As the sun shone on the righteous (us) in Guémené yesterday but with the usual band of walkers doing other stuff,  Ian & I decided to do a very local randondée and explore a part of the area’s disused railway line.

This is something I’d been meaning to do for ages as the path beckons enticingly as you drive from the town centre across the old railway bridge.   Try as much as I did,  no Google search came up with information about when the town lost its rail links although I have heard that in its hayday it had no fewer than 4 lines criss crossing it and now the nearest that’s left is a station in Beslé on the Paris – Rennes – Brest route.

So with Ian on his bike and me with my Nordic walking sticks (upper body workout?), we set out and soon found the first part of the walk quite muddy and churned up due to farm tractor access but it was still navigable.

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A little way along the hedgerow had been thinned and allowed a lovely view over rolling countryside on the left.    We passed a delightful private area with a lake and Shetland ponies which was obviously someone’s holiday getaway and then a small stream meandered under the path.

.    Passing another farm on the right, I noticed the remains of old farming equipment  doing service as part of the fencing – the French are great recyclers and never throw anything away that might still have some use left in it.   I’ve seen some very ingenious uses of old bed springs as plant supports and even as a mechanism for closing a gate.     As we walked on we thought how lovely it would be if the people of Guémené still had the train service to Nantes and imagined seeing the countryside from the carriage windows.    Pretty soon we arrived at a tarmac road and what was obviously an old station house (now refurbished and lived in) on the opposite side of the road and that was the end of our line as far as we were aware.  .   Not wanting to end up walking to either the D15 Blain road or the D3 Plessé road, we  mooched around the small village of La Mignonnais  and soon picked up the train track again – not quite a circular route but about 6km all told.    I later found some maps online and found that we could have picked up the ongoing train track on the other side of the station house and that’s what we’ll do the next time we go walkies.     Although that will make it a much more substantial walk it does seem to end at the village of Cowdray .    Come and explore our lovely and diverse region and find your own holiday memories to treasure, click hier  to whet your appetite.

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Even in Loire Atlantique we experience damp, dreary and depressing weather but last Sunday proved you can have a wonderful walk despite uninspiring conditions.

 Although still departing from la- Chapelle-de-Brain, this time we set off in the opposite direction driving down the tiny road next to the classy looking Boulangerie on the left of the church.   One of our walkers lives just outside the village and we rendez-vous’d at hers so our route took us along the length of the rue des Devaloirs turning right at the T junction and parking outside her house a little way along that road.     The walk proper started down a footpath on the right of the main road whier we came across one of the many little signs explaining the local interest .    We continued on and after a quite steep descent came onto a tarmaced path leading through a small village which had an very interesting sign made up of carved blocks which rotated on a pole with a dashing little roof on top.   However weather and time had taken their toll and the inscriptions were almost illegible.   We then walked on to the Marais de Gannedel.     This is an area of vitally important wetlands created by the confluence of the Vilaine and Canut rivers.   Spanning an area of 500 hectares it provides a natural habitat and nesting area among the reed beds for  many species of birds.     It is also a very important pike spawning ground.     Around the Marais there are children’s info trails with signage about what they can  expect to see and apparently it is one of favourite outings among local schools.

Unfortunately due to the extremely dry 2011 and below average rainfall this winter, the wetlands don’t currently live up to their name and unless we get some serious downpours soon there will be repercussions  felt in this fragile eco-system.    The long bridge usually spans an area covered in water to a depth allowing punts to float but not this winter.    From the edge of the Marais we continued around and through the small village of  Le Pré passing a beautifully restored bread oven and then one in dire need of attention.   There is also an entire street of houses verging on collapse due to an extensive fire which swept through almost from one end to the other.    By the time we reached our car we had walked 7km and the sun had even graced us with a few rays along the way making the whole walk  thoroughly enjoyable and well worth the effort.

There are quite a few different walks to be had in this area and more information is available on these websites:   http://rando.abri.free.fr/Randonnees/1400-circuit-puits-marais-gannedel.htm    http://www.bretagne.com/fr/en_ille_et_vilaine/que_faire/balades/balades_a_pied/randonnee_entre_riviere_et_marais_a_la_chapelle_de_brain

Discover and explore our delightful region by booking one of the  gites , send us an enquiry by clicking here and I’ll get right back to you.

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Loire Atlantique gites proudly present our tried and recommended walks.   This will a be a great guide to lovely, easy holiday walks within our area as I do them myself.   I hope to post them at least weekly so that you get ideas of where you’d like to go when you get here.

Yesterday was a glorious day and a group of us locals set off from La chapelle-de-Brain,  from the church (facing it) the path is reached just up the hill on the right after the new Mediateque building.   The first stage is in front of a war monument dedicated to the martyrs of the 2 world wars.   Through the dappled shade of the forest it’s a very easy stroll suitable for all ages.   Follow the path past fields, livestock and horses with glorious views of the surrounding countryside,  along the way there are numbered signposts explaining local information about the road like number 4  ‘The way of the dead’ which isn’t as grim as it sounds, merely the old path funeral cortéges took from nearby Brain sur Vilaine to the church at La chapelle.

We took the shorter route which on the ordinance map shows as C and B, covering 7 kilometers and bringing us to the banks of the river Vilaine.  The path runs along the length of this river and is wonderful for both cyclng and walking as well as horseriding.   So after 1 Stunden 40 mins we arrived back at the church in La Chapelle de Brain, if you decide to walk during the week, the village has a lovely boulangerie, cafe/bar and is an interesting place to mooch around.

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To enjoy one or more of the delightful walks or cycle paths around here, just book one of our gites http://www.loireatlantique.co.uk/properties/ and find when they are available by clicking here.

Loire Atlantique is a great place for all things equestrian and the weekend 13/14 August proved the point.

By sheer luck the guests were arriving late on Saturday and so I had the opportunity of going to the Breton horse event being held in the field just down the road.    From early morning these massive horses were being brought for a wonderful exhibition and judging of the best specimens.   We had visited the Breton Horse stud in Hennebont near Lorient a few years ago and were greatly impressed with the breed.    Apparently they were bred by Napoleon to terrify his enemies’ troops and I imagine if charged by these massive animals, not many people would hang about in their path.   There was a Breton horse race held a while back in Guenrouet and we watched 6 race around a circuit – believe me the ground really shook and I wondered how the jockey managed to stay on those huge girths. 

The show was really geared to the breeders of the Breton horse who are totally au fait with the characteristics to look at,  for the uninitiated it was just a great opportunity to marvel at the sheer magnificence and size of these gentle giants.    When they were being shown to the judges, there was a section they had to trot through and I did wonder how on earth anyone could stop a horse that had decided enough was enough and made a bolt for freedom.   

On the Sunday, we drove up to Nort sur Erdre for an afternoon’s racing as we had thoroughly enjoyed the course there and had managed to win 2 free tickets this week’s event.  Gift horse came to mind and we weren’t about to look one in the mouth.   The weather was not brilliant, it was that kind of very fine mist rain that saturates without actually being seen but there are several under cover areas so we managed to keep fairly dry.    We had a mixed bag of wins and losses but then you don’t really expect to be able to retire on winnings when you only place 2€ each way bets.    There was a little drama before one of the trotting cart races, one of the ‘jockeys’ fell off his cart and the horse bolted, it looked like it might sustain a serious injury as the cart careered wildly from side to side but although it took 20 minutes for it to wear itself out sufficiently to be caught, it was fine.    With that delaying the rest of the races, the final one didn’t take place until nearly 7pm and I was delighted when Ian’s horse came 1st and mine 3rd – delighted until I found out that as there were only 7 in the race the payout was only on the first & second past the post.   Bah humbug!   Well there’s always next time and we have another free ticket for that but only the one this time. 

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Our Loire Atlantique gites are perfectly placed for guests (and us) to enjoy many attractions close by. 

This year saw the fabulous Tour de France whoosh its way from St Nazaire where an enterprising group of farmers created a wonderful tribute to their favourite national sport http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABPcSIsNuS8  .  Then it went via St Gilda du Bois and finished the 3rd stage in Redon.  http://www.letourdefrance.com/    I would have loved to be there but this year I just couldn’t get away so made do with a preview of the roundabout specially created for the event and watching it on TV.    

As we are quite fond of racing here in our neck of the woods as it’s so unpretentious we took Ian’s daughter who was visiting to the meet at Nort sur Erdre last week.   It was our first time at that track and we were quite impressed by the facilities.  It certainly made an impression on me as I had my largest win ever, a whole 11€ !  it was a lovely afternoon out and you can find these at least every week somewhere nearby throughout the season. 

On another day out we took her to la baule and along the cote sauvage, it was difficult to believe that we were there in peak holiday season and on a lovely sunny day as the beaches were so empty.   I was impressed by the amount of stuff there is for children along the beaches as well as the more usual sports like windsurfing, snorkeling, sailing etc.   For whatever reason, that particular stretch of coast was beset by a mini plague of ladybirds, they were everywhere and it was hard not to step on them while walking.   A very strange sight I found was further along the cote sauvage,  an area where the snails all congregated on grass stalks.  I have never seen anything like that before.

More local - Le Tempo bar in Guemene has organised a live music evening every Wednesday throughout summer, the evening I went had a very talented blues singer giving it his all.   Unfortunately yesterday’s Bastille day celebrations in Guemene were a bit of a wash out as it didn’t stop raining all day, however although I didn’t brave the elements it sounded like people managed to have a great time and the fireworks still went off with a bang.     That’s the nice thing about the towns staggering their celebrations, even if the weather is foul on the day itself, you’ll still find somewhere nearby doing its thing on a nice night.

Ian has really outdone himself with pallets and created the shed to die for.  This started out as an ordinary garden shed but has now become my sewing workshop, with electricity, lighting, plasterboarded throughout and with a great work counter , I can now set up my machine there and get on with so much that I’ve put off doing as in our cubby hole of a home, I have to put everything away if we want a table to have dinner on.  Having  created this, he then went on to build another mini shed for the mowers and gardening stuff, how cool is that?   What a man!

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June, in Guemene Penfao, Loire Atlantique, is a very exciting time weather willing (and this year it wasn’t) as there are many great events to enjoy.   

Starting  with the open gardens to visit which are a bit like the UK’s yellow book but not so regimented, the Tour de Bretagne Vintage car rally and then the music festivals held by all towns and villages around the 21st as well as horse racing which is held in Grand-Fougeray around the beginning and towards the end of June. 

This year we’ve done them all and enjoyed every minute.  I visited several private gardens with a local gardening club I joined, but there is a listing of gardens open to the public throughout Loire Atlantique and Brittany which open their gates during this event.  I have to admit that I still prefer the British style of gardening and having been to most of the RHS shows, the French equivalents do leave a lot to be desired, however, the friendliness and enthusiasm of local amateurs more than makes up for it.   There are also a few gardens open all during spring & summer which I’d recommend within easy reach of our gites like the Gardens Kermoureau  located near Hergnac .  Nantes has several spectacular ones like the Parc du Grand Blottereau which hosts one of the better garden shows in September but is a joy to visit at any time of year. 

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Last weekend saw the start of the long awaited rainy season which effectively ended what was a 4 month period of near draught but this was a very strange year everywhere in Europe and certainly not the norm.  So amidst brollys and macs we braved the weather and saw the beautiful vintage and classic car cavalcade come through Guemene as part of the Tour de Bretagne.  Last year the northern route went from south to north through Grand-Fougeray but this year it was reversed and had a stop in Guemene after Grand-Fougeray.   It’s too early to see the route for 2012 but I’m sure it will include towns on our doorstep again.  

Unfortunately the powers that be took our prayers for rain very seriously and it has continued for most of the time since and put a bit of a dampner on our music festival held last Saturday.   I have never seen the streets so empty during this annual event but the music rewarded those brave enough to venture out.   We spent the most time listening to a great group from St Martin de Bréhal  called Nat’n roll, they consisted of a very talented singer who also played the keyboards & guitar and belted out many old UK/US favourites.   What I love about these events in France is that they can be enjoyed by all without fear that the minority lout element will spoil it, even though there were groups of people who’d obviously enjoy their Stella a bit too much, they were still good natured and unthreatening.   The Guemene Penfao Festival also included groups and bands from Rennes, Poitiers, Redon, Nantes as well as home grown ones.   I loved a demonstration of Druidic ‘music’ created by drawing on reeds held above a copper bowl with some water in it – sounded very much like the sound of an aboriginal  didgeridoo, very creepy.   The whole of France takes part in the musical festivities which start around 2nd week of June and continue to the end if the month in some towns.  Here we had them in Beslé, Derval and Chateaubriant last Friday, Guemene on Saturday, and there’s still one to come next Saturday in Grande-Fougeray. 

Yesterday it stopped raining long enough for us to have an afternoon at the races held in Grand-Fougeray.  A very enjoyable afternoon watching the trotters and steeplechasers with a few bets placed and won.  However, it’s so difficult to gage chances with the trotters as they are disqualified if they break into a gallop which a lot do.    Fingers crossed now for a dry spell, it can rain at night but we’ve had enough wet days.

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One of the Loire Atlantique’s needlecraft highlights took place at the end of April in the form of a massive exhibition held in Nantes and three exhibitors stayed with us in Guemene Penfao.

They rented le chevrefeuille and camelia and even though it was a fairly long daily treck, they felt the peace, quiet and lovely surroundings were well worth the effort.  The trio were made up of Sue Hawkins who specialised in counted canvaswork and crewal embroidery inspired by Tudor, Jacobian and Turkish designs http://www.suehawkins.com/ , Michael Powell,  an artist whose unique architectural designs translate beautifully into cross stitch: http://www.michaelpowellart.co.uk/  and Beryl & Steve Lee who took up and run their daughter’s Burmese charity when she was tragically killed in a road accident while out there.  They now raise money for the Karenni refugees to fund schools, housing and basic needs by sourcing and selling beautiful, traditional hand embroidered or woven items: http://ksdp.co.uk . 

As I was given some free tickets to the exhibition, along with 2 patchwork buddies I went to Nantes to be inspired – unfortunately seeing other people’s incredible talents and creativity only depresses me as I have neither the time nor the space to really develop mine.   Still, it is a great day out and occurs around the same time every year: http://www.pour-l-amour-du-fil.com/.   When Sue booked and I read about  Beryl’s charity work I decided to try to help by holding an open afternoon at the gites to publicise and promote the charity and also Sue’s company.   Although I did advertise it to all the various local clubs and groups – patchwork, W.I., gardening and the Anglo-French association, as the only day it could be held on was Sunday 1st May, attendance was very disappointing – even with the bait of afternoon English tea & cakes.    Beryl & Sue made a wonderful job of transforming  le camelia into an Alladin’s cave of beautiful and exotic goodies topped off by a knitted royal wedding group – had to be seen to be believed and which caused some considerable hilarity both in the making and beholding.    While I was very disappointed in the turnout, Beryl & Sue insisted it had been worth doing.

While on the subject of Patchwork, I also visited an exhibition of work held in Chateaugiron just south of Rennes last week.   I never realised what a lovely town that is and well worth a visit.   http://www.ville-chateaugiron.fr/decouvrir-chateaugiron/une-cite-millenaire.html .

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Perhaps Loire Atlantique could do with more rain as it’s been the hottest and dryest April on record but the garden’s produced some real beauties

I am so glad I bought some huge water storage containers and recover the rain water off our roofs – even the greenhouse one.  Looks like we’ll need every drop this year.  I’ve taken photos of my favourite plants and flowers and hope you share my taste.    I have to say that as a plantaholic, I am forever trying to find space for more and more plants and as Ian tells me, that creates more and more work but I love it.  I just wish time would slow down just a bit in order that I can enjoy the fruits of my labours a bit more.

On my birthday a couple of Sundays ago we went to  lovely old manor house called Pordor near Avessac which hosts a garden show every year.   The house is still undergoing restoration but is quite magnificent as it is with lovely gardens and lakes surrounding it.   Better still is the ability to partake of afternoon tea and cakes served by the owner’s charming family.   It was a very pleasant afternoon and of course I succumbed to a few temptations.   There was also an amazing display of flower arranging skills by the ladies of the area.

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It’s not as though Loire Atlantique isn’t enough for us, but a change is as good as a rest they say so we thought a change and a rest would be even better.   So I booked a coach holiday in Turkey as a 70th B. prezzy for Ian and a 61st for me, best laid plans and all that …..

Got off to a good start, flight took off from Nantes on time, smooth landing in Antalya and efficient tour guide herded us all on to allocated coaches for the off.   Our euphoria didn’t last long though, it evaporated as soon as we saw our first hotel.  It was located on a holiday complex near Finike which was still closed until the season started at Easter, pretty grim and unwelcoming all in all.   We had decided not to take up the all inclusive deal not so much because it was an extra 159€ each but because we didn’t want to be part of the herd and having  to have a hotel breakfast, lunch & dinner buffet for the next 7 days, we wanted to eat authentic Turkish food – unfortunately although Mosaique du Monde gives the option of opting out, it doesn’t give the opters out any options.   So while ALL our fellow travellers engulfed the dining room at 7.30pm prompt, we were left with a bar menu and nowhere else to go.  The meal we had there has to go down in our personal culinary history as the worst ever, it was straight out of the freezer, through a microwave and on a plate.  Utterly awful and disappointing.   The room wasn’t bad so we slept well and descended ravenously at 7.30am for breakfast praying that it would be an improvement on our dinner – and it was.  It was the most incredible breakfast buffet I have ever seen – if it wasn’t there – it probably doesn’t exist in Turkey.   We were truly spoiled for choice.  So stuffed and satiated we collapsed back on the coach for the next leg of our adventure.    We were taken to Kale to visit St. Nicholas’s church & museum and had a great lunch in the town.  Next was a stop at Kalkan, a lovely fishing village where we were informed that the boat trip was part of the all inclusive but we couldn’t pay separately to go.   Not too heartbroken as it was a lovely place to wonder about in and chill out.   After that we stopped at Fethiye for the night and had the whole of the sea side promenade of restaurants to chose from which resulted in another gastronomic feast. 

The night was bad, somebody was having a party in the vicinity which didn’t end until about 4am so after a reasonable breakfast most of the coach (excluding the driver) snoozed our way to Dalyan where the tour guide took pity on us and included us at no extra cost on the boat trip to see the mountain tombs and the Turtle beach, which was just as well as there was nothing else there at all to do otherwise.   But on our return we experienced another ‘no option’ lunch as the restaurant was only catering for the coach parties and it was a 20€ buffet which we really didn’t want after a substantial breakfast.    Had an uninspiring bit of cake and coffee instead.   The whole trip alongside the coast was made memorable by the Taurus mountain ranges and the unbelievable vistas of endless poly-tunnels in the valleys – I have never in my life seen so much polythene.   Apparently Turkey is almost entirely self sufficient and these oceans of plastic provide year round veg and fruit.  The other visual oddity is that nearly every single house & apartment building is fitted with the ugliest carbuncle you can imagine on the roof which provides hot water through solar panels – very green but also very very ugly. 

Next stop was the best hotel of the holiday, the Palmia at Kusadasi which we stopped in for 2 nights.   Again we were able to wonder down to the fairly small and quiet beach area and found a lovely restaurant with great staff who made us feel completely welcome and at home as well as serving wonderful food.  

The following day was really the the highlight of the whole trip as we went to Ephesus which was fantastic, the whole city was recognisable and not just a load of fallen pillars and stones.  We both loved it and could have happily spent the whole day there but in the afternoon we were taken to the Ephasus museum and the castle & Monument of St John.    That evening we returned to the same restaurant and had another lovely evening. 

Unfortunately the next day we headed inland to Pamukkale and as I had been really looking forward to seeing all those wonderful azure blue pools against chalky white calcium deposit cliffs that appear in the brochures, I was very disappointed with the reality.   Check out their site and compare with my photos on facebook:  http://www.pamukkale.org.tr/eng/default.asp?sayfa=foto_galeri  .   The ‘spa’ hotel we stayed in that night was dreadful.  Our room was tiny, the bathroom door didn’t close, it was internal but had no ventilation and the bath surround was growing enough penicillin to stock all of Turkey’s hospitals.   We were told that there was an actual hot spring feeding a bath at the hotel so we donned cozzies and prepared to be relaxed, well it was lovely once you got in but getting in was nothing short of hazardous.  The stone steps in were covered in very slippery fungal growth and there was no hand rail so if we hadn’t been warned by others already in the pool there could have been a nasty accident.   Again as there was no other restaurant in the vicinity we were forced to partake of the hotel buffet which was completely mediocre. 

By now however, we had got to be dab hands at removing items from breakfast for our lunch – a matter of necessity rather than choice and we spent the remaining lunchtimes sitting on various walls outside various restaurants eating our sandwiches (usually egg & cheese) and just partaking of coffee with our fellow travellers.  

We visited a carpet factory where the English speaking salesman (always a hard sell angle to these trips) bemoaned the advent of the internet as local girls now know they have choices and are difficult to recruit to the laborious, labour intensive and body numbing jobs on the looms.   However, I have to say that if I’d had the money I would have succumbed to one of the delicious silk carpets we saw.  

The last 2 nights were spent in Antalya and we visited Perge which was also lovely and again we could happily have spent more time there but more hard sell was scheduled in the afternoon in the form of a leather outlet and a jewellery store topped off with a visit to a ‘real’ bazaar.   That was an experience I could have done without,  it was horrible – you couldn’t take a step without being accosted verbally & physically by seemingly desperate stall holders trying to offload old & dusty tat.  Not my idea of fun. 

When I booked this trip it was advertised as 7 nights, 8 days and I am not naive enough to think that the 8th day would amount to much other than flying home, but imagine our astonishment when we were told that we had a 2.30am wake up call with a 3am departure to the airport 20 minutes away for a 6.10am takeoff!   When we questioned the need for such an early check-in time, we were told it was because it was a charter flight – strangely enough we only had to arrive at Nantes 45 mins ahead of departure…  

As they say, east, west – home’s best and we were very glad to come home.  I regret my French not being good enough to enjoy our tour guide’s vast knowledge and also for interacting with our fellow travellers.  We were the only 2 Brits in 2 planeloads of French tourists. 

See all my photos on facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150226922790783.349458.619530782

Loire Atlantique gites are close to so many lovely places to visit and ever in search of that elusive combo of seaweed+car access at this time of year

we headed off again last Sunday.  This time to the Penestin (pronounced Penetin) area.    It was another gorgious day and hard to believe in November, blue skies and warm sunshine so packing a thermos & sarnies as well as some seriously large bin bags we drove up through Missillac (home of a magnificant chateau & golf club), La chapelle des Marais, Herbingnac and up to the Penestin peninsula.   We still had hopes of finding the same spot we’d found a couple of years ago so faithfully drove up each and every little coastal turning to no avail.  The tide was coming in so we had to hurry if we were to harvest any seaweed at all. 

It was quite by chance that we came upon the perfect combination – a small bay full of seaweed, right up to the concrete causeway used by the sailing club situated there.   This time we really packed it in and there wasn’t much space left by the time we finished.   Ian’ll have to clean the car out again this week but all that goodness going into our veggie plot has to be worth it.  

After a relaxed sarnie lunch, we went for a cliff top walk as the tide was completely in by this time, starting at Le Logui near Haut Penestin and along the Mine d’or beach.   It was so relaxing, even when the sky started to turn a little darker with rain clouds we were happy just sauntering along.   We stopped at the little restaurant/bar for a coffee (God but it was strong) and as the rain was imminent, turned back and made it just before the heavens opened. 

As no Sunday jaunt is complete without an apple pancake in Guenrouet that’s where we headed on the way home and bumped into our lovely neighbour who at a sprightly 78 always looks immaculate and puts me to shame.   She joined us for a crepe and surprisingly although she regularly uses the cafe, it was the first time she’d eaten there but agreed it was well worth having. 

Penestin is famous for mussels so I decided to pick my own and looked forward to moules marniere the next day, unfortunately I made the mistake of picking them too close to the sandy shore and probably at the wrong tide too because they were very gritty even after being soaked for 24hrs.   Still the idea of free fresh food does appeal so perhaps I’ll go for a rockier location next time.

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