top dog

What a delight to drive past the marais salantes again, where salt is extracted from the sea through a patient process of evaporation in vast square patches of salt marshes (remember, Meghan and Caitlin?). Then we visited the medieval walled city of Guérande, which owed its ancient wealth to this salt (a commodity more valuable than gold - I wonder why it isn't featured in Settlers of Catan). The beautiful crystals of this salt are still sold there today (and can be found in supermarkets throughout France as well). As we walked through the city with our good friends Dominique and Yannick, Ron was intent on finding this stone carving of a dog which he remembered from our visits here four years ago, and there it was, still sitting on top of this building just as it has for who knows how long. And who knows how long he will stay sitting here in this spot on my blog. I hope that I will get the chance to post on my blog again sometime during the month of November, while we are in RUSSIA! Good-bye for now!

...another wish-you-were-here moment :)

We all had delicious crêpes for our main courses at lunch, but this is the one I wanted a picture of - the dessert crêpe that Ron and I shared - peaches, strawberries, raspberries, with cream and raspberry sauces........ sigh!

speaking of gracious hospitality...

Introducing Yannick and Dominique (Vincent’s parents), who gave us the gift of an incredibly special day this past Sunday. We went to the ocean! First to St. Nazaire (a port city) for a church service at a Baptist church there (Yannick preaching). Then lunch in La Baule (another seaside city) at a restaurant specializing in crêpes from Bretagne - mmmmmmm!!! Next we walked along the seashore with them at La Baule and at Le Croisic. This is where Micah first saw the ocean!!!

speaking of churches...

Meanwhile, back in Nantes, here is Vincent’s church - the Eglise Protestante Baptiste Libre! This is where we received such gracious hospitality from Vincent’s family when we first visited this place four years ago. And this is where we participated in the early services of this renovated movie theater, and sang in a choir at the inauguration of the building's new life as a church. What a privilege to have been part of that special time in the life of this wonderful church family.

kairos!

We had forgotten that this was a Sunday, but as we entered the cathedral to the powerful notes of a great organ, the sweet voices of a children’s choir, and a sea of onlookers in pews, we realized that we had just walked into a true serendipity moment. As a matter of fact, this was no ordinary service, but an international celebration with a number of children’s and adults’ choirs performing one after another! We don’t know where they all came from, but at the end of the celebration, directions for the participants were given in French, German and English. Spectacular timing. Beautiful. Kairos.

notice something unusual?

One of the first things to strike us about the Cathedral (besides its immensity and the incredible ringing of its bells) was something we’d never seen before. The two spires do not match. We had no idea why, but read later that it has to do with a fire that destroyed much of the cathedral. If I remember correctly, the originally romanesque cathedral (of which the spire on the right survived) was rebuilt in the Gothic style.

look up, look WAY up...

I tried to take a picture of the entire Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, from the front. I kept aiming the camera, taking a few steps backwards, aiming the camera again, taking more steps backwards... over and over again. I finally took this picture, managing to get most of it in. It has since been suggested to me that the entire Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris could fit inside this cathedral!

a HUGE serendipity moment

There we were driving along the French equivalent of the 401 (the A-11) on our way “home” from Switzerland. We had set out from Lausanne on Sunday October 8th at around 6:15 in the morning, and it was now around lunchtime. Ron had decided to exit at the next rest stop along the highway for us to have a little lunch break. But somehow we were in the wrong lane at the wrong time, with a big truck between us and the exit, so we missed it. I checked our maps and suggested that since we seemed to be ahead of schedule, perhaps we might want to stop in Chartres, where we could have a bite to eat and also see the cathedral. I had read about this cathedral (and about the magnificent Mont-Saint-Michel) in my study of Gothic literature - we had seen Mont-Saint-Michel several times, but had never taken the trip to Chartres. So moments afterwards we found ourselves off the highway and travelling awe-struck in the direction of this MASSIVE cathedral DOMINATING not only the city but the entire landscape. This is a partial side-view of the cathedral as we walked down the street towards it. What we are looking at are some of Chartres' “flying buttresses”.

zooming in

We were surprised to find that if you looked very carefully, you really could see some grapes still on the vines, ready to be harvested!

picture postcard

Ron has observed that many countries do not quite live up to the images we see on their postcards. However the landscape of Switzerland is one big picture postcard. Here are vineyards next to the castle in Aigle. The whole town appeared to be either hard at work at, and/or busy celebrating, the fall harvest of grapes.

living dangerously

We watched as several parachute gliders appeared high on the horizon just beyond the mountains, gradually approached into visibility, and finally descended into the field right next to the church. Once again, wish I could post the video!

more serendipity

In Rougemont we experienced a convergence of serendipity - we stopped to take pictures of an old church, just as a wedding was taking place and a parachutist was circling the spire.

my favourites

We took lots of pictures of cows, even some videos. I especially wanted pictures of cows with bells. Some had them, some didn’t. Some had BIG ones and some had little ones. Some had plain ones, and some had FANCY ones. And some even had flowers on their heads as they walked down the road - I think that may have been because of the wedding that was taking place in an old church in Rougemont while we were visiting the village. But these are my favourites. They were so interested in us, and stood there watching us the whole time we stood near them. They seemed so gentle and sweet and friendly and content. Actually, all the cows in Switzerland really did seem contented. A cliché, I know. But so it appears. Maybe they just appreciate the view!

eureka

Found it! This is where I lived for a month, the year before I went to Château d’Oex. This is La Sapinière in Rougemont. They often name houses in Switzerland, and the name of this building continues to hang on a shingle in front of the house (there it is on a red sign just to the right of the stairs). However, after 40 years, it is no longer a “pension” for young girls. It's a sporting-goods store! Which meant that we were able to walk through it, Ron accompanying me in my little jaunt through faded-memory-land.

remind you of someone?

You also sometimes find goats sporting bells around their necks. We just had to stop the car to take a picture of this cute goat with its head through a fence. And wasn’t it obliging of her to stick out her tongue just in time for the picture?!?!

my fickle memory

Château d’Oex! Finally we arrived at the place I’d been waiting 40 years to see again. I spent one month of my summer here when I was around 13. Château d’Oex was the location of a private school which became in the summer a place for girls from around the world to learn French and do lots of fun activities. Especially - horseback riding, my very favourite childhood activity! The school had its own stable full of palomino horses, which of course was a dream-come-true for me! Unfortunately, while I can remember the names of two of the horses (the stallion Rocky and a foal Mimosa) and a number of extremely minor moments from those days, I couldn’t remember the location of the school or any of the major landmarks around the town! The school doesn’t seem to exist anymore (we asked at the tourist office), but we weren’t even able to find the building. We did drive around the village for a long time hoping to find a place with stables, but alas to no avail. But suddenly - what a joy to come across a serendipitous confirmation of one of the enduring little memories that I cherish - cows (with bells) being led down the street! Wish I could post the video!

where the cheese comes from

And now we arrive at the day after the conference, the day that we had set aside for my trip down memory lane. We drove in a loop: Lausanne, Gruyères, Château d’Oex, Rougemont, Gstaad, Les Diablerets, Aigle, then back to Lausanne. This is Gruyères, our first stop. Here’s a really cute part of the old village, with the castle in the background. Would you believe that after spending some time in Europe, medieval castles and cathedrals actually become rather ... well, I don’t even want to say it, but they are so common here that... well, let’s just say that perhaps they are the European equivalent of Canadian “rocks and trees” - spectacular but after a while rather repetitive.

light in the darkness

The second day of the conference, I walked through the village of St. Sulpice, looking for this beautiful 12-century Romanesque church. Unlike the many cathedrals that we have visited throughout Europe, this old church was small, simple, and very dark inside. The camera worked beautifully despite the darkness, revealing much more than I was able to see without it. I was completely alone there. A special moment.

contest: guess the instrument

In the evening the conference organizers hosted a VERY special dinner in a dining hall right next to the castle in Aigle. We were entertained by a terrific group of three medieval musicians. This is one of the period instruments they used. Another contest for you - what is this instrument called? I was so pleased to hear what it is and what it sounds like, because I’ve seen it mentioned in literature, but had no idea what it was until now!

ever wait 40 years for something?

That’s how long I've been waiting to return to Switzerland! Ron had a conference in Lausanne, and I got to go along for the ride. It took us 10 hours to drive there. The day after we arrived, Ron went to his conference and I walked for an hour and a half from our motel in St. Sulpice to the center of Lausanne. I spent the afternoon walking around Lausanne (stopping twice for hot chocolates - see previous entry). At the end of the afternoon I climbed up the tower of the cathedral to get this view for you.

serendipity

Ron and I cannot count the number of times we have stumbled upon something wonderful and sometimes inexplicable during our wanderings through Nantes, or through other places in Europe. Like the Saturday that we took the tram into town to meander through the streets of Nantes, for old times sake, revisiting the many streets and squares and gardens that have become so familiar to us. As is my custom, I suggested that we go to a café where Ron could get his customary beer and I could get my customary hot chocolate (and would therefore be entitled to the use of a clean restroom - you have to think about these things when you walk around public places for hours). Anyway, as we sat sipping our drinks on the terrace on this beautiful late September day, we suddenly heard the POUNDING of drums, and watched and listened to an amazing group of drummers passing by. For some reason. We had no idea what reason. Except that it was terrific, fun, entertaining, a real celebration, and a gift from people we didn’t know for some reason we couldn't imagine. A short while later, as we walked through the streets again, we found ourselves in the middle of an energetic, happy parade, led by this amazing and jovial fellow with his wonderful message of “humour, goodness and gaiety”! What it was all about, we had no idea. Later I picked up a pamphlet which described the event as a Fête de l’Agriculture Paysanne. But nobody I’ve asked since seems to know anything about it. I think it was farmers from various places around Nantes, celebrating the harvest. Or something like that.

just what every village needs

One day I walked to the next village over - Orvault:Le Bourg (as opposed to Orvault:Le Banlieu, I presume). It’s a walk of about an hour and a half from our apartment. An extremely pleasant trail along Le Cens “river” which for much of its loooooooong slooooooow winding route is not much more than a drainage ditch. (If I had kept going for another hour or two along Le Cens, I think I would have arrived at Vincent’s house in Sautron!) The walking trails around Nantes are AMAZING. As is the fact that just about every little village seems to have its own personal gothic Cathedral - like this one in Orvault.

this one's for you, Bev

The Jardin des Plantes in Nantes is just amazing - I kept thinking of how much you would like it, Bev. Flowers and trees and water and birds and fish and turtles - it’s just lovely all year round, with 7 hectares of botanical specimens (11,000 different varieties) from the Americas (including Canada), Asia, Africa and of course Europe. It was "inaugurated" (as they often express it here) in 1860.

speaking of strange places

Now, about Nantes. Here’s a strange sight, one of the most obvious of a number of buildings in Nantes that illustrate a parable Jesus told - guess which one. Last time we were in Nantes, this looked like quite a dilapidated old tenement. It has since been renovated, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people are paying a premium to live in this distinctive (and I assume safe?!?!) building!

A belated Happy Birthday to Micah Willem!

I was going to post this on Micah’s birthday. On September 25th, I intentionally went for a walk to take this picture near the apartment where we lived during our sabbatical year, 2002-2003. This is where we got the wonderful news about our first grandchild’s birth, four years ago. And this is also the place where Meghan stood, with Micah asleep in a backpack and Ron making funny faces for the camera, as Meghan called Aaron to tell him about their safe arrival in France (when Micah was just four months old). What a strange place for the convergence of such precious memories!

the contest that isn't

If we had not lost our internet access, and I had been able to keep up with my blog, I was planning to launch a contest. Here’s our kitchen. It’s in the hallway leading from the bathroom to our room. It consists of a bar-sized fridge, a sink, two cupboards, two burners and a microwave. The contest? For you to submit your favourite vegetarian dinner recipe (using a few simple ingredients) that could be cooked on two burners and/or in the microwave. But now that we have just two weeks left in France, I will probably not have the opportunity to try very many entries. Still, if you want to send any ideas for recipes, I would be happy to receive a collection of them whether or not I get to use them here in France. We are still using our regular email addresses (in case you were wondering).

"home" sweet "home"

Here’s Ron hard at work in our one-room studio apartment. It is very convenient and comfortable, and somewhat bigger than the place we had for our first week here. You know - the place that had internet access... but virtually no floor space when the couch was opened up into a bed. And we also traded a larger window in the old place for a better view from this one (trees).

boulangerie

Our neighbourhood Patisserie is also our neighbourhood Boulangerie. This is just a small sampling of the breads and cakes available there. There are several Boulangeries for us to choose from, as they are found on just about every corner. O.K. that’s a slight exaggeration (but only slight).

for Heather

The first patisserie that I decided to sample was in Heather’s honour - a Religieuse (nun), something that Heather told us she had LOVED when she visited France a number of years ago. Did I remember correctly, Heather? ... and do I hear a faint and semi-sarcastic “yay” coming our way from across the channel? You can get me back by posting a picture of scones and tea from your neighbourhood tearoom - I LOVE scones and tea, and would trade you my Religieuse for one of your scones any day!!! Oh, and note the Leffe in the background. That’s Ron’s. He’s been working hard at evaluating the beers of Europe and the wines of France.

moving right along (at last)!

Had enough of the cheese course? Sorry to have left you so long drooling over the cheese cart, but we don’t have internet access in our room so I haven’t been able to keep you up to date for the past few weeks. So today I’ve decided to go into Ron’s work (Ecole des Mines) and update my blog. It is now time to reward those of you who are still faithfully coming back over and over again to the chariot de fromage, and offer you a selection from the dessert menu. Here is a glimpse of our neighbourhood Patisserie. In the immortal words of so many postcards, wish you were here!