EXPLORING FRANCE

I have just got back from 9 days with Mum and Dad, which we spent driving around in the south-west of France. You can see on the map approximately where we went.... we spent most of the time in Bretagne (Brittany to you) and also Normandy, the Dordogne and Bordeaux.

It is amazing how much the scenery and architecture changes through the different regions. Unfortunately the weather was crap for most of the time, although we were often lucky that the rain did not interrupt some of the bigger sight-seeing things we did. Bretagne reminded me of home around the Great Ocean Road a bit, but I really loved the south-west regions of the Dordogne and Bordeaux the most. They were just gorgeous (so was the wine!). Anyway here photos from each day.

SUNDAY - St. EMILION FETE

We were lucky enough to stumble into the annual St. Emilion fete, where many Grand Crus vineyards (some often not larger than a couple of hectares) were represented. This is true Bordeaux country, St. Emilion is surrounded by vineyards and it is just the most beautiful town.

































COGNAC

Then we headed to Cognac, the town famous for the drink, where we visited the Henessey house. The tour was surprisingly good, although I'm not sure Cognac is for me (it's for mum though!)

ATLANTIC COAST

Then we made our way to the Atlantic Coast, where many Frenchies spend their summer holidays.
After stopping off at La Rochelle for a beer, we stayed the night on the Ile-de-Re.


























SOUTH BRETAGNE
We then braved the Cote Sauvage (Wild Coast) on the south coast of Brittany.















Mum was also feeling particularly savage that day!







Luckily we didn't get swept away so that we could investigate the menhirs of Carnac. These stones were aligned by pre-historic people between 5000 BC and 3500 BC, and no-one has any idea why they are aligned in rows, and how they got there. Think Asterisk and Obelisk and you get the idea of these stones. I thought they were really cool.



















After Carnac we spent the night at Pont-Aven, the village where the famous post-impressionist painter Gaugin spent many sejours. Actually the hotel we were staying at was the very one in which Gaugin stayed! This village was absolutely gorgeous, it had many water mills, a forest and a great restaurant (1 Michelin star thank you!). The best thing about this restaurant was the cheese table from which mum and I got to choose multiple hunks of cheese for dessert.











NORTH BRETAGNE
Up to the Cote de Granite Rose, we spent a couple of days driving along the coast. There are these massive rose Granite boulders everywhere, and everything is made from granite!



















Our last stop in Bretagne was Saint Malo, which was great. It is a walled town (love a wall) on the sea. Saint Malo has the highest tides in Europe of 10 - 15 metres, and the city becomes almost surrounded by the sea at high tide.



















NORMANDY

Before heading to mum and dad's next week-long house we visited Mont-Saint-Michel. It is a still-functional medieval Abbey which was founded (supposedly) after the appearance of the archangel Saint Michel who slayed a dragon in 708. After this the abbey grew in the middle ages and several floors of the monastery are stacked on top of each other. Mont-Saint-Michel is surrounded by sand that floods at high tide.