A week of rest

During this 10-day stretch where we have no house guests, I'm taking some time off. I'm still posting a few pictures on my Loire Valley Images blog, but I'm resting up in anticipation of a busy couple of weeks touring around with a friend starting Saturday.

The weather is hot but not unbearably so. The garden is growing. To tell the truth, I'm a little bit bored and at loose ends with nobody to take sight-seeing.

A summertime flower in the back yard

Le Mont Saint-Michel

I can't believe it was as long ago as June 20 that we were at the Mont Saint-Michel. Since that day, we have made a quick trip to Paris to drop one friend off at the airport for her return to California and to see another old friend who's back in France after at two-year absence. Then we received two other sets of company, both couples with two children. We've been pretty busy, and time is flying. Here we are in July already.

The Mont seen from a dirt road lined with red poppies

So the Mont Saint-Michel trip is fading into memory. We left Domfront by car that June 20 morning and drove the hour or so it took to get to the coast. There wasn't much traffic, and the weather was gray and cool. We even ran through one rain shower on the way to our destination, I remember. The countryside was very green.

Sheep grazing in the salty meadows that now line the coast near the Mont

We took the little coastal road, the D75, once we got close to the Mont, because we wanted to get good views of the place before we arrived. At one point, to get an unobstructed view from the top of a levee, we stopped the car and walked a few hundred yards down a gravel road to reach what we thought would be the edge of the mudflats. We got the panorama, but we were surprised to find not mudflats but a pasture full of grazing sheep on the other side of the levee.

View of the Mont from the causeway connecting it to the mainland

The bay has silted up considerably over the past 150 years of so, and the Mont is now just barely an island. A government-sponsored project to return the bay to its original state is in the works. The causeway that prevents seawater from flowing around all sides of the Mont will be removed and replaced by a bridge. The hope is that the flowing water will wash all the accumulated sand back into the ocean.

The mudflats north of the Mont at low tide

Of course, some wise guy said global warming should take care of the silting problem whether the government undertakes this project or not!

When you get to the Mont and enter into the old town through big stone archway, the first thing you see is the most famous restaurant on the island, La Mère Poulard. The local specialty is the omelet, a concoction of beaten eggs that resembles a soufflé more than it does the standard French omelet. We didn't have one. I think the plain omelet at La Mère Poulard listed at about 20 euros -- that's 25 dollars in U.S. money. Obviously, the restaurant is trading on its reputation. An omelet served with fricasseed lobster for 48 euros (nearly $65), or an omelet served with foie gras and mushrooms for 45 euros.

Famous for its omelets

The other thing you notice when you enter through the archway onto the Mont's narrow streets is the crowd. The place was mobbed at 10:30 on a Tuesday morning in June. I can't even imagine what it is like in July or August, or on a Saturday or Sunday during high season.

We walked around a little, but by 11:30 Walt and I decided it might be a good idea to sit down and have lunch before everybody else on the island decided to do the same thing. We had intended to have an omelet, but as I said the prices were just too high, especially considering that we can buy a carton of 10 eggs for 75 eurocents at the supermarket and easily make a good omelet at home.

Outdoor dining at La Vieille Auberge on the Mont Saint-Michel

We looked at menus posted in front of some other restaurants and the offerings at a place called La Vieille Auberge (The Old Inn) appealed to us. It was early, so the place wasn't crowded. The restaurant had an outdoor seating area, and the weather was getting warm enough to make that attractive.

I took this close-up of our waiter when he wasn't looking

Sue decided she wanted to go shopping instead of eating lunch, so it was just me and Walt. We each ordered an assiette de crudités (raw vegetables with vinaigrette dressing) and a serving of moules à la crème avec frites (steamed mussels in a cream sauce, served with fried potatoes). We had a bottle of the house white wine, which was, I think, a Sauvignon Blanc from Touraine (where Saint-Aignan is located). The mussels were plump and tender in their shells, the cream was rich and tasty, and there were just a few French-fried potatoes to fill out the meal. The bill for all that and coffee came to about fifty euros. And it was all delicious. We spent about an hour and a half at the table, enjoying the people-watching and the food.

Both before and after lunch, as we were strolling along the old walkways around the edges of the island, we saw many groups of people out walking on the mudflats. Some were couples or groups of three or four, but several were larger groups of young people. They were probably school groups with teachers and guides.

A group of young people who seem to be trying to stamp on the sand
until it starts to turn into quicksand

The flats surrounding the Mont are famous for their patches of quicksand, and it is always advisable to go out with with a knowledgeable guide.

This group is crossing a low spot that will turn into a channel
of water when the tide comes in

High tide was at 1:30 p.m. the day we were there, and we were able to watch the waters rise over the course of the day.

These people on the island's walkways are watching the tide come in

After lunch we took the self-guided tour of the old abbey on the top of the Mont. It was built starting in the 11th century, I believe, and is a monastery. Rooms were added on top of rooms over the centuries. It's all quite impressive. Walt has some pictures on his blog.

These people are having a picnic in a grassy field on the lower part of the island

We plan to go back soon, but during the winter when there are fewer busloads of people on the Mont. We'd like to stay in a hotel on the island itself, not on the mainland, and be able to wander the streets early in the morning and late in the evening, when no one is around.

Domfront, a hilltop town in Normandy

Typical Normandy landscape, looking east from old Domfront

We had driven up north Le Mans and stopped at Sées to see the cathedral there and at Carrouges for the château. We had spent an hour or more walking around in Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, the spa town with its hot springs and casino.

L'Hôtel de France in Domfront

At about 6:00 p.m. we arrived in Domfront (pop. 5,000 or so), where we were going to spend the night. We had reserved rooms in a Logis de France hotel on the western edge of town. After checking in, we drove back up into the old town to walk around and take some pictures.

View from a room over the gardens of the Hôtel de France in Domfront.
The garden is open to guests for a nice stroll.

Domfront is a hilltop town and is the site of the ruins of an old château-fort. Views of the Normandy countryside from up in the old town are spectacular.

Looking west from the old town at Domfront.
Le Mont-Saint-Michel is about an hour's drive west on this road.

Domfront has been a strategic point for at least 10 centuries. According to a sign posted at the site of the old château, the first fort, a wooden structure, was built there in about 1010 A.D.

The deep green of the Normandy countryside

Later, Henri 1er Beauclerc, a son of William the Conqueror who became overlord of Domfront and later king of England (1100), had a huge stone tower (a donjon in French) built there. It was the largest fortified château in France at the time. When Henri became the English king, Domfront became an English possession.

Le Bistro St-Julien occupies a typical Norman building
on a square in the old town.

The Anglo-Norman kings lived in Domfront in the 12th century, and Henry II Plantagenet, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard the Lion-Hearted and others spent much time there with "their brillian court of troubadours and poets," according to the Michelin green guide.

A house in old Domfront

A century later, the area came back under the control of the French king in Paris. Then it was taken back by the English from 1336 to 1366 and again from 1418 to 1450, during the Hundred Years War. Domfront was the site of several long sieges during that time, including one that lasted nine months in 1418.

The seal of the town of Domfront on a manhole cover

The château was finally dismantled in 1608 because it was no longer needed for defensive purposes. In the 1860s, the ruins were uncovered and turned into a park. Archeological and restoration work continues today.

An old wall around the château grounds has seen better days

Obviously, Domfront has a long history of close relations with England and the English. The first time we were there, in May 2005, Walt and I were surprised to see several big groups of English people at the Hôtel de France.

A street number plaque in Domfront...

Then while walking around to old town, we found a shop called Les Favorites that stocks and sells products imported from the U.K. -- Heinz Beanz (baked beans), bangers (English breakfast sausages), bottled sauces like A1 and Worcestershire, and, to our great pleasure, big boxes of PG Tips teabags. We bought four or five boxes — about 500 teabags — that day. I used to be able to buy PG Tips tea in California, but up to that day I hadn't found any in France.

...and a street name sign

On this last trip we couldn't buy any more tea because we were there on a Monday and the English shop is now only open on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

The steep streets of old Domfront

Those restricted hours might be a sign of the current business climate in Domfront. The town doesn't appear to be especially prosperous. There were many empty storefronts. Several of them had nice curtains covering the big windows and potted geraniums sitting on the front steps, so I think they were being used as living space.

Domfront storefronts: used as living quarters?

Green storefront with green curtains

There are other sights to see in Domfront. The church has fine tile mosaics, but it is being renovated right now and was closed to visitors the day we were there. There's also a big court house building (le palais de justice) and a fancy town hall. I haven't included pictures of those, or of the ruins of the château.

Shops and cafés in old Domfront

I like Domfront and am a little sad to see it in its current sleepy state. These things go in cycles, however, and the place will probably perk up in a few years. It's been in existence for a thousand years or so, after all, and has certainly had ups and downs over the centuries.

Watch out! Flying gravel and slippery mud in Domfront.

Andouille, a chitterling sausage, is a specialty
in this part of Normandy.

Driving and parking adventures

Last week we drove our friend Sue to Paris so that she could catch her plane back to California. Her three-month stay was over. We left Saint-Aignan on Tuesday at noontime and took a nice drive up through the pine and birch forests of the Sologne region on our way to the city of Orléans. I just posted a picture of the Orléans "skyline" on my Loire Valley Images photoblog.

We drove into the center of the city and stopped at about 2:00 for a coffee at an outdoor café on the main square. The weather was turning warm. We were surprised how busy, prosperous-looking, and attractive Orléans was, and we plan to go back there soon for a better look around.

Le château de Bellegarde, with its grand staircases

From Orléans we drove on northeast toward one of my favorite stopping-off points on the road to Paris, the town of Bellegarde. It has a beautiful château and makes a nice place to get out of the car, stretch your legs, and take a few photos on the way to the big city. Our dearly departed dog Collette used to enjoy the stop there when we would travel with her in the car. Of course, she would have enjoyed stopping anywhere, especially if she could sniff around for a few minutes and leave her mark on the place.

The view under the château stairways at Bellegarde

From Bellegarde we drove on up through Malesherbes and Milly-la-Forêt to get to the autoroute near Fontainebleau and zip on into Paris. Ha ha. "Zipping" is rarely possible on the way into Paris, because traffic is almost always heavy. Tuesday evening was no exception.

We went around Paris on the boulevard périphérique, the ring road, and continued north to Charles de Gaulle airport, where Sue had booked a hotel for the night. Her plane was leaving fairly early the next day. We got to the airport at about 5:45 p.m. It had turned into a long drive — about 5½ hours.

Once we got to the airport, we had no trouble finding the Ibis hotel Sue was staying in. We had printed out directions that were posted on the hotel's web site. But when we drove into the parking lot, around behind a Campanile restaurant, there were several busloads of policemen (des CRS, if that means anything to you) there, and a lot of them were standing around in the lot.

We wondered what was going on. Had there been a terrorist threat? They were blocking our path, and we asked if we could pass. They seemed surprised that we asked, and they got out of the way with a smile and a nod. Thirty minutes later, when we were leaving, they were gone.

We had taken a ticket to get into the hotel parking area, and we ended up parking in an underground garage. To get to the elevator, we had to buzz the hotel reception desk on a little intercom and wait to be let in. We heard a click and the door opened. Up in the lobby, there was a crowd of people, including a lot of Americans, but it wasn't long before Sue was checked in. The hotel employees spoke English.

Then we realized we had to pay for parking at a machine in the lobby before we could get the car out of the garage. The problem was that we had left the parking ticket in the car. And you couldn't get the elevator to take you back down into the garage unless you were a hotel guest and had a room key (a card actually, and it had to be inserted into a reader in the elevator before the elevator doors would close). So Sue had to accompany Walt to the car.

My job was to find a telephone on which I could call our friend in Paris who was putting us up for the night, and tell him we were running late. Traffic going back into the city, we had noticed, was very heavy, so we didn't know what time we would get to his place. There was no phone in the Ibis lobby that accepted phone cards, and I had no change. So I had to go out and walk over to a different hotel before I could find a usable phone. It all worked out, and our friend said he would just wait for us and then we would go to dinner.

When I got back to the Ibis lobby, Walt was trying to pay for parking. It cost just 60 cents (eurocents, of course) for the first hour. But the machine wouldn't give change, and Walt had only a one-euro coin, which was returned when he tried to pay. I said he should try paying with his French ATM card, which often works at parking garage pay stations. He inserted the bank card, he saw an error message on a little screen, and the card failed to reappear. Now what? No change, no bank card, no way to get the car out. This was turning into a hassle.

Walt pressed the emergency button on the machine, and a few minutes later a young guy came over from the hotel office, behind the front desk, to help. He had a key to the machine and got the ATM card out. We explained the problem — we couldn't pay with our one-euro coin, and we couldn't pay with the ATM card.

The hotel employee had to go get his supervisor at that point. The supervisor was nice enough about the whole thing but she was obviously stressed out. Well of course you can't pay with your card because it's an American card and it doesn't have a chip on it the way French cards do, she said. But it's not an American card, Walt said, it's a French card. Let me see it, the woman said. Oh. She was surprised to see that it really was a French card. Is it a fake? she said, laughing. She couldn't believe Walt had a French bank card. They deal with a lot of American tourists at this hotel, obviously.

We were starting to think we might have to abandon the car in the Ibis parking garage. There seemed to be no way to get it out, and we joked about that. What was Sartre's play? No Exit, in English; Huis Clos, in French. The situation was definitely feeling a little absurd.

The hotel supervisor suddenly realized that change was the answer. No, not a change in the parking machine technology, just some euro cents. She left with our one-euro coin, disappeared behind the front desk into the office, and before too long she came back with some smaller coins. Voilà! It worked. We were free to go, and so was the car.

Except that there was no way we could ride the elevator back down into the depths of the parking garage because we were not hotel guests and didn't have a key-card.

So again Sue had to accompany us to the car, or at least to the door two or three floors below the lobby that opened into the garage. At that point, rather than let that door close and then have to buzz the front desk to be let back in — who knew if that would work? — we just said au revoir there while Sue held the door open. It was an unceremonious way to cap off her three-month visit to France.