Melody, Douarnenez, Pont Croix and Audierne

Oh I am the smartest person! LOL (I wish) I worked out how to use google maps and embed our travel maps in my blogs. Ha. So satisfying. By clicking on the plus or minus signs on the lower right hand side of the maps you can enlarge or zoom in at will. This helps if you're not quite sure which part of France we're traveling in ... just zoom out using the minus sign until the whole of France is visible.

I apologise that there's not much chat in this blog. Mainly photographs. People and fun incidents are what I really like to chat about, and there haven't been that many for me to tell you about recently. I do want to give an idea as to where we are though, so here goes.

This first map is our wander down to the coast at St-Gildas-de-Rhuys. I just called it St Gildas in my previous blog, but when I was doing this map I discovered that the real St Gildas is part of Vannes and not really on the coast at all.

What the map below shows is the time after our first visit to St-Gildas-de-Rhuys, when we went up to Rennes, back down to St-Gildas-de-Rhuys, up to Mauron to collect my pot plants from a good friend, and then out to Pors Peron where we've bought the leisure home.




Not being securely trained at this stage, and with no fences to contain her, Bridie had to be on a lead outside on the patio for a week or three. She wasn't too happy about it, but sadly that's how it had to be!

At last the shed was put up and I had one day in which to paint the windows ... which I did :-) And so our little "complex" became complete. Just waiting for the garden to take shape now.

There are a few more pics of our stunning roses on my Road Trips with Milly Facebook page. Here: https://www.facebook.com/RoadTripsWithMilly/

The days were really hot this summer and we were, of course, reluctant to either leave Bridie alone in a closed-up and hot leisure home, or take her out in a hot motorhome, so we didn't do too much traveling around. We did spend a day in Douarnenez where we had lunch; an evening in Pont Croix for supper; and a look-see day in Audierne where we found a gallery I may submit to.

Douarnenez - above and below. Different parts of the harbour.
I've found a load of more pics of Douarnenez which I'd like to keep with this blog. Instead of overloading the blog, I've made a separate page for them which you can find here : http://roadtripswithmilly.blogspot.fr/p/douarnenez.html

As you can see, there was loads of boat activity in this part of the harbour.

Pont Croix

Pont Croix is our local town for small shopping expeditions to the Super U, filling up with diesel, the Vet, and the doctor.

Apart from one evening having moules 'n frites  in the town square, I haven't yet properly visited the town. It was a lovely evening though, watching three young fellas playing French bowls (petanque?) and giggling at a large party of folk as their group swelled to about two dozen. It's exhausting for the lips and cheeks being French! As each person arrived they went around to each and every person already waiting there and double-kissed them on the cheek - sometimes not even really looking at the person at all! It was a lesson learned - never arrive late at a party. Arrive late and you're the one going around doing all the kissing. Arrive early and you only need to stand still and offer your cheeks.

The views of the bowls game, and the town square, we captured that evening ... a whole 2 of them. Obviously our meal and spending time together was more important!

It's heartening to see that young folk are keeping the tradition of petanque and bowls (I haven't yet found out the difference between the two or if they mean the same thing!) alive. There's a very active club on the edge of town as well. Way to go Pont Croix!

Audierne

Our afternoon in the coastal town of Audierne (see map above) was also mainly about boats and the harbour. The first pic shows you a road leading up the hill which I'd like to investigate one day, but on this afternoon our main aim was to find La Galerie which our friends Gearie and Linda Kenworthy had mentioned to us.

Below is the pic of La Galerie

Boats, boats and more boats ....... if any artists out there would like to use any of the images as painting inspiration, you're most welcome. It would be great if you emailed or Facebook-ed me an image of your painting though ... would love to see that please.

Well, that gives you an idea of the environs we're now living in. Next, we'll take you one peninsula up from where we are. We spent a really lovely week at l'Abbe ... with people to talk about! LOL

Through the Market and Up the Bell Tower in Josselin

My excuse for a day out was having to post three paintings, all going to Peru. And I can't say I didn't think of Paddington Bear! Peru? Paddington Bear? You know his origins?

I was aiming to climb the I-don't-know-how-many-steps-up bell tower in Josselin, in time for them to clang the noon bells, and gaze out over the stunning landscape we live in.

To get to the post office on a Saturday morning in Josselin you have to walk through the market ... always a pleasure for me ... and I'm developing a delicious habit of buying a rotisseried chicken for dinner each time I go. They're reasonably priced and saves either of us having to cook on a Saturday night. Very sensible. This time, as I walked away with my treasure of hot chicken, I was tickled to be photo-bombed by a cheerful neighbouring stall holder ....

... lovely when someone takes the time to give you a giggle.

I caught him looking not as cheerful as he actually was though!

Some to-be-expected market scenes as I wandered down to the post office.

 With my strong aversion to heat on hot days I am often amazed

at the tenacity of these hot-food sellers. Fair play to him indeed.

The lady down the hill was selling paella and similar dishes

at €6.50 per container, so I assume this fellow has similar prices.

This is one lady who deserved every cent she made on Saturday

morning! She sells copy-cat perfume and can talk the speed of a jet!

Along with her jet-stream of sales chatter she was piling boxes of

perfume high, one upon the other - had it down to a real art! - and

I watched her sell no less than eight perfumes to a stunned and

wide-eyed mother and daughter unit. She had the perfumes in a bag

and their cheque in her hand faster than I could blink!

It wouldn't be a French market without an onion seller!

At the top of the hill, right in amongst the market stalls, is a sculptor

who has the best-placed shop front in the village. Right slap bang in

the middle of the market, at the top of the hill where folk usually

slow down to catch their breath. Lucky fellow. I'm jealous.

Finally I reached the big church in the centre of the village, 45 minutes before noon, and wandered around to the back where cerise pink roses and white hydrangeas adorn the entrance to the bell tower.

My ankles, knees and I had a little bolstering chat before I began the climb, and they agreed to behave if I agreed to take it slowly and not push them if they started yelling. We all got on just fine, not counting the steps so the weight of the increasing number didn't crush us right from the start. Hopefully Alan will count the steps when he visits the tower next Saturday for his turn!

I wasn't even that out of breath by the time I encountered bird droppings and nesting material on the steps, giving me the happy clue that I was near the top, after passing two signs saying "Bravo! You've climbed 100 steps!" and "Courage, you're halfway there!" (if my French is correct).

There were a couple of interesting landings on the way up, apart from windows looking out and giving you an idea as to how high you had managed to reach. Through locked wooden gates I espied statues-in-waiting ... do churches keep spares I wonder? (ha ha) ... clumped together in a corner like sad prisoners; and then further up a huge bell lurking behind a gate. Another spare?

The spare statues, probably awaiting renovation, are top right and the big bell, if you can make it out is bottom left. Here's another pic of the bell behind the gate ... can you see it? Hanging top left of the image.

Some Bell Tower shots of the near surroundings of Josselin.

I took loads of photographs so have tried to select just a few to

give you an idea of the town and its surroundings.

  A glimpse of a bend in the Nantes to Brest canal which runs through Josselin.

(Above and below)

 Josselin Chateau in all its glory. On a future day out I'll take a walk along

the canal, beneath the high walls of the chateau and give you a view

from that side too. It's really stunning.

 Looking down to the town centre - where some popular

restaurants are located of course!

A village view.

From my lofty perch I spotted a lady enjoying the summer blooms

from her garden ... thank you for the human touch, zoom lens!

 At the edge of the chateau grounds, as the houses of the town

begin, is a quaint church all squished in there.

The Mairie is the equivalent of our municipality ...

and these are our lovely Mairie offices.

La chateau from the bell tower

The noon bells struck and I was expecting to be blasted out of the tower ... but although exciting, vibrating through my body ... they weren't as loud as I had anticipated. Well, it, I think. There seems to be only one. If there hadn't been other folk in the tower with me, I would have done a "Titanic thing" and flung my arms out to feel the full force of the clanging ... but I'm a scaredy cat and was too shy! I settled for standing slap bang in the middle of the tower and grinning like an idiot.

 The tourist information office has recently taken up residence

in this newly-refurbished old building in the centre of town.

 Another lovely old building in the village.

 It's a shame this lovely old well (above and below)

has to have cars parked right up against it.

From Josselin I took the highway to Locemine to suss out a restaurant, where I have been invited to exhibit some paintings sometime soon. I should have taken my camera with me when I got out the car, but I was tired, so missed some good shots of a quaint village centre. Another time.

The rest of my day out was spent with Heather, my Australian artist pal who is just as crazy as I am, in her lovely garden of flowers. She and her son Preach are busy renovating some rambling old farm buildings and creating an absolute haven of peace.

And so we end on a note of beauty ......

Faeries, Hummingbirds and Beautiful Things

I give my grandgirls traditions. My grandfather, Mum's dad, taught me that that's what's important in life. He was a great big giant of a man with heavy eyebrows, a ready smile and the kindest heart any human being can have. Every Sunday we used to stand on the verandah balcony wall at the back of the house, watching for his big powder blue Nash car to round the bend on the highway below, and then we'd rush to the top of the long driveway to await his and my grandmother's arrival at our gate. We'd then be told to go inside because the fairies don't like to be seen by children, that he would chat to them, and that maybe they would leave us a surprise hidden in the bush in the corner of the garden. Of course there were always sweets hidden there when we rushed out to look. Such a precious time.

It's the Irish Faeries which follow me around the world. They send chocolates and glittery things for me to hide for Holly, Evie and Maisie when I go to the UK - and they always write a letter in their tiny neat handwriting in one of the glittery Faery cards, with the golden seal of the Hummingbird on the envelope. That Faery handwriting sure gives my arthritic fingers cramp!

So all went well with our Faery tradition this year ... except that I forgot that the Hummingbird generally drops off crumpets for breakfast the following morning!!! Evie gently suggested to me that maybe the Hummingbird had forgotten the crumpets this year. I had to think quickly, blamed the windy weather on the Hummingbird's tardiness, and suggested she write a note to the Hummingbird asking him if all was well. This she duly did, and stuck it on the outside of the front door ... and Meghan rushed off to Tesco's for crumpets.

The next morning I placed them to the side of the front door, and Meghan asked Evie to take the trash out to the bin. She missed the crumpets on the way out but on the way back her little face was a delight to watch. She spotted something cerise pink and something royal blue tied around two packages just outside the front door, literally did a little double-take, dived for the treasure and came in grinning. The Hummingbird had delivered the goods. Phew!

I'll have to remember those jolly crumpets when I go back in October.

In the meantime, for no reason at all but to break my ramblings, this is a lovely bunch of white roses Alan bought for me to cheer me up while I was still in bed with the pneumonia. They're set on a dressing table in my Princess bedroom in the barn.

Ha! And I'm always telling people I'm not at all materialistic!!!

It's just that beauty is worth having. And that's my story.

I love glassware, and whenever I think of Venice, that's the picture I see in my mind ... incredibly beautiful glassware at every turn. But I didn't find these beauties in Venice ... good aul' England has its fair share of gems too.

My morning at the Garden Artists exhibition in the Royal Academy of Arts in London saw me spurning the purchase of the book of the exhibition and choosing to spend my pennies on this incredibly yellow vase, and green and blue glasses. Aren't the Lilies Alan brought me just gorgeous too!

 Close-up below

 

On my day out in Cambridge with Meghan, I spotted a garden centre and knew I wanted something "Zen-ish" to help me bring a bit of calm and serenity into my studio at home - and also as a good painting subject. This is how "Now and Zen" came into my possession ... looking good here with a suitable pot plant I have at home.

"Now and Zen"

But I still wanted a water feature. I've always loved water features. On the day I ended up going to hospital, before I collapsed in the car, I had enough strength to find my Buddha (couldn't have been that sick hey!) ... which, sadly now that I've got him home, he doesn't work as a water feature! Alan's on his case ....

My non-watering water feature

Also at the same garden centre and in my supposedly weak state, I wasn't too weak to brandish my credit card when I laid eyes on these .....

Aren't these wine glasses simply stunning!

Just before I left on my trip, we stocked up with food for Alan and Mum at our local Super-U (pronounced "Soopair Oo" here in France) and these 6 colourful little glasses simply jumped off the shelf and into the trolley. The cheek of it!

So now me and my credit card are tired and need to do some painting for mutual therapeutic reasons.

I'll let you all know if my feet start to itch again soon. I'm already thinking about Pont Aven where Gaugin used to paint ... and then there's Giverny where Monet's garden is ......