Beer on the Beach in Brittany

My friend and Betty and I are driven to the TGV train station in Montparnasse by my friend's husband.  Apparently, we are still being treated as gloriously as the visiting King of Spain, since police have cleared the roads just for us.  ;)  My friend’s husband is duely impressed, as we appear to be the only car on the road at times.  We pass Paris’ only highrise building, the Tour Montparnasse.  It stands out like a sore thumb amidst the surroundings.  The building has been the centre of controversy since it was built in the 1970s, and has even been elected "the world's second ugliest building."  (Can you guess the first?)

At the Montparnasse train station, we have enough time to get lunch, and Betty tries to practice her French.  Then we stand with the crowds to wait for our train’s Voie (platform) to appear on the “Départs” board.  It should be posted by now, and my friend’s husband overhears that the board is broken and which Voie we need to go to.  We rush over with the crowd, and then rush down the length of the train to Car 18.  Soon after we board, the doors shut.  Anyone with mobility issues would have a hard time reaching the farther cars of the train.  I am exhausted, and although I normally love looking out the window of the train to watch the passing countryside, I soon fall asleep.

Just over three hours later, the train arrives in La Baule, and we must transfer to a bus.  Feeling significantly better after my nap, I wave at the train conductor as we leave the station, and am delighted when he waves back.  The bus stop is right adjacent to the station.  Soon the bus arrives.  Yes.  Those are the local busses!  

The drive is slow and winds through all the little towns on its way to the sea.  A 15km trip takes us nearly an hour, and Betty starts to get motion sickness.  Mercifully, there is a cool breeze blowing on my face the entire trip, and my stomach is ok.  I am surprised at the number of locals who are using the bus system.  Just as we get off the bus in Kervin, it starts to rain lightly.  Fortunately, it's only a couple of blocks to the gite.  My friend's aunt lives next door to the gite, and holds the keys for the gite owners, so she lets us in.   She comments, "It's raining-- I can't believe it!  You must have brought the rain with you!"  ;)  

  

The rain soon stops, and once inside the gite, Betty and I are left to our own devices.  The aunt had indicated that everything in the gite was shut off, and she wasn't sure how to turn it on.  There is a handmade book of instructions written in French, but it doesn't include much detail, and many of the terms are unfamiliar to me.  I figure out how to turn on the electricity and cold water.  We end up going back to the aunt's house to get help removing the key from the lock in the front door, where she had left it when she let us in.  Locks in France are much more complicated than in Canada.  There is a series of actions to take with the key and handle to lock a door, and a different set to open it again.  I eventually get the hang of it. 

We are hungry, and although my friend has given us some uncooked pasta and sauce, so we can make ourselves supper, we are too tired to figure out how to turn on the gas for the gite (so that we can use the stove and get hot water).  I am reading the instruction book, which says the gas valve is "below the sink in the penthouse," but for the life of me, I don't see anything above our bedrooms on the top floor.  

We decide to walk to the nearest brasserie and let them feed us.  We head down to the ocean, which is only a couple of blocks away, and a woman is there swimming.  I ask her if there is anywhere nearby to eat.  She laughs no.  She tells us that the closest towns are Piriac and La Turballe.  Even though Piriac might be closer, I remember our bus passing a strip of bustling cafés in La Turballe, and we can see La Turballe in the distance as we look down the beach, which is reassuring, so we head out in that direction.  

It's a lovely walk that follows the coast-line.  We mostly take the direct route along the highway, keeping a sharp eye for speeding cars who might have already been to "Happy Hour."  The round trip is about 6.5km, and completely flat.

Arriving at the little strip of restaurants at the marina I had seen from the bus, we are relieved to find them open and still serving customers. (You never know in France.)  We read two different menus before choosing the one that serves salads.  If you are someone who is used to eating a lot of veggies, you might find France a bit challenging.  The diet is very much based on bread, meat, and dairy.  Betty has only been in France a few days, and she is already craving greens. 

Again, Betty tries to practice her French with the waiter, a jovial sort who jokes, "Ok, you speak French and I'll speak English!"  Betty orders her big salad, and I get Galettes Val-André, which is a Breton-style buckwheat crepe filled with Coquille-St-Jacques (scallops).  We're in Brittany, after all!  We sip our cold beers and enjoy the view of the boats in the harbour and take a load off from the day's travel. 

On the way back to the gite, we follow the beach more than the road.  There are official randonnée trail markers showing us the path.  There is a small boat out fishing, and a few other people strolling on the beach.  We look forward to exploring these little towns over the next few days.  I am eager to lie on the sandy beach and swim in the surf.  The ocean is about 17 degrees Celsius here at this time of year, which might sound a little cold to some people, but is much warmer than I'm used to in Vancouver.  :D

Back at the gite, we make our beds and crawl into them.  I love my little room with a skylight that opens to the back garden.  Looking out of the skylight, I spy a little shed out back that might house the gas turn-on valve, and decide to try it tomorrow.  (Maybe "penthouse" should be "lean-to"?)  It would be nice to have a hot shower.  I'm sure one of the sets of keys in the kitchen will open the back door...  or worse case scenario, I'll climb out the big window in the living room.  ;)