Bayeux and Beyond...

g o o s e  g i r l   i n   b r i t t a n y 

As I'm getting packed to leave for Paris, I realize that I never finished showing you the rest of the trip we took this summer through Normandy, Brittany and the Loire.  This is a trip that I would recommend to anyone, as it was easy, affordable, and sooooo beautiful.  Have any of you ever done this trip?  I know a few of my friends who read this blog actually live there!!  You know how envious I am of you, don't you? :) My trip to Paris next week is a little Photo Workshop, but I really want to lead one through this part of the French countryside next summer!  Stay tuned!

The opening photo is a fantasy, of course, and parts of the composite were shot in France.  But little goose girls are hard to come by, so I used a painting of a Breton girl by the Victorian painter George Clausen.


Anyway, , here are a few shots from the beautiful medieval town of Bayeux, home of the Bayeux Tapestry, where I met these charming children on holiday from the UK. I wish I were their teacher!!

[I can't help it.  I gravitate to kids.  This is how I used to photograph my own students when I took them on EuroTrips.  Sniffle.  I miss it.]










Bayeux had lots of sweet boutiques, with many devoted to needlework

This one was my favorite. Ooo, the dentelles!..

inside the shop.

I bought my one frivolous item on the trip here from this adorable shopkeeper: very jazzy French leggings.  I really wanted her dress!




Never, ever, ever stay at this hotel: La Maupassant.  Even though it is extremely cheap and you feel very virtuous for being so frugal,[ because you are going to spend the farm on a chateau the next night] and they promise you a bathroom and shower in your room, don't believe it.  You will lie awake ALL night long, staring at the sink 

and taking pictures of your feet with your iPhone, 

and hang out the window taking pictures of the building across the street,

 afraid to go down the hall to la toilette,

and at the first hint of light you'll creep out of bed, so as not to wake the sleeping giant next to you, and tip-toe downstairs to go out photographing those...

  Blue Buildings at dawn.

But, in truth, it really wasn't so bad.

So...

Off to Dinan,in Brittany, where things were decidedly Old World.  What a charming city!

  

Isn't it straight out of a fairytale?

And speaking of fairytales, have you visited 

le Château de Chenonceau? I think it's the prettiest of the big chateaux, 

and I'm smitten with the kitchen, downstairs, under the main floor

this is where the scullery maids peeled vegetables and threw the peelings out into the river

I love this little scene

isn't this a homey centerpiece for a kitchen table?

 this is a bit out of focus, but I had to show you massive fireplace where they cooked

and baked bread

Gasp!

These were some pottery jars that I thought looked so beautiful

If I could BE any piece of furniture, I would be this.  In fact, I look quite like this...

There are beautiful flower arrangements all over the chateau

and all of the flowers are grown in the chateau greenhouses and gardens

I had to play with this photo that my husband took of one of the gardener's cottages...

and turn it into a bit of a fairytale

the gardener's cottage

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!!!!Late Breaking News!!!!!


Sweet Ria, from the lovely blog


It's Me


is doing the most delightful 
GIVEAWAY!!!  

Wouldn't you just love to own this book?  Ahhh.  That Scandinavian Style that we all love so much...
Just Click on "It's Me" and leave a comment and find out how you might become the winner!!

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So, mes amies, we're off to beautiful France again on Tuesday!  Wish you were all coming along with us!!!!! Maybe on our workshop in April, hmmm????
See you in two weeks, Lord willing,
Love,dawne  

Off to France!!

bicycle in front of le meurice, paris

took this in 2009, and I hope it's still here!

WE leave tomorrow!!!!

My darling husband, his brother Bob, and I are off to drive through Normandy, Brittany and a dip into the Loire Valley, ending up in Paris for a couple of days before we come home. I've been to the Apple genius to learn some more about my iPhone [ and I DO have Verizon, which does not work in Europe! But I can connect if I find WiFi], have a new gmail email addy, have downloaded my Facebook app, as well as downloaded my French TripLingo with 100 phrases!

Our first stop will be SENLIS, where scores of movies have been filmed [ just saw 

Séraphine  

SEE RANK

again last night. 

Then on to the precious village of Gerberoy,

 the former home of one of my favorite French painters, Henri le Sidaner .

We'll do Honfleur, Trouville, and Deauville, as well as the D-Day beaches, but not spending as much time as we'd like anywhere.  Then to Saint Malo...  

I took this also on our trip in 2009

And then to Mont-Saint-Michel, where we'll sleep on the rock! Can't wait to wake up in the morning and watch the sunrise from the ramparts!

In addition to all this beauty, I'll be meeting up with two of my beautiful artist friends that I met online!

I won't share our whole itinerary here, but I just have to leave you with one picture of the 

Chateau that has been in my head since last winter...

Chateau de la Verrerie

I started my obsession with French chateaux about two years ago, and have been on an internet hunt for one that just felt like "home".  This is it.

le Château de la Verrerie is the prettiest chateau I could find in the Loire valley, and our night there is our Anniversary present to each other.

There's a cool gallery of pix, and I hope you'll picture us walking in the garden at dusk.  We're in the Parma room, and Bob is in the Blue room.

I hope to come back with lots of scrumptious pictures, and will share them with you all.  But mainly, I just pray for a safe and joyful  trip. As one of my dear friends says " I pray the Lord will bubble-wrap you, there and back again!"  [ He always has :)]

Vive La France!!

Bisous, mes amies,

dawne