The supermarket challenge

We've had a couple of days travelling and making our way towards our first gite, where we are staying put for a week.

Friday 4th May - Star Wars Day

This morning we visited the Chappelle Royale which is the burial place of Louis Philipe who was the first king of the french people in 1830 (they didn't refer to him as king of France, I'm not sure if the wording was significant). The Chappelle was set on a hill and in beautifully kept grounds. When we arrived we met the dog, a Newfoundland, who belongs to the Prince who currently lives there. He is the great,g,g,g,g,g grandson of Louis Philipe and still lives there with his wife and 4 children. The dog was as close as we got to the royalty. Inside the chapel are the tombs of over 40 of the descendants of Louis Philipe.

The Chappelle Royale in the town of Dreux.

Just some of the beautiful carvings in the chapel.

Meet the Royal dog. Loved a tummy rub.

This was the dome in the chapel
- with the sun shining it was beautifully lit.

 

We spotted this chateau along the way.
How many bathrooms are there to clean?

From Dreux we then made our way to Le Mans for our next night.  Along the way we found another relais where we enjoyed another 4 course lunch. After that we took the easy option for dinner and bought microwave meals and heated them in the hotel.

Just an example of a lunch menu - salad and cold meats, main course in this case ham steak and chips, cheese, dessert, wine or cider and coffee. The dessert was called Ile Flottante, floating island, or snow egg, which was like a meringue mix very lightly poached and then floating in vanilla custard with a syrup over it. Very yummy! 

Saturday 5th May

We came to le mans to satisfy the car race craving but found there is more to see than just the race track. This morning we headed to the medieval section of the town where there is a monster cathedral from 1080, sited on top of the very thick town walls. It's amazing to look at these places and realise that they were the design of one person originally but then took 100s of years to build and were finished long after the architect was dead and buried. There is just so much detail in all the columns and carvings and frescoes. And there are so many interesting streets and houses.

We didn't stop here but it looked pretty impressive.

The cathedral at le Mans - started in 1080
with several additions over the next couple of centuries.

These were just some of the interesting houses in the old city.
Cobbled, winding streets.
There are blocks of concrete along the edges of the street
against the house walls.
If these serve the same purpose as we were told in Rome,
they are for pedestrians to stand next to
so that their feet don't get run over by the carriage wheels. 

It is spring here and the end of tulips,
but there are some lovely gardens to see.
Meet Odette - our new travelling companion
found in a shop in Paris.

A few pictures from the le mans 24 hr museum.

And there were cars practising
so the day came with the right noises too.

Though why you'd take your dog to the races beats me.

Today we have arrived at our first gite where we will just explore the area in all directions. It is a little house on a property on the edge of a forest. When we turned into the lane I though oh no, but it's all good. We've been to the supermarket where we spent over an hour deciphering all the labels, and eventually came home with dinner and breakfast and a few other necessities.