Up and off just after 8am to meet Richard in Rostrenen. A 2 hour drive. A beautiful autumn morning, blue sky and the moon still in the sky too. I felt very happy and excited to be out on the road on such a lovely day. I would say to anyone who is worried, as I was, about driving in France, don’t be. It’s great.
The further from Dol I got, the more rainy it became. I was literally crying with laughing listening to My Dad Wrote a Porno and at one point thought I would have to pull over to get a grip. I don’t know if you can be stopped by the police for laughing too much whilst driving but I was definitely guilty, Your Honour.
Parked in Rostrenen and was met by Richard. We went to meet Rachel and Sue in a little cafe and had coffee and pain au raisin. Rachel is a friend of Richard’s who has lived in France for 20+ years and Sue is a longtime friend of his from England who has come over with him to sort out the garden!
We went for a little wander around the town and then it was time for more food- all of us but Rachel that is. Lunch this time, in a little pizzeria called Le Kumquat. Delicious! Lots of local people in there. Apparently they open twice a day Monday to Friday but not on a weekend. This apparently is to avoid going up into the next tax bracket, which they undoubtedly would as the service and the food were both fab. Rachel joined us afterwards for coffee and brought me some stuffing! I’ve a little sewing project on the go that requires some stuffing and I gave mine to a charity shop when I was emptying the house. Thank you Rachel, I can crack on now.
We left my car in Rostrenen and Sue, Richard and I set off in his van for a trip around the area. First we went to the Abbaye de Bon Repos. A beautiful ruined abbey that looked to me more like it might have been inhabited by nuns but actually it was the home to Cistercian monks until the time of the French Revolution. Now, every summer, the Abbey plays host to an amazing 2 hour, nocturnal extravaganza of light shows, pyrotechnics, music and theatre. It’s called le Son et Lumière de Bon-Repos. It looks amazing and I want to go!
We also drove to Lac de la Guerlédon, where we had a walk, and through some lovely little villages full of beautiful buildings, including the magnificent house where Richard has his orchestra rehearsals. What a place!
The landscape reminded me very much of the Lake District- very green and hilly. We also passed, on the pavement in one of the villages, a baguette machine! I will regret forever not stopping and trying it out!
So then back to Richard’s house in Kertanguellou. It’s lovely. So much land and several other little buildings apart from the main house. So much potential and he has many plans for the place but apparently everything is happening either « next Tuesday » or « in the Spring »
We had a lovely evening just eating bread and cheese and stuff and drinking red wine and talking. Oh and we had to watch last of the Summer Wine because it’s Richard’s favourite. Reminds him of home I guess. It’s yonks since I last watched it. Quite funny and very sweet 🙂
I slept in the cabin that Richard plans to put on Airbnb. Lovely place, very comfy. I would highly recommend it.
We looked for salamanders before retiring for the night. Apparently they are native to the area. But thankfully we didn’t see any!
Bonne nuit 🙂
Jane’s Tour de Force 