|
Christine showed us the way to the supermarket that also had the closest petrol station at La Ferte Macy, half an hour away. Stocked up with provisions and the famous Calvados brandy we headed back to our Gite. On the way back I had a slight problem ( twice ) with driving on the right of the road, luckily the French have excellent reflexes…..it must have made quite an impression on the French driver, it certainly stuck in Lyne's mind! Still it cured me because it didn't happen again. Back at the Gite it was out with the Calvados and at fifty percent proof we were soon fast asleep. Later….forays into the rural villages proved fruitless as far as nightlife went, it seems after dark the locals stay in, perhaps the French government paying people to have large families keeps them off the streets.
Sunday we stayed local, Lyne was in hysterics in the morning, my chest had a white stripe where the seat belt had been from the trip down, later we attempted to walk to Javron les Chappells 8kms in the blazing sun but gave up exhausted, spending the remainder of the day sunbathing, trying to get rid of my white stripe. Monday, in brilliant sunshine we travelled up to Bagnoles de Orme, spa town of Normandy, beautiful setting, a town built around a lake in the centre of the forest, impressive buildings and the obligitory church.
Surprisingly there are no parking charges on car parks. We decided to eat lunch here, it appears that the French in the rural areas have a knowledge of English on a par with my skill in French, still after some sign language and pointing at the menu our lunch was on the way, four courses for nineteen euros, frogs legs for starters, ostrich steak main course, calvados with sorbet, fromage then apple tart and cream as a dessert, little wonder that lunch in France lasts two hours. From Bagnoles we travelled west to Domfront, this was like a ghost town, later we realised most places in France are deserted for most of the time.
Back to the Gite and Dr Dolittle 1 on video for the nights entertainment.
Tuesday saw a complete reversal of the weather, pouring down all day. Travelled down to Mayenne hoping to get out of the rain, no chance, sheltered in Saint Peters church during a heavy spell, went to the tourist information but they were closed for lunch until two. Decided to return to Mayenne when the weather improved. Saw our first and last speed camera, a gatso hand held, the gendarme was standing outside his station at the pavement edge facing the opposite direction to us.
A drive around the area local to our gite revealed a building that looked like a public house with the sign "chemin de fur" found out later, much to our dismay, it was a railway station, no chance of a pint here!.
Dinner with our hosts tonight, typical French cuisine and a delight to have conversations in English. Back to the gite at 2am, wish they had street lighting, pitch black and eerie sounds all around us. Undecided as to what type of animal/bird it could be or how close by it was, we decided to retreat asap into the gite...and have a little more Calvodos.
|
|
