As Ian is in the UK I went with a couple of friends that hadn’t experienced this event before and they were very impressed as were my current guests in the 3 gites who decided to go in convoy.   Although the weather appeared grim to start, it cleared by midday and from then on it was perfect, not too hot or too cold as nothing can spoil an outdoor event like miserable weather.  

The festival started on Saturday 24 August and continued until the 25th finishing at 9.30pm with a torch lit procession of over 2000 participants in full costume consisting of comics, clowns, dancers and musicians.  Unfortunately we missed this as we were all too tired to stay any longer than 8pm.   We did however enjoy all the festival had to offer although next time in 2012 we will make an effort and go in costume ourselves.   As can be seen from the photos, a great deal of effort and ingenuity is put into many peoples appearance and not all necessarily genuinely Medieval.    Some of the pointy eared characters clearly got inspiration from Lord of the Rings and why not? 

The city of Dinan is so beautiful and the perfect setting for this great festival, you seem to travel back centuries just looking at the buildings and when that’s accompanied by knights, crusaders, noble men & women, serfs and peasants you can be convinced that you have stepped out of a Tardis in another time.    As well as the street entertainment there are also areas that hold specific performances which you either pay to see or come in costume in which case it’s free.  The exception being the Knight’s jousting tournament which is 10€ per adult but worth every centime.   The other 4 areas are covered by a ticket costing 12€ if you don’t fancy creating a costume. 

Some of the stilt walkers were quite incredibly dressed and I’m sure gave some nightmares, what incredible imaginations these participants must have, not only to dream up these characters but also create the costumes and make up.   Even though it’s another 2 years before the next festival, you can see what this one was like on their website .   I hope you will also get a feel of the experience looking at my photos here:

[View with PicLens]

12►

 This has been a few year years in the planning and works and now there is a clear waterway between Redon and Fégréac which then continues on to Guenrouet, Blain and ending in Nantes.   With a footpath suitable for walkers, cyclists and riders this is going to be a great asset for the locals and tourists alike. 

The first barge arrived at St Nicholas de Redon around 12 noon closely followed by a flottilla of other boats and barges which then anchored by the new lock in town.  With a Breton band following and musicians on the some of the boats, it was a very festive event.   There was also a turnout of demonstrators against the proposed new passenger airport terminal at Notre Dames des Landes which althugh very strident, was peaceful. 

After the various speeches, free drinks were laid on to accompany people’s picnics with more music throughout the afternoon.    We left about 3pm and wondered back along the tow path to where we’d left the car (very naughtily in a store’s carpark).   It had been a lovely afternoon and luckily not too hot to make it uncomfortable and I hope that all our visitors make use of this new addition to our lovely local waterways.

[View with PicLens]

Every summer extra seating is provided inside a lovely marque which can be reserved for parties or functions as can the whole restaurant.

The main dining area is spacious, light and airy with a lovely atmosphere for enjoying a meal at any time of year.  There are also extra tables in front of the reception area and the back of the restaurant, in total 75 people can sit down to a great meal out.

This year, the repetoire has been expanded to include traditonal crepes and galettes.   The lunchtime menu offers great value for money at 10€ and there is also a take away service available.

The family owned business has been in Guemene for 15 years and at the present location for three and a half years and has grown from strength to strength,  Manu is a trained chef and his wife comes from a background in Patisserie so definately a match made in gastronomic heaven.  With the restaurant, 3 daughters aged between 11 and 18 years and a passion for horses and dressage training, there’s more than enough to keep this family busy.

Address: 28 Rue de la Restance, Guemene Penfao 44290. Tel: 0240510306

Hours: Tuesday to Friday lunchtime specials @ 10.00€,  Closed all day Mondays,  Thursday to Sunday open evenings and during July & August on Wednesday evenings too.

On this occasion we took some friends to La Gacilly on the way from Rennes airport and found that a lot of changes have taken place.   The streets are still beautiful and cobbled with all the usual artisans doing their thing and the annual photographic exhibiton is in full swing with incredible photos lining the streets and walls of the town but the area around the bridge is undergoing a complete renovation.  

The tourist office is now in a new building, beautifully built with stone and slate walls in keeping with the old buildings around it,  it has a new shop selling locally crafted items and a large exhibition floor above it which this year has a contemporary textiles display from 4th June to 26th September and then an exhibition of contemporary ceramics and earthenware design from 16th October to 31st December. 

Outside between the tourist office and the river there is a spectacular exhibit of African tribal people – very simply made but incredibly effective and just a bit spooky I think.   While we were there last Friday, there was a lot of activity constructing the new pedestrian bridge which will link the area outside the tourist office with what was the Vegetarium.  Now this wonderfully ivy covered building  which belongs to the Yves Rocher empire of natural cosmetics will house a café, a Yves Rocher shop and an exhibition space which this year will focus on celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary.   Yves Rocher have also opened an Eco-Hotel Spa in La Gacilly (not for the penny pinching) with 29 rooms, a restaurant, spa and a conference centre.   You can pamper yourself with treatments at their spa without having to stay at the hotel, prices start at 40€ for 30 mins to 115€ for a 2hr session.    There is also a Yves Rocher garden which can be visited for free just outside La gacilly on the road going through the town to Rennes.

Our last guests were so taken with La Gacilly that after visiting it alone, they then took their parents back for a look and stayed a whole day.   Kate is an avid quilter and you can read what she thought of it on her own blog.

[View with PicLens]

last Monday to see this tour for the first time.   It started in Rennes with the whole entourage of 1300 vehicles driving to Chateaulin on the 21st which must have been quite a sight and perhaps next year we’ll try to see this part of it.   Then in Chateaulin  650 vehicles went a northern route through Huelgoat, Plougonver, Lannion, Paimpol, St Quay Portieux, Yffiniac, Sables d’Or, Ploubalay, Dinan, St Domineu, Vignoc and back to Rennes.  The other 650 vehicles went south to Ergue-Gaberic, Concarneau, Guidel, Port-Louis, Pluvigner, Plumelec, Rochfort-en-Terre, Malestroit, St Nicholas de Redon, Grand-Fougeray and La Chapelle-Bouexic before joining up again in Rennes.

The tour consisted of vehicles of all shapes and sizes, vintage and classics, motor bikes, lorries and even caravans.  Some drivers dressed up for the era of their cars, others just  prayed they’d make it and unfortunately some didn’t as the  follow up car carrier  proved.   Our guests in La glycine decided to go to the rally on the Sunday night in Redon and thought it was a great turn out and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle.  We went to Grand-Fougeray the following morning and found it a bit hot standing on the street waiting for the procession.   The brochure I had was also a bit misleading as it seemed to indicate that all the cars would amass at the race track in Grand-Fougeray and then depart at 11am for the next town.  What actually happened was that cars were still arriving from Redon at 10am while those that arrived earlier were already departing for Rennes.  Some just sailed through without stopping at all.  

Still we had a great time, saw some lovely old cars and I hope you enjoy my gallery of photos – sorry if there seem to be so many but it’s hard to decide which to leave out.   There are also 3 Video clips for a bit of action.   Clip 1 , Clip 2, Clip 3. 

[View with PicLens]

12►

Well of course if you’re stopped from flying to Rennes by some vulcanic ash cloud as I was, the best thing to do is make the most of the situation by visiting a place I’ve always wanted to see which in this case was Fougére.   Somehow in the past we just drove straight down from St Malo via Rennes home to Guemene, the only places we’d stopped at in the past were Dinard (beautiful)  and Comburg which although lovely, the chateau was closed on Saturday and wouldn’t you know it that was the day we went.

So to Fougére we drove and it was really glorious, but – are we jinxed or something?  This was Monday and guess what?  The castle was closed on Mondays!   Even so, the town was really glorious and we wondered around the ancient streets and allyways blissfully happy to be there.   It’s a strange place though as most towns have their defences on a hillside to see any danger from a distance – not Fougére, its castle  is in a valley with the town grown around it. 

We explored the town and highly recommend a visit – probably better on a Tuesday or any other day of the week but Monday so the next time you dock at St Malo or even Cherbourg – consider it a worthwhile place to have a stop at. 

[View with PicLens]

Not the place that immediately comes to mind when thinking about a Tango but last Sunday together with some friends we went to a lovely bar in Roche Bernard and watched a local Argentine  Tango club strut its stuff.You could have been forgiven in thinking that you’d been wisked off to Buenas Aries as the couples started arriving at 5pm and after a quick change of shoes began to dance to haunting South American music.    We’d seen a notice at the café a couple of weeks ago and decided to come and see what it was all about.   Not really knowing what to expect, a demonstration or perhaps a class, we were pleasantly surprised to see at least 30 couples of all ages and abilities take to the floor.   It was disapointing that there wasn’t an option of learning a few steps for the onlookers but with my curent back problem I couldn’t really have taken part anyway. 

The dancers were totally into the mood of the tango, many women dancing with eyes shut and leaning into their partners completing the picture with those amazing leg flicks.   My friend Patricia and I entertained ourselves with picking out the best ‘killer heels’ and weirdest outfits but the dancing was definitely the thing to watch here on youtube and again here.

Fingers crossed it’ll be better than the last.   It was going to be a fairly quiet time over the Christmas period chez nous, my younger son Mish arrived from Jeddah on the 15th and even having allowed himself 2 hours to get from Charles de Gaule Airport to Montparnasse, still missed his train thanks to a taxi driver who insisted he could navigate the Parisian rush hour in time.    Yeah right, it’ll be the metro next time.   After the short flurry of snow and ice, we decided that as the best of our friends will be away or with their own families at Christmas we would have an ‘alternate’ celebration and invited them to a Winter Solstice dinner.   

I decided to do a curry night as our French friends don’t often have the opportunity of eating Indian food and our English ones enjoy it as much as we do – a real winter warmer.   Everyone had a lovely time and it gave us a nice start to the seasonal festive spirit.   

On the 23rd I finally went to see a specialist for my ’sacro-illiac’ pain only to be told after a thorough examination and x-rays that it wasn’t anything to do with the S-I, it was a nerve trapped in the last 2 veribrae.  This of course means that the last 2 months being painfully manipulated was a complete waste of time and money.  Great!   Still it is my own fault for not going to the spacialist earlier, I did have an appointment on 6 Nov which I cancelled as I believed the Osteopath in the UK and thought it was getting better.   Now I have a 10 day course of Steroids and a back support belt to wear and I can feel the difference already. 

We had a lovely Christmas day with other English friends, we brought the starters, cheeses and deserts – they did the turkey and trimmings so nobody was too stressed out to enjoy the day.  A walk in the afternoon sunshine finished it off beautifully all the better for being able to walk without pain. 

My older son Maz arrived on the 28th from the UK and then we had just a couple of days all together before Mish had to fly back to Jeddah on the 30th.   The New Year was a very low key event as neither of the ‘drivers’ wanted to go anywhere and be tea total and I have night blindness so even sober we’d have probably ended up in the ditch with me behind the wheel.    Well, that’s another Christmas over, I hope anyone reading this had a great time and we wish you the very best of everything in 2010.

We wish you a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2010

Has obviously never met me.   I think I have definitely gone over the average quota here.  So far in the space of a couple of months, my car’s died, the dryer stopped drying, my back improved only to be agrivated by a bus’s emergency stop in the UK, and now my latest emergency …

On Monday I noticed that I had a new floater, you know those funny virus shaped things that float around in your vision, only this one was more like a  greasy smear and I only realised what it was after several sessions of cleaning my glasses.    I got the message that it wasn’t on my lens when it followed my line of vision,  then that night after switching everything off and making my way upstairs in the dark I thought I’d left something on because I saw a light in the corner of my eye.   Turning my head to check – there was nothing, so then I just swiveled my eyes from extreme left to right and there it was again – a flash of light in my left eye.  

I have no idea why because I knew no one with it but ‘detached retina’ came to my mind.  In the morning I looked it up on the internet and went into a total panic, all the symptoms were there alongside warnings of imminent blindness and advise to get to a GP asap.   I didn’t need to be told twice, Ian took me to my doctor at 12 to see him after his last patient and before lunch – I needn’t have been so calculating, he took one look at my face, heard my anxiety about my eye and ushered me in immediately.    His brief look at my eyes didn’t reveal anything but he wrote a letter to a specialist and his receptionist phoned to make an appointment.   I was at the eye clinic in Redon at 1.30pm, was given 3 separate examinations and sat before the specialist for yet more tests by 2pm.   Although she spoke no English and my French is still sadly lacking especially in such a specialist language, she was patience personified and explained that I had indeed got a small detachment in my retina but not to worry as it was nothing that required immediate action.    She said that I should have a 6 monthly check up for the retina and the early stages of a cataract (boy, when you start crumbling…) but that if there was any deteriation in my vision before then I should come to the clinic immediately as an emergency case.   From beginning to final diagnosis was under 3 hours and cost me 70€ of which I shall have a 60% refund – what a fantastic medical service this country has got. 

I also had my first encounter with a French osteopath/kiné and that was certainly different to anything I’d encountered in the UK.   He looked like an aging hippy and scored 0 on the bedside manner scale however, he seemed to hone in on the problem immediately and after some eye watering manipulations asked if everyone was now OK.  Frankly I’d been in too much pain for too long for the recovery to be that quick – my name’s not Lazarus.   I said as much (omiting the Lazarus bit) and looking a tad petulant he set to on my back again.    This time he didn’t ask me anything and just said he’d see me again next Thursday.  I left feeling somewhat disappointed but in the morning I felt reborn and with more bounce than the average spring lamb.   We went out for the day to La baule and had a lovely lunch in Pornichet, watched the kite surfers in the howling gales, had coffee and a stroll in Croisic and went home in high spirits.  

Of course the following day – I had to overdo it didn’t I?   The one thing the osteopath told me was not to lift anything so what did I do?   I set to making mango chutney and beetroot chutney for the local Xmas fete on Sat.   Nothing like heaving huge pans of ingredients on and off the cooker to get the back agrivated again.   Still I got it all done and swore to take it easy until my next appointment.   The fete was nice but a bit disapointing, that’ll teach me to give my recipes away.  Hey ho, every man for himself I suppose, still I managed to sell 40€ worth and there are still a few more fetes before Christmas.   The photo is of Ian’s friends who came to visit him at the beginning of the month and who he hadn’t seen in 30 odd years.  A great time was had by all. 

[View with PicLens]

Ian then turned his hand to creating a Wendy house for our younger guests, of course this is no ordinary play house – that would be too boring and simple, so it’s in the shape of a Sussex barn – what else?   It has to be seen to be believed, complete with dormer windows, shingle roof and double doors front and back and all made out of pallets.  It’s not quite finished yet but I’m sure it will be long before our next seasons’ guests arrive.   I think the next project is going to be a gazebo so watch this space….

[View with PicLens]