Dinan to Saumur

Monday, August 9

Good morning Dinan! Before we head off we had to have one more walk around this charming medieval town. Everywhere you look down the cobbled streets -- or lanes, they are too small to be called streets, is another half timbered stone house with leaded windows and baskets of geraniums falling over the sills. We walked by the market but it wasn't open yet and the streets were being washed down and all around shop owners were setting up and washing their windows and getting ready for the day. We stopped in an interesting building selling "Produit Regionaux" a lovely shop that seemed to go on forever. It was two floors but we only made it through the first floor. It was filled with neatly displayed locally made goods at great prices. I've seen these before in France and they are sponsored by the local government and are a great place to pick up souvenirs and get to know what the area is famous for. It is neat to see so many products with labels 'founded in 1792', 'artisanal production since 1643'. History in your hand.

After giving the town a last look we bought supplies for a picnic and packed up the car for the next leg of our trip. Leaving Brittany and heading to the Loire valley to see a few castles, the first of which was Fougeres. This huge medieval castle and ramparts is touted by the tourist bureau as the largest medieval castle in Europe. I am not sure about that , this is where I need Marc or Elijah to verify the facts. Whether it is or not it is pretty spectacular. We walked all around and up and down the towers, despite my intense fear of heights (pictures to prove it will follow). Another cute, cute town overflowing with flowers and cobblestone but we didn't tour it, just the castle, how can these people live with all this charm? Back on the road we stopped about 1:30 at a picnic table along the side of the road. There are many of these in France, usually in a spot where you have a nice view of the countryside. I spread out my tablecloth, took out my knife and sliced the fresh whole wheat baguette. Opened the package of cold cuts---what a great smell. Today we just bought cold cuts from the local small market in downtown Dinan before we left. Even though they are pre packaged the quality is excellent and they offer so many types, even if it was a small store. We had proscuitto, capicollo and genoa salami plus a new type of cheese from the area as well as some fresh plums. As we munched the silence of the corn fields across the way and birds was only intermittently broken by a passing car. As we packed up and left, another car pulled up to use the picnic table just over from us. Guess we are not the only nuts.

Back to the road and our next destination: Saumur, another castle but this one in the Loire and from the early Renaissance period. It is on a stunning spot overlooking the Loire River and looks as if it is the setting for a fairytale. We walked all around its walls and its courtyard and enjoyed the view of the valley and off to dinner as I am losing track of time since the sun seems to never set here until late (yes I know it’s because of our latitude). Since we had spent a lot of time travelling we just had dinner at the hotel. You could choose to order a la carte or one of their combinations so Ross had the "plat du jour" which was paella, a dish much loved by the French and it appears on the menu more, and more the further south you go and then the cheese platter featuring a variety of the area's cheeses. I chose the appetizer buffet followed by the dessert buffet. Why oh why do I do this, I always end up overeating as I have to try everything. Need to go and sleep off the food as tomorrow Ross promised a very interesting itinerary of chateaux.