Out and About

Hi all. We're back in Barcelona after a little over two weeks in France. The luggage is unpacked, the place is acceptably clean, and we're slowly coming to terms with the reality of no longer being on vacation and hence the obligation to tackle all our projects, both large and small, where we left them at the beginning of the month. Steph is still on maternity leave but I go back to the grind tomorrow.

But before delving into our daily lives in Barcelona, I thought I would post a few picks from last week. Despite a pretty full schedule of family engagements (the baby, we gotta see the baby!), we still managed to squeeze in some time to visit the area around Angers as well as the Norman and Bretton coasts.

In case I hadn't mentioned it before, the area around Angers is full of vineyards. In fact this entire stretch of the Loire valley has a number of different "denominations" of red, white, and rosé (pink) wines. That is to say, wines that are particular to a particular region and type of grape. The first picture below is of some vineyards in St. Jean des Mauvrets. Here they grow Anjou blanc as well as the red variety. In the background is the hilltop village of St. Saturnin sur Loire. As for St. Jean des Mauvrets, its where Steph's dad grew up and, perhaps more importantly, where Steph and I got married.


Vineyards of St. Jean des Mauvrets with St. Saturnin sur Loire in background

This area is the highlands formed by the Loire over centuries of flooding and the wine produced there today has no doubt benefited from this rich alluvial soil deposits found there. From the road that connects these two (and other) villages to the Loire river itself, the landscape is pretty flat as one might expect from the floodplain of a major river. In many ways, these strips of wide flat land leading up to a levee at the river's edge reminds me a lot of south Louisiana.

Our plan on this particular day was to go sip a few glasses of wine at La Guinguette de JoJo (just because I like the way that sounds). Also because it offers a rustic outdoor setting at the river's edge. Those plans were quickly dashed however by a stiff, chilly wind that made for a rather unpleasant outdoor stay. Before leaving, I managed to snap a few shots of the river. This is one with an exposed sandbar in the middle.


View of the Loire as seen from La Guinguette de JoJo

On the land-side of the levee next to JoJo's, we spotted an honest-to-god gypsy circus camp. It was complete with an actual tiger cage reminiscent of the Tiger Truck Stop between Baton Rouge and Lafayette where - true to their name - they have a very sad-looking tiger in a cage out next to the gas pumps. But anyway, as for the gypsy circus camp, I would have taken more (and better photos) but I was frankly afraid of possible hostile response from the camp's residents. The dogs and geese were already making there way toward me and I didn't want to stick around to see what other creatures would be set loose on us.


Gypsy Circus camp on the Loire

As our plans for riverside drinks were dashed, we decided to head back up-hill to St. Saturnin sur Loir to have the aperitif at Steph's uncle and aunt's restaurant and so they could meet Anselm. They have a pretty cool outdoor patio underneath a walnut tree that offered some shelter from the wind and a great view over the valley.



Walnut tree at the courtyard of La Caillote

Steph and Anselm pose

Three generations of Bourochers

Brief stop for the sunset over the Loire on our way back to Angers

The next day we finally set off for the coast. It seems every time we go to France we say we'll go and somehow we never do. I guess this time we were in such need of some quiet time for just the two, err. three of us, that we wasted no time getting on the road. Our plan was to head to Mont St. Michel on the Normandy coast. While there, we planned on going to Granville a bit further up the coast. In the end, we went to Granville first so we could drop in on Aurelie's grandparents who grew up there and have their summer house there.

Granville, at least its historic center, is an old medieval walled city perched on a granite bluff on a peninsula that protects the still-active fishing fleet in its natural harbour from the winds (and waves) of the English Channel. Its got one street in, and one street out. The rest is small little alleys and lanes like the one in the pic below. This narrow lane is simply called Rue Etroite or narrow street, not too complicated.

Narrow Street in Granville

North face of Granville with old army barracks in the background

View of the Channel from Granville

City Gates

All around the north side and the western point of Granville there are a series of large bunkers from WWII built by the Germans, to protect the harbour. The pictures below show the ruins of these huge blocks of concrete. This city was one of the first places occupied in 1940 along with other similar ports along this coast. Aurelie's grandfather told me how within the first days of the occupation he and a small group of his friends managed to steal away in a small boat in the middle of the night and made it all the way to London to join De Gaulle. Its odd to see these instruments of destruction in this quiet and pretty corner of the world.

Ruins of German bunkers with town in background

Lighthouse with bunker at right

After leaving Granville we headed for Mont St. Michel a bit further south and west along the coast. Here again the land is pretty flat and then you come around a bend and see this...

Mont Saint Michel at dusk

A good choice for the monks that selected the site for a monastery, it's a huge granite rock that has remained after the surrounding land eroded away around it. The flat land of this coast stays the same way well beyond the shore. The result is a spectacular tide and that can vary by several kilometers making the mount an island twice a day. At least, that's how it used to be. Today, the mount is connected to land by a man-made causeway that has caused the bay to silt up to the point of preventing the sand to be washed away by the tidal action. Plans are said to be underway to replace the land-bridge with one that would restore the bay. Still, the sight is pretty spectacular and well worth a visit.

The mount as seen from the land bridge

The abbey at Mont St. Michel

At low tide the shore is out of sight

As cool as MSM was, I have to admit that I couldn't wait to get away. The place was absolutely choked with tourists making it impossible to even move. I thought I was gonna loose it. I think I'd like to go back in winter. They say it gets bitter cold with very strong winds so, as much hate the cold, at least the place will be less crowded. I also get the feeling the place might be quite spectacular in winter.

We got out of there as fast as we could. One diaper change and couple of feedings later we were in Mt. Malo on the Britanny coast. This is another one of those walled cities built on a rocky bluff enclosing a natural harbour like Granville. Unlike Granville however, St. Malo is a larger city and home to a thriving maritime industry from fishing, to shipping, and everything in between. Also unlike Granville (and perhaps because of this), much of St. Malo was destroyed during the war. Many of the buildings there today have since been restored. The result is a well preserved medieival walled city with a rich maritime history.

The sea wall in St. Malo at low tide with one of the protective forts in the background at left. They say the waves crash over the walls at high tide during storms

I liked St. Malo alot. Although it is also a bit touristy, you can definitely see this is a real working seaport town. We spent a nice afternoon checking out the place and could definitely go back to spend some time exploring. On our way out we came upon a little plaza with this...

Nice.

We capped our stay tasting the local specialties: galettes, crepes, and apple cider. A good weekend.

And a good trip indeed. Perhaps the greatest thing is that we got to see some amazing changes in Anselm in this short period of time. He is now officially obsessed with his hands and has found new pleasure in sucking a varying number of fingers depending on the occasion. Speph's mom has been teaching him how to roll over from his back to stomach and back and he's actually done it on his own for the first time today! He now smiles spontaneously and has even started to burst into actual laugther. It's been pretty amazing so far and it's a bit scarry to see how fast it goes. Everybody tells you, but you have to live it to understand it. And it's just the begining for us.

So now we're back in Barcelona. In a few hours I'll be back in the office to see what awaits. We're about to start a new project in Armenia and two others in Panama and Mexico in addition the the one in Angola (if it comes through) so I'm sure that between those travels and Anslem's new adventures, there'll be lots to write about. I'll try to write as regularly as I can but don't be surprised if my frequency drops off as spare time will be hard to come by. Until then, take it easy and I hope you're enjoying it. Take care.