France

So I went to France again with Tom, to stay with his Dad for week.
What a lovely holiday! Very relaxing. I knitted on a bit of sock, read
a couple of Terry Pratchett novels, and not a lot else.
 
One of the most interesting things about Normandy is that it is very
much like England in some ways. The weather is very changeable, going
from rain to sun in the same hour some times. The higgledy - piggeldy
patchwork hills remind me of the landscape of where I grew up in
Wiltshire.
 
However, I love when I visit marking out all the little things that
make the place feel different and well, French. No, no, I don't mean
the obvious things, like the people speaking French and the French
language signs, I mean the other things. Such as the typography. The
typography used on the road signs and packaging is always very
distinctive and elegant. There's also the shops shutting over lunch
for two hours, carefully adjusted to be half an hour later than the
lunch break in offices so you can get a bit of shopping done or buy
your lunch.
 
I enjoyed an aperitif shared with Gwyneth and her friend Sheila one
early evening before fabulous pizza at Le Petit Nicolas in Brecey. I
aspire to both a house like Gwyneth's and her good looks. Her taste is
impeccable, gathering beautiful furniture and delicate items from
carboot sales and second hand shops. She also looks 20 years younger
than her real age which I shan't reveal as is a lady's perogative.
They are both witty sparkling people in a swirl of bright colour and I
very much liked sitting in the sunshine, glass in hand looking out
over the rolling hills.
 
We had an excellent time in Dinan, a medieval walled town with a keep
and pretty churches on one of the days.
 
[googlemaps https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=dinan&sll=49.279341,-0.705528&sspn=0.049498,0.168056&gl=uk&ie=UTF8&ll=48.469962,-2.037449&spn=0.050314,0.168056&t=h&z=13&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=425&h=350]
 
It bills itself as a town of art and history, and I enjoyed mooching
about looking in the shop windows at beautiful paintings and
sculpture. I actually left a sentence in a conversation with Tom
hanging in mid air half finished as a painting caught my eye and I
subconciously turned away to look.
 
We also went to Bayeux to see the tapestry. It was much larger than I
was expecting, and the colours were so vivid. The audio commentry was
a little off putting as it told the story of what was happenning but
didn't provide any background on the history that lead to the story or
to the methods of creation. I suppose this was to increase the traffic
flow, and you were directed to another room with an exhibition which
provided more details. I just found it meant people walked past it
following the story without seeing all the incredible details.
 
[googlemaps https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=bayeux&sll=48.468938,-2.050495&sspn=0.050307,0.168056&gl=uk&ie=UTF8&ll=49.29009,-0.697117&spn=0.049498,0.168056&t=h&z=13&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=425&h=350]