Belle Ile

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We left our house for an overnight on Belle Ile, a little island to the south of us which we knew of as a place where Australian impressionist John Russell painted with Monet, Gauguin and Matisse. The two hour morning ferry ride through the Gulf was very pretty, lots of beautiful houses and yachts. We arrived in Le Palais and found a hotel (see pic 2) then decided to rent a moped so we could see more of the island, particularly the Sauvage Coast to the west where Russell had his artists' colony (see pic 1) -- it was as ruggedly beautiful as the paintings we had seen. We had a huge meal at the hotel that night -- between us we had crab, mussels, steak and salmon. A's steak was accompanied by the best frites I have ever tasted and thankfully there were enough to share. We spent more time yesterday checking out the island before heading back on the ferry and back home. We're off to have paella for lunch now which we bought at the markets -- bon appetite!

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