As time goes by

Paimpol

Time marches on here in Bretagne, It only seems five minutes ago we arrived with our "plan," or no "plan," depending how you look at it, not knowing a soul, and, in my case, no French. Well, my French hasn't improved much, a little but not a lot, but on the plus side we have many friends, and the "plan" seems to be trundling along quite nicely thank you very much.

This summer, as people who watch us on Facebook will know, we've upgraded the seating arrangements at the front of the house. This, I think, has made us look far more professional and made the house look much more attractive.

Our guests this summer, so far, seem to be more varied than last year. We've already had people from America, Spain, Ireland and Belgium as well as the usual French and British. It's really only when you meet these people at close quarters that you come to realise how they differ from each other and what traits they have in common. It's fascinating stuff, maybe I should write a book on "Europe at the breakfast table", a sure fire winner.

Spring saw us get a fair amount of British house hunters visiting us, obviously spurred on by the favourable exchange rate.

   

 



Rennes

Our way of life does make it slightly awkward to get out and see the country we now live in. When we are busy we don't have the time, and when we're slack we don't feel we should be spending the money. I'm sure as time passes and we have more confidence in our position that will change. However we have got out a little. Early in the year some friends took us to the Saturday market in Rennes, apparently the second largest open market in France. It was well worth it. No tourist tat here, all  fruit, veg, fish, meat, cheese and flowers. Oh and not forgetting the bars, coffee shops and street entertainment. A pretty decent day out.

We also have ventured to both the north and south coasts, about an hours drive either way. On the north coast is the beautiful town of Paimpol. It boasts a very pretty harbour surrounded by  restaurants, and  full of both yachts and fishing boats. Small windy streets with bars and such are worth a look or two as well. It also has the most beautiful sandy beach.     



Potager

The main new addition this year is the potager in our private side garden, we grew vegetables back in the U.K. so we had a little knowledge, but are total novices compared to all our French neighbours. They grow stuff on an industrial scale, and not a weed in sight.

Considering this time last year it was all lawn I think it's done pretty well, we now have broad, runner and French beans in the freezer with lots more to come. Leeks, spuds and the rest also growing well, all we need now is the 1000 ways to cook a courgette book and we'll be fine.   

 

Why we still have some weeds

If you haven't been on Mars for the last month, you couldn't have not noticed that The Tour de France has been happening. I knew nothing about this sport at the outset, but by the end I was hooked, the sheer enthusiasm of the crowds, the flags, the whole thing was wonderful. I would try to use my new favourite word, peloton, as much as possible, even if it didn't fit into the sentence.

The "tour" was also good for us, as it passed quite close,  so we were full for four days, some guests picking their spot to watch the race then dashing back to ours to watch the end of the stage on the TV, then watching the highlights.

The various parts of the country the race passed through obviously took the chance to sell their area to the viewing public, and quite rightly so. Brittany, which is after all the home of French cycling, came over very well..........But I would say that wouldn't  I.