Wednesday 15 October 2008

Château-Gontier : Déjeuner, sous les cieux ensoleillés






With the laughter La Flèche echoing in our ears we challenged the silver car to hit the gas. Sablé-sur-Sarthe, Bouessay and Grez-en Bouère were the only towns to distract us from arriving for lunch at the time we had agreed.
Laurent, Valérie and their two delightful little girls would be wondering if we had lost our way. We needed to step on it.

Navigating in France is just so easy. Every town has an Avenue du Maréchal Foch and a Rue Thiers! One just follows one's nose and "presto".

We crossed the River Mayenne and dead ahead was our street right in the centre of the lovely old section of the town.
The narrow streets, so typical of the towns we were starting to see, revealed the architecture of many centuries past; the charm that the French are accustomed-to and of which we stand in awe.

Axelle, Apolline and Mum and Dad welcomed us warmly into their lovely home and showed us to the garden where, under a warm sunny sky we were treated to lunch and laughter, French style.

14 comments:

Jilly said...

Such a lovely village and two beautiful children.

Webradio said...

Là c'était hier... car aujourd'hui, il y a un petit crachin du coin...
Jolies photos, et à bientôt...

M.Benaut said...

It is, Jilly and there's more to come tomorrow.

Webradio, Peut-être vous pouvez m'expliquer, - un petit crachin du coin... ?
Je voudrais bien comprendre cette expression.

Nathalie H.D. said...

m.benaut, le crachin est une petite pluie très fine qui est typique de la région. Elle rend la nature très verte et fait les joues roses aux courageux qui vont quand même se promener dans la nature.

Nathalie H.D. said...

m.benaut, I don't think I had the time to tell you but I know the region well. My husband was originally from Sablé sur Sarthe and I've spent countless holidays there with my kids at their grandparent's house. Summer holidays are OK, but I would never be able to cope with living there year round. Not enough sunshine, I'd die under so much rain.

(if I may expand, the word crachin comes from the verb cracher, to spit)

Anonymous said...

... you forgot a few: every French town also has a Rue de la république and an Avenue de la libération.

Anonymous said...

It's interesting to notice the region's very typical slate roofs with a steep pitch - a feature that can be seen throughout Brittany and into most of the Sarthe/Loire region.

Cheltenhamdailyphoto said...

What a pretty little village, I love it.

Maria said...

What a couple of enchanting little girls!

Nathalie H.D. said...

Just discovered your Paris by night shots. How on earth did I manage to go past them??? They are gorgeous!

Mes préférées sont les deux premières : les toits de la mairie de Paris je pense.

claude said...

Mme and toi vous vous approchez de la prochaine étape où il n'y a pas de rue Foch ni Thiers, ni même de la république et ni de la libération comme dit Nahtalie.
J'attends de voir la suite avec impatiente !

dive said...

Yay for Aussie puppets!
This looks such a fun day; and what beautiful buildings!

Volmon said...

Image by image, word by word, you (and Katie) are transforming me into an armchair traveller! Indeed, at night, as I switch off my computer, I've caught myself sighing and saying: "Oh, well, time to go home."

M.Benaut said...

"C'est vrai, j'ai pris la première photo du toit du Centre Beaubourg.

J'en suis assez content".