Tide... one of the many things I've learned about.
High tide... Low tide...
It sometimes differs by 16 FEET!
Au revoir Douarnenez
Last stop - Locronan
Saint Ronan Church
We left town with chocolate and beer - the necessities.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
onward
Troisieme - Pont-Aven
We stopped for lunch in Pont-Aven. When in France, do what the French do... so we ordered crepes and cidre bretagne which is a cider champagne made in Brittany. After walking up and down the river, we stopped in Traou Mad to buy some bisquits - not as impressive as they made them sound, but we've got them!
Last stop of the day - Douarnenez
This is the hotel we stayed in... and we might have been the only guests for the night!
I'll finish up the rest of the weekend tomorrow!
Somehow this afternoon, through a few words and charades, I made an appointment for a haircut tomorrow morning. I was hoping at least one of them would have known a little English but no such luck. Sooooo... that should be interesting!
Monday, January 28, 2013
friday mishap and weekend travel
Instead of attending the English Table or checking out the local bowling alley on Friday, we stopped in a local pub for a biere and headed to a restaurant where I asked for water and got a bottle of... Coca-Cola.
At home, one of the first things a waiter brings to you is a glass of tap water, but in France, you have to ask for it.
Our first two weeks of eating out usually started something like this...
- ask for eau (water)
- waiter rambles something with the word "gas" in it - luckily Mark knows this means "sparkling"
- we say "no" and the waiter returns with a large bottle of Evian
After getting tired of paying a pretty penny for water, I did some research in one of my French books and found out it is acceptable to ask for a carafe d'eau - which is a FREE carafe of tap water. I guess carafe d'eau sounded like bouteille de coca-cola. French-1 : Val-0
We were a little concerned about the weather cooperating for the weekend, but we woke up to this sunrise on Saturday morning and figured it was a good sign for a successful roadtrip weekend!
At home, one of the first things a waiter brings to you is a glass of tap water, but in France, you have to ask for it.
Our first two weeks of eating out usually started something like this...
- ask for eau (water)
- waiter rambles something with the word "gas" in it - luckily Mark knows this means "sparkling"
- we say "no" and the waiter returns with a large bottle of Evian
After getting tired of paying a pretty penny for water, I did some research in one of my French books and found out it is acceptable to ask for a carafe d'eau - which is a FREE carafe of tap water. I guess carafe d'eau sounded like bouteille de coca-cola. French-1 : Val-0
We were a little concerned about the weather cooperating for the weekend, but we woke up to this sunrise on Saturday morning and figured it was a good sign for a successful roadtrip weekend!
The sunrise isn't until 9:00am so it's easy to catch it.
I walked to the beach this morning and took photos -
I'm sure they will be posted later on a rainy day!
We made it to five different places...
and yes, we used a map!
Premier (First) - Le Pouldu
This wasn't really a planned stop, but we were driving through. We just pulled over to admire the view!
And then we were back on the road...
Roads are tricky here - instead of having a sign with the road name, they have a sign for the next city. There are also not many corners... all round-abouts! After a few wrong round-about exits, we got the hang of it!
Deuxieme - Doelan
Doelan is one of many fishing ports along the southwestern coast.
Supposedly in the summer you can buy fish straight off the boats.
thankfully, we didn't end up like the guy on the sign
There is a trail along the whole coast. Hiking shoes may be next on the "buy" list!
I will add our other stops in the next few days!
Friday, January 25, 2013
bonjour de France
Good morning from France!
Sorry for the lack of posting this week - the cold Mark had a couple weeks ago decided to invade my body this past week. I thought I was in the clear, but I guess not! Through some trial and error and Googling, I think we've successfully figured out some good medicine! The first time, I tried la pharmacie before Google... FAIL! The pharmacies here are much different than home. They are marked with neon green lights in the shape of a + so they are very easy to find but not so easy to buy from! Everything is behind the counter so you have to tell someone what you want, which is actually a very good idea IF I spoke French! Through some pointing at my nose, head and throat, I came home with nose spray and some (translate) throat tablets. After one night of using the nose spray, Mark decided to use his internet privileges at work to Google pseudophedrine France and found something else. He wins this time...
I'm on the mend and thank goodness because we've got a lot of weekend plans here! Tonight we might go to an English Table which is a group of English speakers I stumbled across online who meet at a local pub or cafe twice a month. From the pictures, it looks like everyone is much older than us... and our parents, but one of them that e-mailed me back is named Zoe, so it might be promising! OR we've been wanting to check out the always packed bowling alley at the end of our street! Then tomorrow it's a full weekend of exploring the countryside 100% planned by me! We live in the Brittany region - check out the tourism website here. I might have a little too much on the plate for this weekend, but I'll let you know if it's labeled success or disaster when we return. Mark has no idea where we are headed, so it could be interesting!
Au revoir for now! Happy Friday everyone!
check out our rain gauge to the left.... ashtray
Sorry for the lack of posting this week - the cold Mark had a couple weeks ago decided to invade my body this past week. I thought I was in the clear, but I guess not! Through some trial and error and Googling, I think we've successfully figured out some good medicine! The first time, I tried la pharmacie before Google... FAIL! The pharmacies here are much different than home. They are marked with neon green lights in the shape of a + so they are very easy to find but not so easy to buy from! Everything is behind the counter so you have to tell someone what you want, which is actually a very good idea IF I spoke French! Through some pointing at my nose, head and throat, I came home with nose spray and some (translate) throat tablets. After one night of using the nose spray, Mark decided to use his internet privileges at work to Google pseudophedrine France and found something else. He wins this time...
I'm on the mend and thank goodness because we've got a lot of weekend plans here! Tonight we might go to an English Table which is a group of English speakers I stumbled across online who meet at a local pub or cafe twice a month. From the pictures, it looks like everyone is much older than us... and our parents, but one of them that e-mailed me back is named Zoe, so it might be promising! OR we've been wanting to check out the always packed bowling alley at the end of our street! Then tomorrow it's a full weekend of exploring the countryside 100% planned by me! We live in the Brittany region - check out the tourism website here. I might have a little too much on the plate for this weekend, but I'll let you know if it's labeled success or disaster when we return. Mark has no idea where we are headed, so it could be interesting!
Au revoir for now! Happy Friday everyone!
Monday, January 21, 2013
weekend update
To make the most of this adventure, we've decided to be weekend tourists for the next couple of years! I'll try my hardest to share our latest discovery through weekend updates.
Our first weekend here was spent pretty close to home, but last weekend, the sun was out and we decided to take in some of the sights outside of the city. There was a road on the map that looked like it followed the coast pretty closely so we hopped in the car not really knowing what we'd find.
We stumbled upon this trail first...
Further down the road, we found another trail near a surf school. We didn't see any surfers but we did see some kiteboarders braving the cold water! Even though it was sunny, the wind got the best of me and my camera took a nap. Hopefully, on a warmer day, we will make our way back there - it was beautiful!
Our first weekend here was spent pretty close to home, but last weekend, the sun was out and we decided to take in some of the sights outside of the city. There was a road on the map that looked like it followed the coast pretty closely so we hopped in the car not really knowing what we'd find.
We stumbled upon this trail first...
Further down the road, we found another trail near a surf school. We didn't see any surfers but we did see some kiteboarders braving the cold water! Even though it was sunny, the wind got the best of me and my camera took a nap. Hopefully, on a warmer day, we will make our way back there - it was beautiful!
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