Back from my hols and already suffering from patisserie withdrawal. We managed to call in somewhere and pick up cakes most days. This is one of the fruit tarts although my favourite was the dense
custardy thing that was the flan (pronounced
flon) which I proceeded to eat for the rest of the holiday in all its guises, whether plain, with fruit or covered with coconut.
When we disembarked from the boat at St
Malo the first thing we did was head for Mont St Michel. It was very early in the morning ( a black coffee and pain
au chocolate to wake me up). I had been told this that was the best time to go, otherwise it is too busy. Spectacularly set against the flat shining sand and visible from a long way off it did not disappoint inside, or with the views from the top.
Later in the holiday we also visited monuments of a far older time. Dolmen and other constructions are so mysterious; as are the people who built them, all those thousands of years ago. They must have been so like us but we can never know their minds or beliefs and can just stand and wonder. This is one of the Les Alignments
du Moulin near St Just near
Rennes, I managed to get the windmill in the picture, and as an added unintentional bonus a white van. The boards near the structures were very informative but alas the ones describing the birds, insects and plants were a bit sad as large areas of the undergrowth were just a blackened mass where fire had destroyed the gorse, as you can see in this picture.
However it was only a small area compared to the surroundings. This is the picture taken from the plateau showing the dense forest and lake at the start, or finish of the walk to the structures depending on whether you had walked from the village or like us had actually started with a walk through the wood and by the
l'Etang du Val, which is the lake you can see here. A pleasant place to sit while the
dragonfly buzzed along the top of the water and
occasionally hovered in front of us.
The coastal walks are fabulous. This is a view of one of the beaches in between Fort La Latte and Cap
Frehel. The tops of the cliffs were covered with yellow gorse and purple heather which which was a spectacular contrast of colours (a little of it is in the foreground of this image). Spoilt for choice for lovely fine sandy beaches along this and coast the Cote
d'emeraude which is further east.
St Briac sur MerAlthough you may need a boat to get onto some of them.
We walked by many little lakes. This is the popular
Etang de Boulet where people were picnicking, sailing and walking. Unusually the wooded area around the lake had nobody looking for mushrooms. In most other woods we encountered many people with long sticks as they searched out the delicacy in the undergrowth.
Water was a continual theme of the holiday, but all of it on the ground and not coming down from the sky (apart from one day). There are some pleasant walks by the pretty
Ille et Rance canal, with its many lochs and loch keeper's houses.
The buildings of the area are very interesting. Here is
Dinan with a
Creperie on the left. Yes you can have pancakes in all shapes, sizes, flavours although we did not indulge here. Well RB spent most of the time eating
Moules Mariniere so had no time for pancakes. The Italian ice cream shop called Le Pole
Nord here sold some of the best ice cream I have ever had.
And lastly no holiday would be complete without some art. We called in at St
Richardais to the house were
Manoli had his studio. In the year he died the garden and surrounding spaces were turned into exhibitions spaces for his art. He is described as "an alchemist of materials and forms". There are mobiles of acrobats, mechanical kinetic works as well as static sculptures of many forms and types. Fused metal, reclaimed items or smelted granite. There is something for everyone here in the lovely setting of home and garden which seems to fuse all his ideas together. The tall white figure in the photo is his self portrait.
I had a wonderful time in this area of France. I hope these images give some of the flavour. There is no
doubt that some of my other photos from this holiday will turn up at some time on the ABC Wednesday meme. Now I wonder what letter they are up to at the moment...
Oh does that look like a Q? Of course it does, especially if you are looking at it with ABC Wednesday eyes. And what luck it is also on a Quay. Tie your boat here after sailing on Coniston Water in the Lake District.
something more sturdier. The ferry tying up on the St Malo quay after a rather choppy, possible queasy, crossing of the English Channel, or La Manche (the sleeve) if you are looking at it from the French side..JPG)
Then there are the calmer waters (on this particular day), of Bantry Bay in the beautiful south east of Ireland. These fishing vessels are tied up on the Bantry quay. The area is famous for its blue mussels, filter feeders, living in intertidal areas and filtering 10-15 gallons of seawater a day. They in turn are eaten by the tourists dining in the Bantry restaurants, but I chose a cheese and onion flan for preference.
Possibly less sustainable fishing here. Fishing trawlers from many countries, as far as the eye can see, docked on the Ijmulden quay in the Netherlands.
Honfleur, Normandy, France
Zebu, Albert Dock, Liverpool
I loved the lettering on this sign, and the blue shutter. I think Jerzual is part of the river port area outside Dinan, which does not quite explain the drawing. It is also the name of a hotel, so is it a glass, are they straws, or am I just clutching at them. Whats that hand, has someone fallen under the table. What do you think?
and this HGV may be heading for one at some point. How lucky to have a name that so lends itself to this graphic design. I passed it parked in a sleepy French village on a Sunday, around lunch time, so perhaps Monsieur or Madam Hautiere was taking a rest from international journeys.
Then of course there are sea journeys. The Walther Herwig III leaving the port of Ijmuiden in Holland. It is a German fishery research vessel operating in the North Atlantic and North Sea. At the moment it is somewhere off South Ronaldsway in the Orkneys. What a pity it is not sailing near somewhere that starts with a J.
I love train journeys. Here is a small modern train crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct which was built in 1875 and has a total of 24 arches This is part of the Settle Carlisle route which crossing some beautiful countryside, and is not only a marvel of engineering, but also a marvel that it still exists and has survived all the rail closures in past years. You can see the mist rolling down Whernside in the background.
So what else could take you on a journey. Oh yes, as the song says 'trains, and boats and planes'. This seems to be the only digital photo I have of a plane. You will have to squint, its on the runway on Walney Airport. I think this is one of the two Beechcraft King Airs small twin turbo owned by BAE. Apart from the gliding club there is not a lot of traffic in here.
Back from my hols and already suffering from patisserie withdrawal. We managed to call in somewhere and pick up cakes most days. This is one of the fruit tarts although my favourite was the dense custardy thing that was the flan (pronounced flon) which I proceeded to eat for the rest of the holiday in all its guises, whether plain, with fruit or covered with coconut.
When we disembarked from the boat at St Malo the first thing we did was head for Mont St Michel. It was very early in the morning ( a black coffee and pain au chocolate to wake me up). I had been told this that was the best time to go, otherwise it is too busy. Spectacularly set against the flat shining sand and visible from a long way off it did not disappoint inside, or with the views from the top.
However it was only a small area compared to the surroundings. This is the picture taken from the plateau showing the dense forest and lake at the start, or finish of the walk to the structures depending on whether you had walked from the village or like us had actually started with a walk through the wood and by the l'Etang du Val, which is the lake you can see here. A pleasant place to sit while the dragonfly buzzed along the top of the water and occasionally hovered in front of us.
The coastal walks are fabulous. This is a view of one of the beaches in between Fort La Latte and Cap Frehel. The tops of the cliffs were covered with yellow gorse and purple heather which which was a spectacular contrast of colours (a little of it is in the foreground of this image). Spoilt for choice for lovely fine sandy beaches along this and coast the Cote d'emeraude which is further east.
St Briac sur Mer
We walked by many little lakes. This is the popular Etang de Boulet where people were picnicking, sailing and walking. Unusually the wooded area around the lake had nobody looking for mushrooms. In most other woods we encountered many people with long sticks as they searched out the delicacy in the undergrowth.
Water was a continual theme of the holiday, but all of it on the ground and not coming down from the sky (apart from one day). There are some pleasant walks by the pretty Ille et Rance canal, with its many lochs and loch keeper's houses.
The buildings of the area are very interesting. Here is Dinan with a Creperie on the left. Yes you can have pancakes in all shapes, sizes, flavours although we did not indulge here. Well RB spent most of the time eating Moules Mariniere so had no time for pancakes. The Italian ice cream shop called Le Pole Nord here sold some of the best ice cream I have ever had.
And lastly no holiday would be complete without some art. We called in at St Richardais to the house were Manoli had his studio. In the year he died the garden and surrounding spaces were turned into exhibitions spaces for his art. He is described as "an alchemist of materials and forms". There are mobiles of acrobats, mechanical kinetic works as well as static sculptures of many forms and types. Fused metal, reclaimed items or smelted granite. There is something for everyone here in the lovely setting of home and garden which seems to fuse all his ideas together. The tall white figure in the photo is his self portrait.
