4kms away.
I don't BELIEEEVE it! Next day he was back peeing in the bushes!
CUPBOARD IN SECOND BEDROOM
Now close to completion. Just needs the plaster cladding.
Also boxed in the plumbing underneath.
LOST TRUCK
This truck got lost trying to find the Knauf Factory up the road. Look at the size of it! It could barely get round the corner outside our door. I thought I was going to have to help him back out but he managed to do a manoeuvre at the end of the street which is tighter than this and come out frontwards.
