Lacanau - Loire

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No doubt about it, I gotta get myself a new body. Something around 30 years younger than the one I've got now would be handy. What was a minor rib complaint after Hossegor blew out to full on crippler after 3 crummy waves in Lacanau. So after those 3 waves, the surfing is over. Is it time to bite the bullet, admit defeat in the age war and buy myself a longboard on return to Oz?
11 days of prepaid accommodation in Lacanau meant we were staying, surfing or no surfing.
11 days in a beach town like Lacanau can drag when:
- the skies vary from light grey to dark grey.
- the town is in severe wind down mode after the season. The beach villages along the Atlantic coast are the original French ghost towns, particularly after September and even more so after dark.
- the rugby is in the knockout stage meaning that there are no midweek games to fill in time at the Oz bar.
- day trip delights (so prevelant in other parts of France) are almost non existent.
So what does one do? Not a great deal. A couple of jaunts into Bordeaux (which is most definitely a worthy side attractrion), long bush walks, mountain bike riding through the forests. Doesn't sound too bad after all. Yes it has been kind of fun but felt like we were simply marking marking time before the Wobblies/Pommies match. SPEAKING of which .........
Brings us to........ VERY little shall be spoken of the debacle in Marseille. I will, however, draw your attention to a McDonalds TV commercial here in France espousing the virtues of the Aussie Scrum Burger. We called into to Macs one day to see if it was a seller. NO WAY! Too soft and mushy said the critics. We did see one guy attempt to purchase one but it kept going backwards up the chute. When he did eventually get his hands on it, he dropped it and handed it straight back over. Sound familiar? Thus, from here on in its "ALLEZ LES PUMAS".
If that wasn't bad enough, the All Blacks/Bleus that night. I love France but I couldnt help but feel sorry for the Kiwis, awfully sorry. We did, however, enjoy sitting in this little bar surrounded by empassioned young French guys when the game became winable. I couldn't resist joining in the ALLEZ! ALLEZ! ALLEZ! chants as les Bleus did anything positive. It was raucous and fun, even if the last try was a tad on the controversial side.
The other matches:
Fij - GET A SET PIECE - with a predictable loss to the Boks.
Scotland/Argentina - "chandelle encore" (up and under again) was the most dallied phrase by the French commentators. A predetermined borefest. Another week off before the semis, so.....
Out of Lacanau and cue Willy Nelson, "Back on the Road Again". This is enjoyable not only for the anticipation of a new destination but also because we get to tune in to our favourite little radio station. FIP is the most ecclectic channel this side of 89.7 Eastside Radio in Sydney. One spurt had Jeff Beck and Little Feat, straight from the 70s pseudo underground, then accoustic Red Hot Chili Peppers before swinging over to the jazz trumpet of Winton Marsalis - oral bliss.
Speaking of new destinations, we headed for the west end of the Loire Valley with a pit stop via Cognac. Remember to place the accent over the A and not the O when pronouncing Cognac, as I was politely corrected.
We based ourselves in Tours (don't pronounce the S) and I'm gunna rename Les Bleus - Les Gris. Its grey, grey and more....... The skies here in France are of a colour that will forever remind us of gloom.
The dim weather aside, this little enclave of the Loire is just like every other corner of France, 5 star visual luxury. Amboise, Chenanceau, Chinon, Saumur, Loches; the towns and chateau rolled by like rucks and mauls over the Wallabies advantage line.
HOW DID I GET BACK TO THE MELEE IN MARSEILLE? But while we are here, allow me to revert to the third person, a natural process following a loss. How could THEY show such ineptitude. If only THEY had a scrum, in fact any "grunt up front", THEY might have........ Im getting emotional and irrational here so I'd better sign off and hand the keyboard over to Penny.
A tout a l'heure.
Yeatesy

Another week in Lacanau and I have to admit I am getting cabin fever just a little, with three books read in a short time my fresh supply of books, compliments of Jeanette are disappearing before my eyes. But there is more to do here, and Bordeaux was a great excuse to visit a few times given the skies kept looking like they were going to give. Bordeaux has a great plaza around the Hotel de ville with back streets of trendy shopping, an artist quarter and of course the obligatory cafes, bars and expensive coffee shops. Given that the rain stayed away, we didn't manage to catch a film, Sicko - actually that is probably a good thing given it was the only film in its original version that I could watch.
So apart from my never ending reading, trips to Bordeaux, we managed to hire push bikes for a day. I remained unscathed by the expereince, but Gary managed to bounce over the handlebars into the sandy pathway - skinning his leg, and then somehow the chain came off the bike. With greasy hands and blood down his leg we managed to hobble into Maubisson for my coffee break and Gary to clean himself up.
So without being too sad to leave Lacanau we packed up the car and headed to Tours, with a pitstop at Cognac. Unfortunately being lunch time most things are closed but it was nice to get back to seeing the charming gingerbread villages that we have come accustomed to in France. The streets were fairly deserted, but the smell of cognac managed to permeate its way into the streets. Tours, another modern city on the outskirts of the old town and our home base for 3 nights. We treated ourselves to Indian the first night having not seen restaurant food - or anything exciting while we were in Lacanau. Can't say it will be a meal to remember, but having no Asian for 8 months certainly got the taste buds going.
Now that I am back in the navigator seat with tomtom under control, our day trips are back on schedule.
Amboise - This was our first stop for the day and also became the breakfast / coffee / cake stop - yes they had a very good pattisseries, so one just has to indulge. This was the working town of Leonardo de Vinci. The Chateau had school kids lined up ready to take it on, so Gary and I high tailed it on to Chenanceau - the chateau of all chateaux.
Chenanceau is BIG, despite the many tourists that visit here, there is room for us all. Gary and I had stopped here earlier in the year but being a cold wet day we thought we would postpone our visit to Chenanceau to this visit. I don't know if the photos will do it justice, but I can only say the French royalty really knew how to live it up. I would gladly be a gardener here, it is very palataial with two formal gardens, a moat, a garden maze and plenty of land beyond this.
Loches was our last stop for the day, touted as a visiting stop for Joan of Arc , again a charming town. and finally before we leave Tours, we visited Chinon, a chateau undergoing major repairs and restorations and due for completiong in 2010. Given there is not a lot of the area accessable, they provide you with a free guide to explain the history and promote the anticipated finished chateau. It also provided a great picnic spot in the sun - yes i said sun; very rare these dyas, however we managed to get a glimpse of it for our picnic lunch by the Loire River - how charming. Until next time, more chateaux to visit, more gardens to explore and many many more pattisseries to drool over
Penny

More images at:

www.colvinyeates.zenfolio.com

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Photos

Lacanau
Sunset over Atlantic swell lines.

Chenanceau
Anyone for chess?

Bordeaux
Taking advantage of a smidgin of blue sky

Bordeaux
Low level fog at "le miroir des eaux".

Bordeaux
The French call it art but to me it looks like a version of Fred Flintstone's brontosaurus ribs.

Cognac
Must be a pain sweeping up between the cracks

Chinon
Colourful wee bloke in the shadows of the fortress:

Loches
Just another church in just another citadel.

Chenanceau
This is what our garden will look like when we return after a year of Baddy's tender loving care.

Chenanceau
Through the grill.

Chenanceau
How much are the land rates on this humble abode?

Amboise
Penny's choice of morning tea locale.