Europe 2018-France

On The Road in France!

We have been driving through France. Mostly the southern coast and the west coast. These days have been mostly driving, but we do manage some stops,

 

This was one of our first stops for a coffee. Cafe’s here are a whole different meaning than Italy. No one stands at a bar and sips their espresso. It is always a sit down affair.

 

As Nancy and I do prefer the Italian style, we did not stop for as many coffees. This is just as well ’cause we have not found many French espresso to be palatable. Don’t know why that is, but somehow the Italians seem to make a much smoother espresso.

 

 

But there is always a good baguette to be found, and I found one as soon as I could. Perfect for a country stroll to stretch our legs and gnaw on a baguette. Suddenly you feel french all over. It really shows in this picture, don’t you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were on back-roads this day and wandered into a small intact historic village, so we took a hike.

 

 

 

 

Seems that many people tried to take this site over the centuries, as it is up on a hill and was therefore a good place for a fortress to see over the surrounding lands. Gauls, Romans, Saracens, Normans, all held this high place at one time or another. It is amazing that this village remained over the years,

 

 

 

As is always is the case, religion had a lot to do with the constant insecurity of this village and it’s inhabitants. But it made for a beautiful respite for us, and the people there now were very gracious and kind.

Speaking of religion, here are some of the churches along our route,

 

 

If you have traveled in Europe, you know that these cathedrals are in every town. Some are more spectacular than others, but all are somewhat old compared to the churches in the states.  I can’t tell you the names or exactly where each one was, but never the less, we can still appreciate the cathedrals, big and small, of Europe.

And our next stop was just to use a restroom, but we stumbled upon an old Abbey,

 

 

Saint-Jean-d’Angely. We got the name of this one. All that is left though, is part of the structure,

 

 

no roof, however there is an adjoining building that is used for services. This was a Sunday, and the town was dead. Nobody anywhere, as we looked for a cafe for a restroom. And in one moment, all was changed,

 

 

we had found one of the town squares, and a thriving cafe!

 

 

And from the looks and sounds of it, there were many foreigners at the cafe. A lot of British being spoken. You got the impression that this town had it’s share of foreigners supporting it’s economy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baguettes were in full force, and after a bit of a stroll we also wandered into the main covered market,

 

 

 

Of course we purchased some delectable delights but again, a lot of British being spoken, which enforced the idea that this is perhaps a retirement destination for foreigners. All in all a real pleasant town, and a nice stop that took several hours of our day,

 

 

Looking for a restroom! You just never know what you’ll find.

Our destination on these days of driving was La Roche Bernard. A village on the coast where we had made an AirBnB reservation.

But we were seeing signs that our road was going to end. We did not know what to do but to go forward, and hope to get around.

 

This is what we ran into, a road that truly ended. Our country road was the main road through this city, and it just ended because of construction. There were no signs of a detour. There were no indications of what to do. We just pulled over, and scratched our heads. According to our maps, it would be hours to go around this city. We walked out onto the construction zone and happened into a local resident. Though there was no English spoken, we were given directions to go around. Down an alley to the right, around the soccer field, and then a right turn. Sure enough, it worked. And even google map liked our return to the main country road on the other side. All we can say is if you see a sign like this in France that tells you not to go forward, you better believe it!

 

Shortly after that we managed to find our country BnB, however communication came down to Google translate,

 

 

As you can see.

But the owner was super gracious, and we managed well.

He told us of the main town to visit, and we did go there before it got dark,

 

 

La Roche Bernard is a quaint town, with a wonderful harbor, and wonderful food. We had, for the first time, Bretagne galettes.

Follow us as we meet our family in Bretagne France!

Ciao!  A presto!