Out the hotel door after a nice breakfast to find a flat tyre – well not completely flat – there was enough air to get us around a few streets looking for a garage (“hors service” said the air machine) and back to the airport where after meeting up with Jim and Margot we found our way back to the rental car place. Third car in less than a day – a Citroen Berlingo took us towards the Normandy beaches.
First stop was the Pegasus Memorial which is dedicated to the men of the 6th British airborne division – we walked along the first bridge liberated in France in June 1944 and saw exhibitions of Horsa gliders and parachute regiments and then I sat down and read lots of letters written by the men to their loved ones at home – the horror of war becomes more realistic when reading the personal writings of the men. After a short stop at Sword Beach we came to Arromanches where the artificial Mulberry harbour that had been constructed by the Allied Forces lay in large hunks of broken concrete out to sea. We saw a 360 degree film of the film footage of the troops landing back in June 1944 D-day and then took the land train to the beaches for a bit more of an explore. Apparently the Mulberry Harbour (artificial harbour proposed by Winston Churchill) was key to their success.
"Look out to sea and say a prayer,
For those who rest beneath,
They gave their lives that you may share
A Europe that is free".
We then drove to Caen – and took a rather long torturous route around the city trying to find the hotel (there is more than one with the same name and the google map didn’t quite place the ‘A’ sign in the right place). It was the second hotel in France on this holiday where the restaurant was closed (perhaps self catering was a good option after all) so we settled for a visit to the local pizzeria.
"Look out to sea and say a prayer,
For those who rest beneath,
They gave their lives that you may share
A Europe that is free".
We then drove to Caen – and took a rather long torturous route around the city trying to find the hotel (there is more than one with the same name and the google map didn’t quite place the ‘A’ sign in the right place). It was the second hotel in France on this holiday where the restaurant was closed (perhaps self catering was a good option after all) so we settled for a visit to the local pizzeria.
A bit of jet lag and exhaustion meant we arrived at Mont St Michel mid morning. The abbey stood high above the skyline and pointed towards the sky - a navigation point for the thousands of camper vans and cars already in the car park (1000+ we estimated – no joke!!) The abbey built somewhere around the 8th century by Aubert, Bishop of Avrances became a major focus for pilgrims - it doesn’t seem to have changed - the little castle on the hill absorbed the thousands of people pouring from their cars. We could see why it was an impregnable stronghold during the 100 year war and later used as a prison – tides and isolation provided a great defence and would not have encouraged escape. We soon found the thousands of people as many had stopped at the little shops just inside the town walls. It is a lovely time of year to visit France - the first time we had been here in summer - wild flowers alongside the roads and flowering baskets hanging from nearly every lamp post.
Buying summer walking shoes must have done it. Torrential rain in the night and drizzle in the morning in the Loire Valley. We found the supermarket and did a stock up of foods for picnic lunches and easy dinners. Our accommodation is a self catering gite in Parcey le Pins – pleasant surroundings - apple orchards, sunflower fields, grape vines and corn fields with a few paddocks where the local white cows graze happily with their calves. The gite is owned and run by an English couple who run a fairly strict regime – pool to be used only between 10 and 6, no food and only bottled water at the pool, fold the duvet to stop it wrinkling, take your own rubbish to the village bins, €150 security on arrival, charges for using the heaters (no probs there at this time of year), €40 for cleaning if you don’t want to do it yourself etc. All this with a friendly, but do I trust you, attitude. Our bedrooms upstairs were in a converted loft where the ceiling had low sloping beams and the floor had raised beams. A nightmare for getting up in the dark (yes some of us have to unfortunately). If we had tripped and said "Ouch" as we stubbed our toe, hit our head on the ceiling beam, window sill and bedstead (I was pleased I had brought my little bike light). We had one lazy day and took a walk around the countryside down to the little village. We said Bonjour to the supermarket owner, walked the very quiet streets and got barked at by two Chihuahuas which was the most life we saw in the village during the weekday. In the fields the farmers were finishing off their haymaking and beginning their preparations for apple picking (wooden and plastic crates lined the roads) and tractors were beginning to go up and down the lanes. Our guide book (eyewitness travel bought in Cockermouth in the Lake District) says....
“The Loire Valley, world famous for its beautiful chateaux, has long been described as exemplifying la douceur de vivre – it combines a leisurely pace of life, a mild climate, mellow wines and the gentle was of its inhabitants...In this central region of France, the people have neither the brisk, sometimes brusque, demeanour of their northern counterparts, nor the excitable nature of the southern provinces. They get on peacefully with their lives, benefiting from the prosperity generated not only by the region’s centuries old popularity with French and foreign visitors alike, but also by a fertile soil and favourable climate which rarely succumbs to extremes of heat or cold.” The describes the atmosphere that pervaded our holiday well".
Food for thought: If you were a sunflower would you rather be picked and admired in a vase before being discarded or would you prefer to be allowed to grow old and eventually die in a sunflower field and then have your seeds used for oil, salads or next years flowers?
We didn’t spend all our time lazing and went to a few sights during the week. The sites ranged in age from long ago to present day.
Some very old
We’ve now been to the largest amphitheatre in Western France in Gennes. Built over 1800 years ago we could make out the sandstone walls and brick tiers which have been uncovered after years of neglect. This was a stadium that could hold 5000 spectators and included changing rooms and a drainage system. But the acoustics weren’t brilliant presumably because of all the trees that had grown up around the tiers and the drizzly rain.
Further along the road at Rochemenier we visited our first Troglodyte (Greek for cave inhabitant) farm - a community who lived in man made caves. It was similar to the Kinver houses we saw in England but instead of just a few residences this was a cave farming community. So we had insights into how these two ancient farms operated with dwellings and outbuildings cut into the rock. Saw lots of tools, learnt about their religious life and visited their chapel and the community hall (which had no heating as in winter was warmer than the air temperature outside).
Continuing on the underground theme - Deneze Sous Doue was a fascinating tour of underground caves carved by Protestant stonemasons during the 16th century. There are more than 400 figures chiselled in to the walls, floors and ceilings. The caves and their contents were saved by a French woman called Annie Brethon who worked tirelessly to preserve them. These carvings were created during the Renaissance period where Protestants in France were not popular and were not allowed to practice their religion in public, or to form any community group based on their religion. Apparently, this is where the saying ‘Two’s company and three’s a riot’ comes from. When 2+ congregated they were arrested, accused of conspiracy and sentenced to death. At the same time we also read that in this neck of the woods, Catholics and Protestants got along and church services were held in each religion on alternate days. The stone masons still worked underground (possibly in case outsiders came along) and told their story through their carvings - some satiric others serious. We spent a while hunting for the carving of the Red Indian (with full head gear) and Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
I spied some Dolmens in the guide book and persuaded the others to take a trip outside Saumur and to tap on a locked gate to see one. I am fascinated by these very old creations (we've seen them in Spain and Ireland) - 5000 years old we are told – huge slabs of stone piled together to make a mountain usually to hide and protect dead loved ones. As we walked in I was well aware of the 4 tonnes of stone sitting above and imagined how squashed we would get in an earthquake. I read that at the Dolmen de Bagneux you could have a drink in the local bar garden while admiring the archaeological chamber tomb but as no drink was offered and the table was occupied by one solitary man with his red wine we decided to leave.
And some not so old
There are chateaus galore in the Loire Valley – and we were spoilt for choice. Some we drove past (eg Saumur, Montessarau), and some we walked around (eg Villandry) and others we went inside (eg Amboise and Chenoceau) ...
The walk arounds were all situated high above their local rivers and the two that probably grabbed our attention were Saumur (glorious blue sky day, with drained moat we could walk half around) and Montsoreau (overlooking the river Cher in the midst of a little village with more cave dwellings, lovely gardens and cobbled streets - a place to spend a lazy afternoon if we had one). The chateau at Montsoreau is described as a ‘forbidding battlemented wall’ with much of the chateau no longer standing but within the peaceful garden like surroundings it was hard to visualise the story of a jealous count, who forces his wife to lure her lover (the governor) to the chateau where he is murdered. The chateau was home to the count and countess but apparently the murder took place in another chateau across the river – presumably so that when the countess looked across the river she could no longer enjoy the view – or perhaps that is where they had their surreptitious meetings. It was also here I took my bee photo – which Harry described as fantastic – I say it was a bit of luck!!
Villandry was a bit more of a structured visit as we had to pay to visit the gardens – most of them were Italian style which always creates a sense of order and in this case symbolises the four types of love: tragic, adulterous, tender and passionate. That garden had lots of lime trees providing shade, a colourful vegetable garden planted with leeks, cabbages and beetroot with a few rose bushes around it which symbolised the monks tending their veges – I could just imagine them coming to life during a fairy tale evening. Amboise was our first visit to the interior of a French chateau with our first view from the other side of the Loire River. We found a car park fairly easily (no pay and display in France so far) and wandered through the markets and cafe strewn streets to the chateau. Here we found the little chapel which housed the tomb of Leonardo de Vinci and a statue of him in the garden. Although a lot of the chateau has been destroyed it still provided a magnificent presence above the town. Lots of royalty have owned or stayed there like Charles VIII and Francois I (responsible for the Italian influence in architecture and decor). As always, there seems to be a tragic story that sits with the building...In 1200 conspirators were killed and strung up from the castle along the town wall and from trees. This rather gory episode was the beginning of the downfall of the chateau and over time much of it was gradually dismantled (presumably in the hope that this would prevent another massacre). Some of the story was relived in the show we saw in the evening in the chateau grounds which was rather a fun event with many of the local community being involved. But before that we had dinner and visited a wine tasting in the local caverns (wine and cheese somehow found its way back to the car!).
And some things in the last century or so
Puy du Fou is where old finally meets new in a theme park set in the grounds of the Chateau (privately hidden behind trees). Here we spent the day (sometimes drinking iced tea or eating icecreams in the shade), watching shows and wandering medieval and 18th century reconstructed villages. Fountains played, falcons and other birds of prey ‘danced their ballet in the sky’, and there were shows galore (Vikings attacking a village, a water show, the music of the times, the pageantry and romance of games). We enjoyed the day but both of us have reservations about using animals in shows rather than letting them live a more natural life.
When driving through the Loire Valley we did wonder what kept inhabitants employed as we haven’t seen much activity even in the farming community since we arrived. Our trip to the mushroom museum provided some insight. This industry conducted mainly in the dark in the limestone caves employs around 5000 people growing and harvesting mushrooms (dark to save money as workers have head lamps which makes employment akin to coal mining in my eyes). We found out lots of interesting info... they (whoever they is) think that there are 1.5 million mushroom types – although only about 75,000 been catalogued. We saw 250 of them in either static displays or growing in the compost. Lots are poisonous and lots aren’t but even after visiting the museum we are none the wiser about how to tell the difference. We are no different to the scientific world who are equally confused – unlike the rest of nature where bright colours can deter by being poisonous – or attract in relation to finding a partner – mushrooms are contrary – you can eat bright yellow, pink, brown mushrooms – just not all of them. My Mum always said ‘don’t eat mushrooms that grow under trees’ but I am not sure if that is enough advice over here to keep us healthy. So, we’ll leave the picking to the experts. Surprisingly in a wall of photos of poisonous mushrooms our little southern hemisphere islands appeared as being home to Champignon de Pagode.
- Country graveyards are usually located near a church – this is to signify that the dead and living will be reunited in the hope of the resurrection (and I thought it was for convenience).
- Although the church bell marks the time of day and also calls the faithful to prayer it is also a musical instrument that sings to the glory of God which is why it is rung at the important events in ones’ life, baptism, communion, marriage and burial.
- A church often has several steps – these invite people to prepare themselves as they enter the church.
- Churches are tall which means that they can be seen from afar, but they also allow worshippers who are earth bound to have their aspirations can rise above the ground.
- Churches are situated usually in the centre of the community although they may give the appearance of being apart or isolated – by being in the heart of the community they symbolise the meeting of the community with God.
- Church windows are usually grouped in threes (I’ve started to look now) which refers to the Trinity.
- The altar is made of stone signifying that Christ is the cornerstone on whom anyone can base their life.
On our way through Saumur Harry and Jim spied a brown sign Musee of Blindes (tanks). So, we took a trip. Margot and I took a quick walk through with the challenge of finding out how many colours tanks could have on them (how to keep us amused - brown, green, grey, white, tan, black) and then enjoyed reading our books while Jim and Harry wandered around for a bit longer looking at the wide range of tanks including German WW11 tanks, and a Merkava (an effective Israeli Main battle tank). Harry also found some military trucks and cars with right hand drive dating back to the 1930’s and we wondered, and still don’t know cos our internet access is a bit wobbly when France changed to left hand drive.
On the way to the airport we found Le Mans (guess who was driving the car). Not expecting to be allowed inside we drove up to find that we could attend a 24 hour race free of charge and no entry ticket. Yes the track would be filled with cycling races (and there was a kiwi team entered). At 12.00 the locals and tourists could ride the circuit for a two hour race and we saw children, elderly, serious cyclists and disabled arrive in bikes of all shapes and sizes for the event (last year there were 600 entrants all ready to cycle in the searing heat.
On the way to the airport we found Le Mans (guess who was driving the car). Not expecting to be allowed inside we drove up to find that we could attend a 24 hour race free of charge and no entry ticket. Yes the track would be filled with cycling races (and there was a kiwi team entered). At 12.00 the locals and tourists could ride the circuit for a two hour race and we saw children, elderly, serious cyclists and disabled arrive in bikes of all shapes and sizes for the event (last year there were 600 entrants all ready to cycle in the searing heat.
We also went to Tours and enjoyed the wander through the old part of town during early evening. This city is popular with students (who I hear come here to learn the purest French and I suspect enjoy the cafes and bars). We wandered through the 13th century Cathedral and then eating crepes in the square surrounded by Tudor buildings surviving at various angles that were close to the slope of the Tower of Pisa.
During our holiday we did a little survey on the best places we visited. I did a pretty table with smiley faces but can't copy and paste it into the blog so here's a summary of our visits and votes out of four:
Deneze sous doue (sculptures) - 1
Angers (Harry and I didn’t visit as we had a ‘pool day’) - 2
Mushrooms - 1
Lime stone miniature villages - 2
Dolmens -1
Night Show at Amboise - 1
Chateau Chenonceaux - 2
Sipping wine in the caves at Amboise - 1
Puy de Fou - 2
Le Mans -1
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