Weekends in France

Now that Elo and I have arrived at what we feel is a slightly normal life; job, car, searching for a place of our own (still living with Cathy and Robert, bless them), we can focus our weekends on some more relaxing and enjoyable adventures.

There is a beautiful lake close to where we are, Lac de Beaulieu, so if the weather is nice it's very
pleasant to take a walk by the waters edge.

Even though the sun is out and the sky is blue, a scalf and jacket are necessary.

On a clear, still day the view across the lake is magnificent from on top of this small hill. There are farms and small properties that surround the lake, so it's quiet pieceful all day.

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Now, for a special occasion, like the tempreture reaching above 15°, we head for St Michel Chef Chef. Robert and Cathy have a beach house there. (Bless them twice). So we drive down on Friday night and stay for the whole weekend. There are a lot of rocky points that are perfect for collecting Oysters, Mussles and other sea creatures that the French aren't afraid to eat. It's a great place to really relax, read a good book, play cards, listen to music and refresh yourself for the coming week.

To get there, we take a quick ferry accross Le Loire, 5 minutes, tops.

Collecting fresh Oysters for lunch. Mmmmmmmmm.

With one of the Fishing huts built on the rocks. When the tide comes in, the men (not a womans job), climb up into the hut, and catch fish by lowering nets into the water. Genius.

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Last weekend, we had another special adventure. One of Elo's friends, Flo, has a holiday house that the girls have been going to since they were back in school. It's in Redon, the countryside, next to a canal that runs from Nantes to Brest. We had organised to spend the weekend there with her friends, Flo, Helen, Raul, Morgane and Clemont.

A quick detour from our weekend, Elo had started playing Volleyball for her old team again. She'd had a few training runs and played a few matches, then finally decided to sign with them for the season. She was having a problem with her shoulder though. It was very saw, stiff and painful during and after the matches. But, then, during a cup match, I recieved a phone call at 2230 from Elo, saying, "You need to come to the Gym, because I fell over and hurt my ankle" When I arrived there was a firetruck/Van in front of the Gym, lights flashing, and inside I found Elo sprawled out on the floor being tended to by three fireman. All the other girls seemed to be quite jealous about the attention she was receiving. Then, after a trip in the Van, we waited at the hospital for a few hours for an X-ray. Nothing broken, good news. So she didn't need a cast. But by now her foot had swollen up to the size of a football. Then, the Doctor(?) made her attempt to walk on it, to prove that she didn't need a cast. Bizaar, but she walked/limped, then almost passed out from the pain.
Now, those of you who know Elo, she's ok with Doctors, but she doesn't like medicin at all, and can be extremely stubborn. So she said it would be fine to go to work the next day, or in 5 hours by that stage. So the Doctor gave her a presription and sent us on our way. The next day I think Elo regretted her decision a little, but mananged to hobble off to work. Cathy, collected the prescription for her and took it to her work, but she never took one tablet. So, we've been trying to look after our poor little sugar, running upstairs if she needs something, bringing her things from the kitchen and making sure she doesn't suffer too much.

So back to Redon. We arrived at 3AM Saturday, after Elo had a dinner party with her Volleyball friends, then we got a little lost, but finally turned up. But, instead of going to sleep, Elo, Flo and Helen thought it would be nice to talk for an hour or so.
Saturday day, we all had a long breakfast, then went to a small town, La Gacilly, that was full of art and craft shops. Very cute. Although, Elo was on crutches for the first time in her life, and I was scared that she might take a fall and injure herself again. She battled on and proved me wrong, what a tough cookie.

One of the cobbled streets filled with small shops.
Wonderful Old buildings.
The view from the back door. Not bad.

Sunday, after another late night of Pictionary, congratulations to the girls, we had another very long breakfast and then headed to a park along the canal.
It's a beautiful, quiet spot for walking or riding your bike. We followed the canal for a while, then turned into the forrest for a strole amongst the trees. It turned into a crosscountry adventure and Elo managed very well with her four legs.