Bigger than an African elephant

Thursday 10th May

We headed to Nantes for the day with a few things lined up to see. First stop was Les Machines de L'ile. This was an 'art' project on an island in the Loire river which was a reclaimed shipbuilding site. Here they have built what could be called an amusement park and where they build and show fantastic mechanical animals, some of which move (a la Mad Max). The star attraction is the elephant which is 12m high and 8m wide. Of course we went for a ride along with all the kids. From the inside of the elephant you can see the hydraulics and mechanics of the legs and trunk. Great fun for the kids standing around as the trunk sprayed water at them. It was a cold day and some of the kids were thoroughly soaked.

View of Nantes cathedral from atop the elephant.

We rode up top under the 'umbrella',
and you can see the elephant spraying water at the bystanders.
The elephant sometimes squirted the water up at
the kids standing just under the ear.

Robert - a chou-chou for you.

Another area had a huge mechanical spider and other insects. They are in the process of building a giant tree that will have herons and other birds and insects. It was a great exhibition and something truly unique.

The spider - lifted by an overhead gantry
and the staff on board operated the legs.

We decided that the do not mount the insects applied to Odette too,
so she just sat on the step.

Nantes has a large interest in art so we headed out along the canal in search of other art exhibits. First was this boat - preparing to leap into the canal.

Titled Misconceivable.

The next exhibit was a chateau where you sat on the seat and enjoyed the castle view and a water fountain was supposed to erupt when you sat down, and stop when you stood up. Sadly, not working, but we enjoyed the castle view.

Love the reflection of the chateau,
surprising as the lake was really scummy.

The final exhibit of animal sculptures in the trees was also not accessible so that was the end of our day. Well, not quite. On the way home we got stopped by the gendarmes - didn't think we were speeding but your heart does go thump. Papers and licenses and a little conversation about how long we were going to be in France. Bonne vacance, and a wave and we were on our way home.

Just a little wine

Wednesday 9th May

This is our little gite where we are staying. Built in 1858. Bedroom and bathroom up a very steep flight of stairs. Very comfortable and lovely quiet location only 200mt from the main road.

Built in 1858.

We have named him George. Mmm, chicken!

Aim for the day was wine tasting so with the aid of a vague map and Dora we set forth. There are at least 30 wineries within 60k of here. How does one decide? We first picked a Cave Excellence called Chateau de Bellevue but on the way here took a small detour to an ancient chateau - well worth the detour. Would have been very grand in its time and the views were amazing.

Ancient Chateau de la Haute Guerche
- 12th century.

We were a bit worried when we arrived at the cave that this was going to be very exxy, as we were met at the door with a handshake and directed to seats around a table. The wine tasting here is very formal and civilised. This place had plenty of variety for tasting and prices were very reasonable. They even found 2 wines that I liked - just a tiny hint of sweetness. We added some weight to the boot here but we might have to drink a few before we move on at the weekend because the boot is pretty full with 2 suitcases and 2 backpacks.

A small selection.

Odette lined up for a taste.

Lunch! We searched hard and finally found a small restaurant offering menu du jour - needed food in preparation for the afternoon tasting.

The afternoon tasting - we picked a very small family winery having only 1/2 dozen wines to taste. I've never been to a wine tasting before where I've tasted the wine direct from the tank. More weight added!

On the way to our final winery we stopped at a little village on an island in the Loire river called Behuard. A quiet,  old village with an unusual church built on a rock in the centre of town. The village floods about once every 10 years.

A memorial to WWII soldiers

One last winery where they were very restricted in what they had - this winery was on the north side of the river (the others were on the south) and because of the soil type they only have dry whites and light reds. Only one bottle here.

The final highlight of the day - the supermarket. Still an experience in translating to make sure I don't end up with kidneys again!

Another public holiday - VE day

Sunday 6th May

Today was just a quiet day - a drive to the next town 10k away in search of an ATM. The french are tricky - we drove past it 3 times before spotting it inside the doors of the bank, in the lobby. We had a nice lunch in this little town,  St George sur Loire, before heading home for a restful afternoon. I even did a bit of sewing.

Monday 7th May

We set out today to the town of St Nazaire which is close to the mouth of the Loire river. It was a long drive not helped by the traffic congestion around Nantes. We're still not sure why it jammed up but added 20mins to our journey. We should have done a bit of research before we went as we found there were quite a few things to see here - a submarine base, boeing factory and ship building just to name a few.

Went to a pizza place for lunch while we waited for the tourist bureau to open after lunch. They let the kids top their own pizzas and i watched as a little girl meticulously added mushrooms, chicken and cheese to her pizza, moving them around if they didn't fit. This pizza was going to be a work of art.

This new ocean liner is being built in St Nazaire.
When I first saw it I thought I was looking at a building.
Can't imagine being on the top deck of this in a rolling sea.

From St Nazaire we visited the medieval village of Guerande. This was a bit of a disappointment as it does not have the feel of being very old and seems to have been made comfortable for the tourists.

One of the entry gates to Guerande.

The tea shop. Love these old signs though there weren't too many here.

Terrible photo but nice sorbet.
Passionfruit and raspberry and the passionfruit was full of flavour.

 We came back home with a detour via a little coastal village.

Tuesday 8th May

Today is a public holiday in france. It is V-E day, or victory in europe day, the day Germany surrendered, the end of WWII. Lots of places were closed but had no real impact on us.

Visited this chateau only a few k from here. This was built in the 1600s. Pretty stunning and well worth the visit. We were able to wander the lower rooms by ourselves with information in English in each of the rooms, this was followed by a guided tour of other rooms in the chateau including the kitchens, sitting rooms, dining room and library. As the guide opened each door there were wonderful things to see. They are quite proud of the fact that the queen mother stayed here for 3 days in 1981.

Beautifully reflected in the lake.
This chateau had a big moat.

In the kitchen. Lots of copper pots and cake molds.

This cabinet was just amazing - open a door
and then there's another door, or a drawer.
A fantastic piece of art.

Again we found huge tapestries from the 17th century.
In this room were half a dozen tapestries with fantasy type animals.
A friend for Odette. 

The library with over 12000 books -
one of the largest private collections in France.

Fire dogs, either side of the fireplace.

The dovecote - or as we called it the pigeon palace.

After leaving the chateau we stopped in a tiny little town at the back of nowheresville at the boulangerie for lunch. Blow me down - the owners had lived in Launceston and run a bakery there for 5 years. And only a few k from  here we passed Les Jardins de Kangourous. Just a little touch of home for the day.

Our aim from here was to follow the wine route and do a tasting or two. This was not very successful - the first one was closed Tuesdays and the next one we couldn't find at all. Still it was a nice drive first along the south side of the river which is where all the wineries are, then along the north side of the river (and closer to the river) on the way back. Was not a totally lost drive - we found ourselves on the La Pommeraye hillclimb track. The hillclimb is on in 3 weeks but we'll be long gone from the area by then.

At the entrance to the town of Montjean sur Loire.

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.