Hotel de Champ de Mars Saint-Brieuc

... br>Ensign spoke for about 30
minutes at the luncheon and
Argenton, Brittany, France trog

We drove down to the "Emerald Coast", and are staying in a place overlooking the sea. First we stopped over at an old castle "La Latte". It was awesome as you could just explore the whole castle. Drawbridges, ramparts, and shear walls down to the ocean below. The kids also got some nice medieval souvenirs. Also went to the beach but it's still pretty cold.
St. Malo was cool as well - a huge walled city. We walked around the whole thing and got candy from a store under a church steeple.

Thursday April 16th: departed Britain on the 8:30pm sailing from Portsmouth to St Malo. We spent the week in Brittany with Jie's mum and her husband Steve, chilled out - ate and drank very well and dug stones out of the garden. Tuesday and Wednesday were largely taken up with our initiation into the St Nicolas de Pelem pensioners walking club - not an easy task.

Now before I update the travel info on this blog I have to mention the last two Chambres d'Otels we stayed in. The last blog was written from thbe Villa Blanc Marine with a beautiful view of the ocean. The owner was a fascinating man with a love of the sea and a former career as an cartoonist. Last night we stayed in a wonderful place by the ocean (same ocean different place) that reminded me of the place we stayed on Thetis Island (only smaller ...

Day 1
Ms P, Mr D and I caught our plane from the delightfully small East Midlands airport to the shed-like Dinard airport in Brittany, France. From there we hired a car and drove the 2 hours through sprawling countryside to Mr D's family farmhouse in Plouguernevel, a small village in the Cotes-d'Armor department of Brittany.

What you first realise about Brittany is how strikingly similar the landscape and plants ...

... 1944 operation. Amazing stuff. Taking lots of pics but unfortunately I packed the wrong cable so am unable to download from the Sony! Went to Mt St Michel this afternoon. Awesome, spectacular, amazing and also very 'touristy'. A 'must see' if you ever come this way! Tomorrow is a free day. Laundry and a few visits around Bayeux. gp bob

... nous mettons en route pour saint-Brieuc et la chambre d'hôte que nous avons réservé. Bon, papy semble... particulier... ancien officie de la marine, il semble à la fois cordial et malgré tout étroit d'esprit. Bizarre. Il dirige la maison avec une poigne qui n'a même plus besoin d'être ferme tant l'habitude en a marqué les autres occupants. Nous n'avons qu'une hâte : quitter le lieu et cette ville qui par ailleur ne nous emballe pas plus que ça.

... Duchess of Brittany (Who had been betrothed to the child king Edward V of England, one of the Princes in the Tower, among others) to King Charles the VIII of France in 1491. However its history as being considered a part of France is about 713 years older, stretching back to some battle where the Merovingian kings claimed to have conquered it. The two nations were at war off and on for the entire period of time in between. There are a whole slew of nationalist groups, all ...

On day 4 we went to the market in St Brieuc. I bought some new sunglasses and Sophie got a shirt. We met a friend of Sophie's and had lunch in a bad restaurant. I find that French people have a great ability to know what they want to eat immediately upon opening a menu. I on the other had make my choice via elimination. At first glance everything on the menu seems good. Then I pick out a few things I don't want and then a few more. On it goes until there are only two things I want ...

... you do manage to make it to the water you will immediately notice that any attempt to swim in it will result in your immediate very painful death via being pounded repeatedly against many, as they often are, hard rocks. Anyways, I got my first sunburn of the year and took many photos. And after many hours the tide came in and we managed to hike to a place where we could go for a swim. Then we went home