Category: Beach Life

On The Road

We spent the night at a nearby hotel since we had packed up everything. The hotel, an Ibis Style, as they call them, is on a hill and we saw this great sunset over the small port. Our now former place is on the other side of this port.

Two left leaning trees were there too. A huge storm came in that night blowing in this direction. There was a lot of wind and rain. The day we moved into our place there was a gale and it poured and the day we moved out there was one too but the rain had stopped.

We still have to sign the final papers in a small town called Salbris about two hours from Paris so we stayed in another hotel, the Domaine de Valaudran.

This is it! Not too shabby. A domaine is a small chateau but with property from what I read and they did have a bit of a forest behind them. It had a lot more ambiance than our Ibis from the night before.

A look at the lounge.

So off to sign papers and then finally, back to Paris.

A Last Lunch

We took our very nice neighbor to lunch as a sort of goodbye and a thank you for all of the times she watered our plants when we were gone and other things. She’s the one with the yappy dog named Mirabelle. She’s very proper and almost always wears a nice dress with pearls although I did see her the other day with calf length tights and a long shirt which I guess is casual for her. She has never done the double cheek kiss thing with me but always shakes my hand. She’s a widow but seems to have a busy social life.

The view from our table.

I like their water jugs.

Ready for oysters. The French always have buttered bread with them.

I had mussels and fries as my main course. Very tasty.

Dessert was this enormous ile flottante that could have fed two. I ate it all but afterwards I decided not to have a three course menu again. It’s usually cheaper but it’s too much to eat for me.

 

One More Time

Since we’ve been packing things up just about all month and not having too much left to do, we decided to make a trip to Ile d’Aix, a small island near us. We counted up and we have been there five times since we moved to Chatelaillon taking friends to show them the unique island. Cars aren’t allowed and there isn’t a bridge to get there, just a ferry. You can either walk around the island or rent a bike which we always do. There’s not a village really, just a little assortment of houses and shops at the landing. It’s sort of famous as Napoleon was kept here before finally being shipped off to his final resting place at Saint Helena. I don’t know if the Germans were here during WWII but they certainly were in nearby la Rochelle so probably so. There are many traces of forts and fortifications on the island. I’m guessing that no building of new houses or hotels is allowed as we certainly haven’t seen any in five years we have visited. It’s very rustic and sort of shabby chic unlike the upscale Ile de Re.

A little artwork along the way, on the small road that circles the island.

Pretty views.

You can get a ride on a horse pulled carriage if you want.

There are two lighthouses side by side. I’m not sure why there are two but only one actually has a light.

Inside one of the fortifications along the way.

A look at the typical simple houses there.

Moving On

We still have over a week (9 days) before we move but time seems to be speeding up. When the couple who bought our place was leaving after a visit the man asked me if there was anything I didn’t like about living here. I paused a long time and finally said, “An air conditioner unit” but that wasn’t really the truth. I would have liked a/c a few hot days here but it’s not really an issue. No, it was our wet basement/garage and a lady I will call Madam L and her husband. When we all first moved here we became friends and she was always having us over for extravagant hors d’ouvres and drinks along with dinner. She always bought something when they came here, very original but leaving me feeling my bottle of wine was inadequate. Finally, there was a parting of the ways and now, if we see them in the halls or outside, we don’t even speak. Her husband turned out to be pretty nasty and told Maurice once that the only good thing about Americans were their brownies. Someone vandalized their car which was parked out front. We live right on the beach with people walking by all the time but instead of thinking it was a stranger, she decided someone in the building did it and wrote a truly mad letter to all of us. She is especially nasty to a sweet neighbor lady, a widow, who has a yappy little dog named Mirabelle and even reported her to the gendarme because the dog barks sometimes and Madam L threw a fit when she found a dog hair in her coffee-ha. I’ve decided she is just plain wacky. She goes to the same kineologist that I do and when I told him she was a neighbor he replied that she was “special” which is a word the French use when some one is just crazy. Also, a person with a very strong personality is said to have character which Maurice has said about me instead of bitchy. Anyway, I will not be sorry to be leaving them behind. I guess you will always find difficult people no matter where you live.

On another note, a fisherman hoping to catch something on the beach. Very peaceful looking.

An old pigeonnier, a place to raise pigeons, made into a little art gallery near us.

A happy yellow gate.

Beauty

We are lucky to be a short drive from the beautiful city of la Rochelle. I really love its architecture. I don’t love it in August though. We had to fight our way through hordes of tourists to go see a movie (the latest Mission Impossible) and there seemed to be a street musician every half block trying to make some money. There are lots of young homeless too, or I think they are homeless. They sit around on the streets with their dogs. Anyway, I got a couple of photos near the charming harbor.

One of two buildings guarding the entrance to the harbor. The sun was setting as we came out of the movie theatre.

On the other side.

There are two lighthouses right in the city near the harbor used for guidance into it. I guess gps is all that is needed now. Note the large ferris wheel to the left. On a clear night we can see it from our balcony.

The sun was setting as we headed back to our car.