There were cute shops to visit and this one had these very old mannequins out front wearing some vintage clothing.

Loved this door with the vine growing around it.

The little church there has a connection to Quebec as you can see by this window. The reason is because Samuel de Champlain was born here in Bourage. He discovered Canada for the King of France and opened up fur trade. Who knew?

A friendly cat outside the church desperate for attention.

Poppies are starting to bloom.
I realize as I posted these photos, that I don’t really show much of the village of Bourage. There were ramparts to explore, and a large stable area which had been converted into shops, and I have photos of those. I may get them up in a blog post at some point. So much fun to explore this new to us area.

I didn’t eat this. Maurice did. Many Americans are grossed out when a fish arrives with the head and tail but you just remove them and then cut out the filet and it’s very good and moist. I had fish at this meal too but mine was already filleted.

A pretty flower I saw at a house where we had lunch. It’s a clematine, clematis, something like that. Very exotic looking.

This being Spring in France, I am always on the outlook for wisteria and finding it. This was a huge vine and smelled especially wonderful.

An old lighthouse taken with my IPhone and, using Instagram, changed a bit in color with filters. I love lighthouses.

The best sunset I’ve seen since we’ve been here. Most don’t seem very dramatic. I guess I’ve been spoiled by those in Arizona, but, I’ll take what I can get.

There was a vide grenier (a French flea market) nearby at a school and it was mostly junk-no professionals like there usually are. I didn’t see anything I wanted but this pink seltzer bottle but the seller wanted too much money. He would give us a special deal if we bought the blue one too. I don’t think I would gave done it but Maurice, unlike himself, handed over the cash so now I have both. I may give the blue one to someone as a gift but I sort of like it now.

Look at this wisteria! We were in a car with Maurice’s sister looking for the vide grenier when I spotted it and had her stop the car. I”ve seen photos of this variety before but never in person. So beautiful.

We saw this on a bike ride the other day. I loved the yellow flowers reflected in the water.

There are fences separating parts of the beach from some protected sand dunes and I saw this lady sunbathing probably hoping for privacy. I thought she looked rather artistic, like someone in a painting.

Taken from our terrace when they first headed out.

Hours later, when they returned, I walked down to the shore to get a look. It was bedlam. As soon as their boats hit the shore, they madly dashed up to carts with wheels to move the boats out of the water so the next batch could do the same.

Getting the boat on the carrier.

Trying to show how many there were.

The last group making their way to shore.

In the meantime, there was this couple with their little dog, oblivious to it all. The kids had to pull their boats around them to get them to their destination

This is a look at the beach in the middle of the day full of people and then afterwards as the sun was setting. I took this video a couple of weeks ago and each day there are more and more people on the beach and I think in a month or so, it will be packed and I will get another video. When the sun is out, so are beach lovers.

I’m particularly taken by these little shacks for fishing at the end of long, private piers. I’ve only seen them once before and love to photograph them. They are called Carrettes.

A closeup on one. Can you see that net suspended above the water? It is lowered into the water and then fish are pulled up, usually small ones.

A look down the coast.

Another look at a net.

You can see how long the pier is.

Something different. I love finding irises blooming.

I love the light house and the tree right there in the middle of La Rochelle by the harbor.

Love the light and the reflection in the harbor.

The second light house near the harbor to guide boats inbetween the two towers guarding the harbor.

Maurice and I had a drink before heading home.

Where we had our drink. Great exterior.

Home to an incredible sunset.

The beach where our place is has a view of the ocean and there is constant activity, either on sunny days with people playing on the sand and sail boat lessons going on or very windy days when the kite surfers arrive so they can speed along on the water. There are surf boarders too.

Here are some kite surfers arriving, carrying their kites behind them looking like a group of butterflies.

Another view. See how far away they are? The tide here goes way out a really long distance which is good for growing oysters but, if you don’t arrive when the tide is high, a long walk is required to get to the water. I’ve noticed that when there is a sailing lesson going on, the boats always arrive back at shore exactly as the tide is going to turn so they are on the beach to be picked up, not out where they can’t be reached until the tide comes in again. Places without such high and low tides must have a must easier time of it. Learning about life here.

One of the graves of 14 killed during “Bloody Sunday”. I thought the shot through a raining taxi window sort of fitting.

A U.S. flag from 1945 in the church there, St. Columb’s. Note there are only 48 stars. The volunteer there, when hearing I was from Texas, said, “You’ll like that flag in there then. Alaska isn’t represented, thus Texas is still the biggest state.”

I love the Irish accent. I did a video of our waiter just to record his voice. We had been in Londonderry the day before-a city once full of conflict and bombings and which still seems to be recovering-and I asked him his opinion mainly to get him talking.

A look at the bridge from up above.

Another view-you can see people crossing it.

The Giant’s Causeway is a fascinating place on the sea where volcanic lava did interesting things to the existing rocks leaving behind these stones and columns looking like tile. Or, you can go with the story that a giant with the great name of Finn Mc’Cool did it.

Another view.

A column of the rocks. I read that there are similar stone formations in Scotland.

A door knocker that I liked in the tiny village of Glenarm.

Somebody had put a bouquet of daffodils in a door handle. I wondered if it was a nice surprise from a boyfriend. This being Spring, one of the pleasant surprises here were the daffodils blooming in villages and wild in the countryside.

We went to the tearoom at the castle in Glenarm and I ordered the tea which was enough for two people. I ate the sandwiches but had trouble finishing the rest, except I had to eat the scones. My friend said they were the best scones she ever had.

My tea pot and tea cup there. So sweet.

There were also Spring lambs in just about every field. This group happened to be on the road. I’d have hugged a lamb if they would have let me get near.

Later that day we found an old abandoned church with a fascinating graveyard. Daffodils were blooming there too.

A great celtic cross.

Our first stop was Carrickfergus which has an amazing history in Ireland.

The entrance into the castle.

They found the bones of a dog buried there at the castle that probably looked like this. There was a very interesting and enthusiastic girl there giving information who, although she was German, had an Irish accent in English. She told us all sorts of things about the castle and showed us various weapons. She was a wealth of information.

In the town itself, along with a stock, was this painting on the side of a building.

Each night we returned to this hotel in Ballygally-love that name-and enjoyed resting.

We could sit in front of the fire in the bar if we wanted.

If you went through this door and up the stairs there was a ghost room.

The ghost was a lady who stayed in this room and either jumped or was pushed to her death. Never saw or heard her though.

The view out front one morning.

It’s brand new and really well done. This is the entry lobby from up above.

I didn’t know that Belfast had been the major manufacturer of linen at one time. There were some sad photos of children who did slave labor in the business.

A view of the Belfast harbor from the museum. There were photos showing the building of the Titanic, along with other ships, the largest in the world. The Titanic, of course, was supposed to be unsinkable but, at the crucial time after hitting the iceberg, they were unable to close the flood doors.

The magnificent exterior, representing four ships built here.

These were actually the height of the ships.

Here are a couple of combined videos showing Belfast with silhouettes in ancient clothing passing in front of scenes from Belfast, a couple of men talking about the building of the Titanic, how the engine room on the ship looked, and then a look at how the Titanic sank.

The youngest eating a white chocolate bunny.

I think this one likes candy. He wore those sunglasses all day for some reason.

I went to Dallas for three days to see my other son, my daughter and their children. I was in the car a lot, as is often the case in Dallas, and took this photo from the front seat while my son was driving. It makes me happy to live in a city where I can take the metro or bus and very seldom use a car

I then headed to Arizona to stay with my Mother who is doing incredibly well considering my Dad died in November. I think the final year of her life was harder on her than I realized. We didn’t do much but one day we did drive up north from Phoenix to Prescott where we used to live and where I went to high school. This photo is of Thumb Butte and I wish I had gotten a different angle of it. I once even climbed to the top on a path behind it. Lots of memories in Prescott. We passed a house that was once ours and, on impulse, stopped the car, rang the doorbell and told the lady who answered that we used to live there. She very nicely invited us in and showed us around. We both remembered it as much larger, as memory will often do to you. The lady bought the house from my parents in the early 70′s and there she still was. I didn’t really want to stop but I’m glad we did. Mom really enjoyed it.

This is the only photo I took of any cactus in Arizona. There were some varieties beautifully blooming but I never got to get close enough for a photo except for this one in my mother’s neighborhood.

First, this slightly blurry photo of Lake Lugano taken as the sun was almost gone. I took it from a chinese restaurant on the side of the lake I hadn’t visited before. I had to wonder how in the world a Chinese place came to be here in Switzerland. I’m sure there’s an interesting story there.

My son and his family were invited to a friend’s for Easter lunch and I came along. It was in a three story building and each floor had been converted into an apartment. I especially loved the blue stove once used to heat the room. Wood was put into a fireplace in the back. The family didn’t use it though because they would have been responsible for its upkeep if they did. They said the apartment above them had three of these.

A look at the other side of the living room.

A view out a window showing the incredibly beautiful day outside.

I thought this was lovely. I would never have thought of doing this. She cooked them up later for lunch.