In Vaison la Romaine

We have been having a wonderful adventure!  Don't know where to begin...  Before leaving Loire, we took an evening ride and set gps for historical locations...  Castle after castle, ancient bridges, cathedrals... All within a half hour jaunt.  Castles are still being lived in by families.  After that we had wine with our hosts, Jean Louis and Elice...  They love socialized medicine, but pay 70% taxes!  Also, just driving here yesterday we paid 60 euros in tolls... Taxes are high!

Yesterday was a long day of driving...  We love our place and the village...  I will try and include views of Roman ruins outside our window!  This place is gorgeous!  Woke up today to huge electrical storm... We are at the base of the Alps.  Bells tolled for 15 minutes... We figured the river was overflowing, but it was just the call to mass at the cathedral.  Went to patisserie and cafe... Pure French at its best!  Bon jour mes mon ami.  Let us know if you are watching our blog... Only heard from a few of you.

Long drive tomorrow!

Getting clothes washed in preparation for our longest drive of 8 hours tomorrow!  

Chenonceau Castle

Over the top castle... Here in Loire Valley!

We made it to the Loire Valley

Today we traveled...  Got here around 4.  Went to the market ... You can't believe how narrow the roads are!  When you go to get the shopping cart you must put in a euro to unlock cart.. You must bring your own bags.  You weigh your veggies before you get to the check out... Hmm .. We put ours back!  They love tripe, kidneys, horsemeat... We are now in a historic place.  Outer walls are 5 feet thick, inner walls are 2 feet thick.  Cardinal Richlieu lived here!  I am attaching a photo of view outside our living room window!

By the way.. The ride here (3 hours) was beautiful farm land.. Rolling hills, very green!

Mont St Michel

Visited this abbey.  Built in 5th and 6th centuries.  Separated from the mainland.  Tide comes up 50 feet at high tide!  Never attacked!  We climbed "millions" of steps.  Very interesting.  The monks from this. Abbey copied scriptures for their entire lives.  Definitely a high point for us...  Forgive bad typing..it's a challenge on my iPad to write everything correctly.  Our "Randolph" family roots go back to the founding of this abbey!

Relax! "Down Day"

We are cooking our own breakfast.  Don't like french breakfast since Jim can't eat sugar.  Every egg is a double yolk!  

D Day

We went to all the D Day sites today.  Very, very moving.  My favorite thing is the tiny stone villages!  The church in the photo was in the first town liberated.  Photo shows hundreds of GIs worshipping the next day.

Normandy!

We have made our way to the sea...  Ride here was amazing, through tiny villages..of stone homes.  People still live in these homes.  Countryside is verdant green.  Seine river wound it's way along our path.  We stopped in Giverny to see Claude Monet's gardens...  Reminded me of several of my green thumb friends... Every flower was represented.  Our cottage here is twice the size of our Paris one.. Very cutely decorated.  The village is idyllic and still a very active port.  Interesting that when the tide goes out many of the boats are left high and dry!  We have very nice neighbors downstairs.. From Michigan !