Papelousu Luau

Since Mark, Laura, Spencer, and Andrew joined us on Monday, we've been having a lot of fun. The kids took to camp like a loon does to water and have been tearing up the place, making sand forts, swinging, and climbing. They liked the kayak rides but remain unconvinced about the wisdom of swimming in cold lake waters. To be fair, where they come from there are alligators in the lakes.

We threw out the minnow trap and caught a good 35 crayfish yesterday. Had fun making pools and dumping them in and then watching them escape. They can really get going once they're waterborne.

Last night, thanks to Jenn's largesse, we enjoyed a Papelousu luau complete with coconut drinks. The kids loved it and the parents liked it as well. As usual, the food was excellent -- pork tenderloins on the grill, green beans, corn, and fresh salad. For dessert, a wonderful berry crisp that Jenn had left for us. Ooh, it was yummy.

Starting the week in Vermont

We arrived late on Saturday night, chasing thunderstorms all the way from the Burlington airport. The roads were dark and populated with wispy fog. Very moosy night, tho all we saw were a hedgehog and some racoon kits.

Jacques and Jenn had a house full of people when we got here. They gradually disappeared over the course of the morning, as, sadly, did Jacques, Jenn, Adele and Bandit. :-( Alas, sadly Jacques' laptop did not depart and Alan spent a futile couple of hours chasing them south in an attempt to reunite. I spent the day at the beach, reading, swimming, and trying on our new kayaks.

Leaving France

On Saturday we bid a sad farewell to Les Essarts and hit the road for one last day in France. After dropping Marianne and Nanny at the Rennes airport, we headed south and west towards the Foret de Paimpont, said to be the last stand of forest of a type that used to cover all of Brittany. It was also a place of Arthurian legend and said to be Merlin's home, as well as the site of his grave.

Maybe Vermont has spoiled us, because we were not impressed by the forest -- most of which appeared to be a managed logging site. Nor were we particularly impressed by Merlin's grave....I guess he was a druid, after all. We should have been expecting the minimalist approach.

In any event, after a brief walk we headed south to La Roche Bernard where we had a reservation at the Auberge Brettone. Beautiful room in a charming town.


Sunday we headed back to Rennes to drop off the car the the train station. After futile attempts to find gas, we did just that. Indeed, getting fuel was one of the harder ordeals in France. Our credit cards wouldn't work (maybe the machines were expecting two factor authentication?) and so you had to find a station with a human who could process cash. On a holiday weekend, that was easier said than done.

In any event, the train ride was much more relaxing than driving back into Paris and before long we were wheeling our luggage from the train right on into the Sheraton. Then, the next morning, we wheeled our luggage from the Sheraton right into the airport -- really convenient. Checked in early, cleared security quickly, shopped for some chocolate and then were relaxing in the Continental lounge. We should have known it was too good to be true. Not fifteen minutes in, uniformed guards came in an announced that we had to evacuate the lounge. Bewildered, we went back into the terminal to see all the shops closing up. Long story short, someone left a bag unattended, triggering the eventual evacuation of the entire terminal. We were herded into a room with about 1,000 of our closest friends to reclear security....via one machine. Took 3.5 hours. Ouch.

Camels in Brittany

Yesterday dawned early. We were up at 6am (noon our time) and took an hour and a half exploratory walk about St. Briac before anyone, including most of the town, were up. We wandered through narrow streets and then to the golf course (where one gentleman, who looked to be playing a stealth round, looked at us with some consternation) and the beach before returning home. No one was up yet and we were cold, so got back under the duvet until breakfast.

Afterwards, Jacques, Alan, and I headed west along the Emerald Coast to St Jacut de la Mer, a promontory on the coast. It was windy! The sailboats and wind surfers were out in force, along with the sailing training school -- a string of four sailboats hooked up to a boat with a motor. Never seen that before, but Jean Briac says that's how he learned. Driving out, we were surprised to see camels and llamas grazing in the grass -- apparently, the circus was in town!

Driving along the coastal towns, it's clear it's not the season yet as many of the houses are still shuttered. We're told that in August the roads are just bumper to bumper. I can't imagine that as they're pretty bad now.

After lunch, Marianne, Alan and I headed down to Dinon so Marianne could make a return and we could visit the pretty medieval city. The navigator rudely fell asleep on the way down, leaving Alan and Marianne to fend for themselves. One wrong turn sent us south of the centre historique and we had to make our way back through traffic. Once we parked, we headed into the old city, Marianne to her shopping and Alan and I walked the steep hill down to the river. Good thing those cobblestones weren't wet.... We remarked that Dinon looked to be the kind of place we would enjoy staying a night, where we could wander the streets at night and enjoy a dinner overlooking the river.

Meeting up with Marianne, we enjoyed a Coke on a pleasant plaza, listening to a musician playing The Police (Roxanne) on a Celtic harp. That was a first, for sure. Apparently, there is a gathering of Celtic musicians happening in Dinon this week. On our way out, we stopped into the Basilique St Savuer, a very interesting church featuring Romanesque, Gothic, and Byzantine elements.

Dinner found us with friends Jean Briac and Amy at a local creperiere. Yum. I could get used to that. Our favorite was a ham, cheese, and tomato gallette. For dessert, Alan had the house "secret special" which he diagnosed as a creamsicle. So, here, revealed on the internet, is Hermine's secret desert crepe. :-)

More pix up on flickr.

St.Briac sur Mer

One sometimes wonders if the effort required to travel is amply rewarded by the pleasures of the destination. 18 hours into the 22 hour journey from Atlanta to St. Briac sur Mer, Brittany, the answer was looking shaky. Flight delays going out of Atlanta led to rushed terminal changes at Newark, which were nothing compared to complete disorientation upon arrival in Manchester, UK, followed by yet another flight delay. The arrival in Rennes marked a turning point, with no problems with the rental car, and a short hour's drive later, we were pulling up to Les Essarts in St. Briac sur Mer.

We were greeted by Sofie, the property's house dog. She had her suspicions about our character but let us enter, where we found everyone out to lunch at the Perette's. Unfazed, we toured the house and, plagued by fatigue, selected a bedroom on our own with a view overlooking the sea. After a brief rest, we started to feel the magic of this beautiful house and the lulling sound of the waves crashing outside our window called us to the water. Jacques promised that the water was cold but that you didn't notice once you were in, so we suited up and followed him along a wandering path overlooking the sea down to a beautiful horseshoe shaped beach.

The water was indeed brisk but nothing compared to Averill in the fall. Plus it was salt water and there were waves to play in and we were soon all soaked. The last of the travel fatigue slipped from our pores as we leaped and jumped in the sea.

Blogspot isn't uploading photos for some reason but you can find some on flickr.

Tomato Update

Tomatoes are mostly growing wildly but so far only one actual fruit, although I may have found one tiny on this evening on one of the plants out front. It seems like the front yard two are a tad happier although some of the back yard ones (particularly the Bush Celebrity) are blossoming wildly. Just no fruit. Not sure what's up with that.