VideoBlog: FESTNOZ

I took the train to Nantes by myself on Friday morning for the big FestNoz at the chateau.  The Irish group Lúnasa were the headliners but I'm not sure why.  Don't get me wrong - I love Lúnasa and have their albums and have seen them live several times before.  But this was supposed to be a Breton night.  The music was great but very few people could dance to it.
The other groups were fabulous.  Music and dance together all night long.  I linked my pinky many times to dance.  There is nothing quite like this in the Irish tradition.

MEMORIAL DE L'ABOLITION D'ESCLAVAGE

 

VideoBlog: RIDING THE ELEPHANT

ÎLE DE NANTES

Boy is it ever hot in Nantes!

We started out today with a plan to rent bikes from the Bicloo station close to the hotel then cycle around the Île de Nantes where the Machines are.  No dice.  We couldn't get the thing to work using an American credit card.  When we did get it to work with our French account it could not print out a receipt.  By the time we had pen and paper to write down the access number (lots o' digits) the screen was ready to start all over.

We bought tickets for the tram and took it to Chantier Navale.  At the corner of the bridge that leads across to the island is the new Monument to the Abolition of Slavery.  We stopped to reflect.

It was already quiet hot by this time.  We didn't feel like eating so we had refreshments at the old corner bistrot before heading across the street to the Machines.

Rich bought a ticket for the Elephant for Mercedes and himself.  We took a look at the galleries and the workshop then headed back to the bistrot for lunch.  Their ride on the Elephant was scheduled for 3pm so we had about 45 minutes to get lunch and get back.

I finished lunch by myself then went for a walk around the top half of the island while they were riding the pachyderm.

Le Trempolino

DAY AT THE BEACH

SNCF had this great deal.  We wanted return tickets to Nantes but they offered us the Tribal Discount.  For about the same price as the ticket to Nantes for 3 people, we could travel anywhere on the train network in the Pays de la Loire region for two consecutive days.
On the first day, we used our ticket to get to Nantes.  The next day we decided that we should take a trip to the end of the line.  We got up early and had breakfast at the bar across the street from the station.

The ride to Le Croisic took about an hour.  The train was crowded but we got seats together.  When the temperature hits 30°C everybody wants to be at the beach.

Le Croisic is on a peninsula that juts out into the ocean.  We walked through the town to the seafront.  Le Croisic is a working fishing village as well as a tourist magnet.  The seafront is lined with seafood restaurants.  We liked the look of Chez Emile where they had a big board listing the fish and shellfish that was fresh from the market.  We ordered the moules and the coquilles in Muscadet; Mercedes went for the grilled platter that looked more like The Full Irish Breakfast.  Since we were in Brittany, we had a big pitcher of local cider to wash everything down with.

After lunch we walked to another village about 2 kilometers away where the tourist office said there was a good beach.  Rich stayed at the beach hut drinking coffee while Mercedes and me went swimming.  The water was cold, maybe 10°C but once you got used to it 10° didn't seem so cold.  It was salty, though.  So salty that it didn't take much effort to stay afloat.

VideoBlog: FÊTE NATIONALE

Grande Finale of the Fireworks

Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen de 1789

Mercedes' first 14 Juillet.  We were in Orléans during 4 Juillet and she got a little homesick thinking of the festivities at home.  But she nevert experienced anything like a 14 Juillet in a small French town.

We started the evening with dinner at the Willises.  Lianna and Phillip were invited too, as well as their daughter Kate from London.  Mercedes had spent the afternoon at their house cavourting in their swimming pool and getting to know Kate.  She is really missing the company of her mom, so when there is an acceptable surrogate she attaches willingly.

As it started to get late we heard the band making its way up the street.  We went out into the street to get a Chinese lantern then followed the band down to the Loire.  Every year it is the same - nothing new or different, but every year we revel in this small town tradition that puts the emphasis on children rather than the questionable deeds of the martyrs.

VideoBlog: DECOUVERTE DES CHAUVES-SOURIS

The Big Book of Summer Activities listed a Bat Discovery Walk for Friday night.  We had been invited over to Karen's house to meet some people from Toronto but we decided that we would rather learn about the bats (You can take the Irish guy out of the first grade teacher but . . .).
We did go over to Karen's and had a little dinner.  We met Monica and Jerome and their new adopted baby Evan.  What a cutie!  They have had him for about a year already and he is hardly a baby but he is still sooooo cute.  And funny.  They have recently sold their loft in Toronto and are looking to buy a property in the Loire Valley (Jerome is French).

We headed out to the EcoMusée in Veron at about 8.  There was already a large group waiting.  We hung about until 9 when a French professor type gave a PowerPoint presentation on bats in general (32 species in France) and the bats of the Loire Valley in particular (Common Pipistrelle is the most numerous based on analysis of sound recordings).  It was a great presentation if you were in training for the Bat Out of Hell category on Jeopardy.  Otherwise it was tooooooooo long (a common failing of all PowerPoint presentaions).

After the presentation (still sore bum from the PowerPoint Torture Chairs) we went outside to look for evidence of bats and to see the bats come out at dusk.  We did find lots of evidence in the form of bat poop.  The French Bat Professor Type had a device with a microphone for capturing the inaudible sounds of the bats.  The device translated the bat emissions into audible sound so that we could track when there was a bat about.  Unfortunately,  there were so many people that not too many bats wanted to come out.

VideoBlog: ROLLING ON THE RIVER

Mercedes decided to give Uncle Richie a break from his cleaning schedule.  She planned a day of kayaking for us and an Uncle Richie Day for Rich.  While we were kayaking he got 2 hours to himself for antiqueing and shopping for fabulous things for Mercedes to wear (How do we buy shares in Zara?).

This was only our second time in a boat on the Vienne River - my first time ever kayaking.  We rented the kayaks at CLAN in Chinon.  They took us upriver in a "bus" to Anché and we paddled gently back to Chinon.  It took us a little while to get the hang of the kayak but then we were flying.

The river is not deep, even with the rains of the past winter (Is it Summer yet?).  Most of the time I could see the gravel at the bottom.  The current was fairly strong but there were several spots where we encountered the doldrums and had to paddle hard.

BAYEUX

BAYEUX TAPESTRY

The Footsteps of Joan of Arc Tour also included a side trip along the Normandy Coast to Bayeux to see the tapestry. The town of Bayeau is very pretty, and it was crowded for their annual Medieval Days. We found a great place to park and made our way to the museum where the tapestry is housed.
I wasn't sure what to expect. My experiences with tapestries was of darkened rooms where the details of the tapestry are difficult to discern. The Revelation Tapestry are like that and they are cut up into individual pieces so the story is difficult to follow. By contrast, the Bayeux Tapestry is housed in a well lit chamber and is a single scroll-like piece. With the aid of the commentary, it was a joy to experience.