St. Malo by the Sea

We drove up from Carnac to the lovely city of St. Malo.  It was a relaxing drive, especially for me, because Ian did the driving.  This place is a testament to the resilience of people:  over eighty percent of the city was leveled in August 1944 -- even Cartier's tomb was blown to smithereens.  Still as one walks the cobblestone streets, it can be difficult to tell what is original -- and some is five hundred years old -- and what is new.  As Canadians, we were interested to learn of the importance of the Newfoundland fishery to this town.  One of the recruiting posters for fishermen was from 1925 -- the year my father and Ian's mother were born. Of course, this was also the birthplace of Cartier, who "discovered Canada" and we are looking forward to visiting his museum.  While there are lots of reminders of the horrors of war in the area, the stunning beaches and restored town are wonderful.

This small square has one of the oldest houses in the area.  Anne of Bretagne apparently stayed in the house with the tower while her castle was being built.

Carnac Treasure Hunt!

Today we knew we had seen the main alignments, and felt free to wander wherever the wind blew us.  The sun shone for much of the day, the scenery was fantastic, we found lovely tombs and historic churches -- or was it the other way around -- and we thoroughly enjoyed our day.

Ian in an underground tomb.

Prehistoire en Carnac

Bonsoir!  Aujourd'hui nous avons roulé à Carnac, vu des alignements et visité le Musée Prehistoire.  We walked down by the salt marshes to the plage, and are now in our tiny hotel room, massaging our feet.

La Manoir de La Johotiere

Today Ian and I said a reluctant farewell to our Hotel LaFleuray and made the three hour drive to the chateau where we will be sleeping this evening.  After arriving at our hotel, we made a small drive around the area (near Chateaubriant in Bretagne) and then walked around our beautiful estate.  We were horribly traumatized in Turkey several years ago, as we did not have the correct documentation for the toll roads and had to explain this to nice men who spoke no English -- and carried weapons.  As a result, we set the Garmin to avoid toll roads, and this turned out to be the best thing ever.  Today was a glorious day with brilliant sunshine making everything beautiful.  We soared along small highways and even smaller rural roads, through many tiny towns, and watched the landscape gradually change.  Our hotel is amazing -- it really is a working chateau, and the restaurant is very famous.  Ian and I have attempted to translate the on-line menu -- check it out yourself at at this link.  I will just let a few pictures tell you about this glorious day.

Finally something for Ian . . .

Today we finally saw some historical sites.  Yes, we still visited a modern house from the 1430`s, but we also saw the remains of a 2nd C. Roman Aqueduct and a Gallo-Roman tower, marking what was probably a wealthy family's estate and mausoleum.  We also visited Chinon, famous for Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard II and Prince John, and Jean D`Arc.

Chateaux and Leonardo

We arrived at Hotel Le Flueray just before dark Saturday evening, checked in and made a reservation for dinner.  The next morning we had breakfast and then set out on our Chateau tour.  We had plans to see 3 or 4 chateau, but only managed two.  Well 3 if you count Chateau du Close Luce, Leonardo Di Vinci`s last home.

Chartres and Chambord

Yesterday was our first day in France.  After an uneventful, if a tad uncomfortable, flight, we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport and got our rental car.  We drove to Chartres, checked into our lovely hotel, and then after a wonderfully French lunch, toured Chartres Cathedral.  We went back to our hotel, and lapsed into comas.  This morning we ate a fabulous breakfast -- I forgot how good a croissant can be -- and did a walking tour of the historical parts of the city.  Of course we got lost on our way to the tourist office to get the walking tour guide, because I didn't realize how small a medieval "block" can be (twenty-five steps!)  We ended up finding the most amazing little church.  We stumbled into the Saturday market, and saw a great deal of the city -- the tourist office being our last stop.  After another tour of the cathedral, where we saw the morning light streaming in through the stained glass windows, rather than the afternoon light of yesterday, we drove through to the Arches de L'Aqueduct in the town of Maintenon.  Imagine Ian's surprise to learn that these huge structures were built by Louis XIV, not the Romans!    We drove through the flat countryside and through tiny and ancient French villages to the Chateau Chambord, which has some of the most amazing architecture I've ever seen.  No wonder, since many people believe that Leonardo di Vinci had a hand in its design, although he died a few months before it was started.  Our day was timed perfectly, since we had just handed back our cool little histopad -- and Ipad that you can hold up to objects and rooms and see them as they were, or get more info on pictures and objects in the rooms -- when they announced that the chateau was closed.  We drove to the teeny weenie village of Fleuray, and we are staying outside of town.  We had an amazing five course meal with a half bottle of wine, and as Ian predicted, we seem to have become full bottle people, at least for meals that last two and a half hours.  Ian fell asleep instantly, and in a few minutes, I will be snoring beside him.