France 1 - Dinan / La Marmite and the battle of Hastings

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We hadnt been on holiday for quite some time - 2001 to be exact and our holiday to the USA. What had happened in between was house hunting and house moving which got in the way on holidaying. We moved into our new house in 2001 just before we flew to Chicago and whilst the house seemed a good idea at the time gradually we began to realise it just wasnt what we wanted or needed. For a start we had two cars and a van. The house only had a small garage and drive and this meant that the van had to sit across the road which was hardly convenient. The estate seemed fairly quiet to begin with but gradually more and more houses were being built and with this more and more families moved in. Most were young and upwardly mobile, many had young families and we felt totally out of place - a pair of old fogies with old fashioned values who just wanted a bit of peace of quiet. None of which we could get in this house.

We put a deposit on a bigger house on the new part of the estate, our plan was that it would be more practical with four bedrooms, a family room, a double garage and space to park at least 8 vehicles. We had to wait through to 2003 before it was ready. Big mistake again as the neighbours were just the same and we felt as out of place here as we had in the previous property. Holidays had gone on the back burner with just day trips out or a few days at York. But then we did see the light and decided that we needed a holiday to get things into perspective.

We packed up the Audi TT and headed for the Tunnel. Glenn had never been to France using the tunnel although I had been once before by bus when I travelled to Northern Italy with my first husband. It is a most civilised way to travel with easy on line booking, easy parking and takes only 35 or so minutes to get to France. The road to the tunnel looks like spaghetti junction but it always makes me smile to see .................TO FRANCE .............so we follow that. We had no plans for this holiday apart from a few days with our friends Sam and Roy in Dinan. Perhaps this type of holiday is the best sort.

Arriving in La Belle France I love to see the brown roadsigns depicting some feature of the area whether it be the bird or wild life, the marshes, the churches or the abbeys. We should take a leaf out of their book and adopt both them and the practice of naming a village but also putting up a sign to say when that village has ended.

Our first stop off was the tiny town of Bayeux in the Calvados region of Normandy and its world famous tapestry. Housed in the local museum it is displayed beautifully in the round and we hired the commentaries which gave the story of each part of the tapestry and the events that took place in and around 1066 which changed our history forever. Lunch was spent in a small cafe in the town - cheese omlette beautifully cooked.

After lunch we drove over to Dinan to our friends. Their house a typical stone shuttered three story end terraced building . With an imposing staircase the house rambled from floor to floor to attic space. Ours hosts were making a good living from bed and breakfast accomodation mainly used by relatives, friends or friends of friends. Roy gardened for the local brits in the area and Sam was keyholder. This meant she cleaned and tidyed the properties, took in packages,met workmen and opened the properties for visitors who had rented them. I felt envious of this laid back lifestyle and imagined myself doing much the same. Bit of gardening here and a bit of cleaning there - heaven.

We ate at night at La Marmite their favourite restaurant in nearby Lehon. We had a fabulous meal and walked off the calories late at night along the river in the moonlight.

Next morning after breakfast we head for Mont St Michel. I had always wanted to visit it as I had been years before to St Michaels Mount in Cornwall and wanted to compare and contrast the two places. I think on the whole I probably preferred St Michaels Mount to Mont St Michel. Why ................well both are islands and both linked by causeways but St Michaels Mount is much more romantic. Walking along the cobbled narrow causeway or coming back on a boat seemed much more in keeping with its position . Both require a stiff climb to the top , Mont St Michels streets are full of shops selling tacky souveniers whilst St Michaels Mount has a stiff climb through shrubbery and trees. An all together less tacky experience and more low key. Perhaps being National Trust has something to do with it. Mont St Michel has no garden so to speak whereas the warm Gulf Stream has meant that the Abbey gardens in Cornwall are sub tropical hidden beneath the bulk of the main castle itself. Both have abbey churches , Mont St Michel much bigger and lofty probably closer to the Norman tradition of church building than its Cornish cousin. On the whole I would say I enjoyed Mont St Michel but was a bit disappointed. Perhaps if I had not seen the Cornish version I might have felt different.

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