Aug 19, 2009 - St Malo & Mont St Michel

We wanted to get out of city and see a bit of countryside of France, so we decided to take 3-hour train ride to St Malo, a picturesque town on the northern coast of France. The old town is completely surrounded by old walls constructed in 17th century, and the inside is lively with restaurants, shops and artists selling their artwork. It was quite busy with tourists and locals enjoying their summer holidays. This active port town is a popular holiday destination for British as it is only a short ferry ride away from their cities. We...

Jul 21, 2009 - I menhir di Carnac

Oggi lasciamo fanculandia e si torna verso latitudini a me più congeniali. Prima di rientare nel Continente, decidiamo di fare una sosta di un giorno a Carnac. A Carnac ci sono i menhir. La frase precedente per chi non ha un minimo di cultura penso suoni un po' come "a Bloandel ci sono i gottwen", per cui vi spiego. Carnac è una cittadina del sud della Bretagna e i menhir sono quei pietroni che sicuramente avrete visto trasportare da Obelix. La cosa particolare di Carnac è che i menhir sono tutti piantati nel terreno in modo allineato. E...

Jul 20, 2009 - Finistere

Lasciamo a malincuore la costa di granito rosa, ma sopratutto lasciamo a malincuore il ristorante "La bonne auberge" a Ploumanac'h. Giuseppe, il concierge del Mercure, ci viene a salutare sventolando il fazzoletto, pregandoci di salutare la sua "..bedda patria che prima o poi rivedrà con l'aiuto di santa Rosalia" e quindi, puntata la bussola a ovest, riprendiamo il nostro cammino. Ho deciso che finchè c'è terra ad ovest non giro la macchina, prima o poi arrivo all'Atlantico. Così facendo, dopo alcuni Km, entriamo nella regione della...

Jul 19, 2009 - La costa di granito rosa

Orbene, ci siamo lasciati la scorsa volta con il nostro arrivo a Perros Guirec, nella costa d'Armor. Questa è forse la zona più visitata della Bretagna e prende il nome di "costa di granito rosa". Il nome, probabilmente oscuro ai più, significa che in questa zona la costa è di granito e il granito è rosa; non ci si può credere eh? Comunque, nozionismi di alta geografia a parte, la capitale del posto è la cittadina di Perros Guirec, che se il nome vi sembra già strano, allora vi sfido a trovare la giusta pronuncia per il paesino a fianco:...

Jul 18, 2009 - Saint Malo e arrivo a Perros Guirec

Bene, si prosegue il viaggio. Dopo le battaglie di Bayeux ed il fango di Mont Saint Michel, dirigiamo la prua verso Saint Malo ed entriamo così ufficialmente in Bretagna (non la Gran Bretagna, la Bretagna e basta). Saint Malo è un paesino ridente in cui tutto viene presentato in stile corsaro. ...Cioè la Corsica non c'entra un c..., ma corsaro nel senso con la benda su un occhio e la gamba di legno insomma. Così, ci rechiamo in prossimità del porto e ormeggiamo la Peugeot in un attracco a pagamento (una pinta di rum ogni ora o parte di...

Jul 15, 2008 - And on to Brittany ...

Hello Everyone!!! Brittany - and especially this old, old town of Dinan - are living up to all expectations!! Our house - one of the oldest in the Old Town (the part surrounded by an astounding, intact city wall, boasting the best preserved ramparts of the Middle Ages) - is very quirky, with treacherous staircases spiralling ever upwards, made of old cherry wood and with a bannister of rope at its steepest part!!! It is very comfy, with all the mod cons, but loads of character - and perfectly located to explore the town. Since our arrival...

May 16, 2008 - Brest to Morlaix to Scrignac

The weather was cold with spotty rain all day, although it held out the two times we were at the cemetery. It poured as we toured the port of Brest, including the U-boat pens that are still intact and in the distance, the French aircraft carrier, the Charles De Gaulles. Finally, we arrived at the Memorial Des Finisteriens, a fort that was built around 1775 to support the American Revolution, although by the time the fort was completed the revolution was over; it has been used throughout the years for military storage and occupation of...

May 16, 2008 - Scrignac to Brest, France

Scrignac to Brest, France The day we were waiting for had arrived as we drove about an hour to Brest, having picked up Marie-Claude along the way. Jacques had explained to us the night before that there was a legal problem related to burying the ashes of someone at the grave of another person, a French law, and that we would not be able to complete our mission of depositing Ruth's ashes at Bob's grave. So, when Jacques suggested we buy a red rose bush and plant it instead, we stopped at a flower shop to make that purchase along with white...

May 15, 2008 - Morlaix to Scrignac, France

Morliax to Scrignac, France Early 2007: Before Ruth died in Nov of 2006, she asked to be cremated with Bob’s photos upon her death; then most of her ashes were scattered at sea off the coast of Florida as per her wishes. She was a very practical person and had no religious or other ceremony planned when she finished her life on earth, probably trying to save feelings and money. Yet, we felt that something was missing after her passing and decided to hold some of her ashes back to eventually take to France and be placed at Bob’s gravesite....

May 14, 2008 - CDG Airport to Morlaix via Rennes

In Morlaix, France 10 April 1941 – The morning after Bob’s plane was shot down over Brest; a young mother named Simonne Piriou walked a few hundred meters from her house down to the beach with her children, taking them out of the house to get exercise and play with them, picking up shells. A beautiful spring day was shared by other townspeople and their families as they took respite from the bombing and difficulties of the enemy occupation. Suddenly, she noticed a large parachute billowing in the shallow water as the tide went out; a body...

Mar 29, 2008 - Frolicking on the Beach.

Day 79. Saturday 3/29. St. Malo and Mont-St.-Michel, France. Up for a free breakfast in the hotel! You would think I had never seen food before watching how much I ate. With full bellies, we went on a tour of the St. Malo around the ramparts (the top of the city walls). Merick did a better job getting to the important stuff, but left out my favorite one about the dancing cat street. On the way back some other people found it though and I shared about how when the city was bombed the only death was one cat on this street. It is sad, but very...

Feb 29, 2008 - Normandy/Saint-Malo

I've been looking forward to my trip to Normandy ever since we arrived in Paris. We were scheduled to leave Friday, February 29th at 7:45am. Unfortunately I was not awoken to the sound of an alarm, but instead was awoken to the ringing of our room phone. My roommate Natalie jumped out of bed to answer it and I hear Ged (one of our AIFS advisors) through the phone saying "If you are not down here in 30 seconds the bus is leaving without you!" It was 8:00am!!! We all had massively overslept. The chaos that ensued in the next couple minutes...