Saturday, April 22nd, 2006 sunrise-06:47 sunset-21:01 low/high temp:6-16C (43-61F)
OK, the day we've all been anticipating has FINALLY come! We're off to Brittany (Bretagne) and the small town of Messac to board our boat and take off! Yesterday, we stopped in at train station Montparnasse (Gare Montparnasse) and organized our departure and return train rides. The lovely young lady was amazingly patient with us silly Americans and our confusion. She spoke quite good English, and I verified her information in French, causing a large smile of appreciation on her part.
Prior to departure, Scott had to get a photo
of his lovely bride in Paris. Can't blame him!
I LOVE the look of these trains! They just look fast!
We're taking the French rail system
SNCF, via a TGV (Train Grande Vitesse - 180
mph train) from Paris to Messac.
Some comfy spots on the train. They really are quite comfortable, even the
second class cars we had.
A couple nice buildings spotted on the way.
On arrival into Messac, I was famished. We decided to stop in the bar to
get a drink and a bite, figuring the boat would not be ready until the specified
time of 16:00. The food at
Relais de la Gare was VERY good! The
oysters were massive, and full of flavor, no strong condiments, like
horseradish, needed. Everyone tried everything off of other plates, except
the oysters, they were all MINE! (I did offer, however.) Of course,
the girls chose profiterole for dessert again...
It really was a lovely restaurant, and our server was very patient while Cindy and I attempted to translate the menu.
Above and below are photos of the back terrace area of the restaurant.
Very calming and impeccably groomed.
After lunch, I asked the bartender, who spoke no English, for directions to the
port. I surprised even
myself when he started giving directions, I wrote them down and drew a map that he
agreed with!
Not bad for almost self taught French! Still need more studying, though.
Here's the tiny Messac train Off we go
to the port for our Once again, a train of rolling
station.
boat.
luggage.
Here's the directions.
Scott in the lead, as usual. The road to the port isn't
that long.
We arrived at the Messac
Connoisseur/Crown
Blue Line port at about 14:00 in the afternoon.
The lady at the desk quickly took care of the necessary paperwork, and informed
us that our boat was ready to go. Cool, a couple hours early, who ever
heard of such a thing!
They gave Scott and I instructions on how to operate everything on the boat, service the water and such, and also check the equipment. Then, they dropped the girls at the SuperU to pick up the necessary food, drinks and such... We then were shown how to navigate a lock, and met back up with the girls on the other side of the river at the sister town of Guipry.
Even the lock lawns and gardens We seemed to have survived the
driving lesson.
were amazingly well kept.
Here we are, getting our instructions on navigation, driving, mooring, rope
tying, etc. Then,
off to the first lock (Écluse). Remember, our boat is about 37 feet long
and 12 feet wide.
The first time I drove into a lock, it sure didn't look like it would fit!
Tying off and last minute Tied off and time
for a We wait for our server,
and
advice prior to us being on break.
then decide to go back to
our own!
SuperU to see if they have a
Raclette for Scott/Kate. They
found a fancy one and bought it!
Cindy (G) decided to hang by the
boat while we walked there and back.
Another common site in
Danielle LOVED this shirt at
Bretagne, Crêperie. Yumm.
SuperU!
A good little map of where we are in relation to the
Of course, the only Dittmer that
ocean. Red arrow is where we are now.
can get a suntan. I renamed him
Gilligan, and I was the Skipper.
Kate opens the roll back roof. Cindy (G) and Danielle get used
Cindy is very happy.
to their quarters. They got stuck
with the hide-a-bunk area.
Click here for a plan of our boat and some basic pictures we took of it.
Skipper at the helm.
We found out later all those Ah yes, a foot shot.
yellow fields are actually
rapeseed, the oil from it is
to be converted to Bio-diesel.
OK, here's the first lock that we have to navigate all by ourselves, and we
didn't miss a beat!
This lock had a keeper (Éclusier), others were opened and closed by us manually.
Kate is lovin' this!
They share a moment... A perched
crane...
I really liked these nature shots.
A nice little cottage.
An older couple just enjoying The girls seem to be
enjoying the boat.
the river after finishing up fishing.
They indicated they didn't have
any luck this day catching fish.
Interesting sloping bridge.
Skipper enjoys the view.
Suns rays through the clouds.
The Dittmer mother/daughter team together at the back of the boat.
Scott checking out the sights. It quickly became apparent that
The docks here are very well
churches and castles were enough maintained.
reason to stop for a bit.
Closed up and off we go to In the
Summer months, this is Danielle enjoys a stroll...
explore the town in the
another Crêperie.
distance.
The church in the distance. Long
straight road.
I still love the old stone cottages.
I liked this shot.
Geez, they sure can manicure Cindy (G) sure has an eye
the sidewalk and streets. for photos. This is the light
on the side of the church.
Drat, a church that is not open. We found that many churches were not
generally open. This was
a minor disappointment. However, when we did find one open, it made it a more
exciting find! Sainte-Anne sur Vilaine is the only name I have found for this church.
I will continue looking for more information. I thought the architecture
from front to back was quite different. I expected the back end
architecture to match the square/blocky front of the church.
Yup, €1.39 per liter for regular I love the street lights in
this Great colors!
and €1.21 for diesel.
area of France.
That converts to about:
€5.26 ($6.65)/gallon regular.
€4.58 ($5.79)/gallon diesel.
We all enjoy a little break at the quiet little village of. Scott
and I met these chaps in
Sainte-Anne sur Vilaine.
the pub, and as they were
leaving for band practice, Cindy (G)
convinced them to give us a song.
We have some video of it as well.
I liked the look...
The girls strolling back.
I thought the caution sign
was humorous..
and accurate...
Danielle runs to catch up... Back in the boat, time to prep
for dinner, all stuff the girls
bought at the
SuperU earlier in the day.
