Mont St-Michel 3 January 2009

We left for St Malo via Rennes after lunch. It was still -1°C and the sky was grey/white with lots of fog. So not much scenery to look at on the way. Thank goodness for Santa and the DS’s which made the long car drives more bearable for the kids (and us).

We arrived at Mont St Michel at 4 in the afternoon. There was so many people queuing we didn’t get in till 4.30 which was too late to join in the English speaking tour (which we later found out started at 2.30 pm anyway). I was amazed by the hundreds of visitors. I just didn’t anticipate there being so many other people there. In summer the crowds are meant to be phenomenal so I can’t imagine how crowded that would be. Still it was definitely a must see.

The Abbey at Mont St Michel sits on top of a small island surrounded by ramparts and connected to the town by an old causeway. We arrived at low tide and there are signs and staff to show you where to park when there is a high tide due.

I would have liked to have been there to see the tide come in because apparently it comes in really quickly and the whole area surrounding the Mont is completely submerged within a few hours.

We left on dusk which was about 5.30 pm for the drive to the hotel in St Malo for the night (about 40 km away). My dusk photos of Mont St Michel are so dusky that I’m not sure they're worth including.

Bonnes Année et Meilleurs Voeux pour 2009!

Still in Nantes. This morning we went to the Jules Verne Musee which the kids seemed to enjoy maybe because of the imaginative way that he wrote and planned his stories and the interesting drawings and sketches which were displayed. I asked Ella what she liked about the Jules Verne museum and she said “I was impressed that they stayed in the balloon for five weeks.”

After the museum Andrew took the kids to the Naturelle Histoire Museum and Irene and I made a second attempt to visit the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne. The Museum inside the Chateau was sectioned off into 7 different themes about the history of the city. We could have spent more time there because there was a lot to see and a lot of reading. One part I found particularly interesting was about the slave trade. The French ships would head off to the African coast and Caribbean islands and be loaded up with various products that they would exchange for slaves. It was quite gruesome and inhumane how the people were treated crammed into the boats in chains.

This morning when we got in the car it was - 1°C and the temperature stayed there all day. It was so cold. Anyway it was nice to spend time in a warm museum.

New Year's Day 1 January 2009

Everyone slept in today. We didn’t leave till 10am. Andrew had promised to take the kids ice skating. So they headed off to the makeshift rink next to the Chateau while Irene and I did a little walking tour around the old city looking for the main points on the tourist map. Later we met up with Andrew and the kids and had hot chocolates and crepes from a street stall and wandered over to the Jardin des Plantes which is a most beautifully designed botanical garden. There was a small playground/sandpit for the kids to play in which kept them amused for ages.

Slim pickings for dinner this night. There didn't seem to be many places open. We ended up at Buffalo Grill, very ordinary! The Etap Hotels are good value for a bed for the night but they are definitely no frills so happy days when we found a coffee vending machine in the foyer.

La Rochelle and Nantes 31 December 2008

This morning we called in to La Rochelle which is a pretty coastal town. We walked around the town inspected the ramparts and eglise, took a few photos, bought Ella some gloves because she’d lost one glove and then kept driving on to Nantes. It was freezing cold.

Nantes is the birthplace of Jules Verne (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Round the World in 80 Days etc). We attempted to visit the Duc de Bretagne Chateau as soon as we arrived but it was closing early. All the staff looked like they were ready to hit the town for New Year’s Eve. We walked around the outside of the chateau but it was so cold I really couldn’t wait to get back into the warm car. A lot of museums close earlier in winter and many have the month of January off .

We spent a quiet New Year’s Eve in our Etap watching French tv till midnight and then went to sleep.

Bordeaux 30 December 2008

Eglise
Ella in front of an ornate fountain

Interesting art!

Kids waiting outside hotel.

We walked for miles around Bordeaux. Over half of Bordeaux is world Heritage listed because of its architectural heritage and its buildings are so beautifully preserved.

There was evidence of some interesting art projects at a few of the monuments we visited.

Late in the afternoon Andrew took the kids back to the hotel for a rest and I ventured out to the Musee d’Aquitaine for an hour or so on my own. There was no information in English on any of the exhibits which always irks me.

Arcachone (near Bordeaux) - Dune du Pilat 29 December 2008

Irene on the top of the dune. The edges of the dune fall away steeply into dense pine forest.

Looking down the dune to the ocean.

The sun setting from the top of the dune.

Ella took this photo of us.

The very attractive beanie Samuel is wearing was a gift from Auntie Irene from her trip to Morocco.

Ella in the freezing sand

The kids in the carpark before our ascent.

On the way to Bordeaux near Arcachon, we had a late afternoon stop and climbed to the top of this sand dune 114m above sea level. For some reason I thought we would be the only people there but there were hundreds of people just like us equally amazed at the sight of this massive sand dune which is right plonk on the middle of the beach. If you can imagine Southport Beach with a massive sand dune right in the middle of it, quite unusual. Apparently this sand dune is spreading eastwards at about 4.5m a year. It has swallowed trees, a road junction and even an entire hotel supposedly.

The view was wonderful out across the ocean one way and into acres of dark green pine forest in the other direction. Do the photos show how freezing it is?

French Basque Country 28 December 2008

The kidlets on the jetty at Anglet Beach.

We headed off today to the west coast of France (the Atlantic side) to Bayonne, Biarritz and Anglet Beach stopping along the way at Lourdes for a quick blessing (just kidding, we stopped there for lunch in the carpark). It was Irene's first time at Lourdes. It's an interesting place and the weather was better this time.

Trip Planning 27 December 2008

Irene and I spent today mapping out a rough itinerary for the next two weeks going up the west coast and northwards finishing up in Paris. There is so many interesting places to visit but it’s impossible to see everything that you want to so we pretty much stuck to the main cities which always have heaps of things to do.

We also booked Etap hotels for the first few nights. If there’s one thing that is guaranteed to stress Chez Speedies it is arriving in a new city late in the afternoon with everyone sick of being in the car, tired, hungry and having no hotel to go to.

Bram 26 December 2008

Hasn't Ella's hair grown long!

After a quiet Boxing Day with the snow softly falling at Carlipa, we ventured out to Bram to go for a walk along the Canal du Midi. The last time we came here for a walk the canal had been emptied for cleaning but there was water in it again. It looks much prettier with water in it with the reflection of the big trees in the water.

Our walk was enjoyable, getting out into the fresh cold air (and wind). We took some photos. Something else that there will be less of is photos because it’s so hard to take photos with gloves on.

It was cold. All my writing from now on will be prefaced with describing how cold it is. And the wind just makes it a million times colder.

Christmas Day 2008

We had a very quiet Christmas this year. It was lovely having Irene visit us. We opened our presents and tried to stretch the present opening out as long as we could. I cooked a Nouvelle Zealand roast lamb for lunch which nearly didn’t happen because when I turned the oven on there was no gas left in the bottle. Luckily the Boulanger was open. They have the gas bottles out the front of their shop.

Andrew had the wood stove going in the kitchen and the fire roaring (sort of) in the living room. It was quite cosy really. A change from our 40°C Christmases in Australia. In the weeks up to Christmas Andrew and the kids had got crafty and bought coloured card and glitter glue and stars and bits and pieces and made some decorations. We bought a small white tree and a few decorations and fairy lights and it was very pretty. The shops here had real pine trees (sapins) for sale here for Christmas.