You had me blissfully thinking of the distinguished Frenchman...and then, UGH! Thanks for giving me a Monday afternoon chuckle. Wish you could've gotten a photo!

Yes, indeed, the French like to wear every item that they would never consider wearing at home. They are among the sloppiest tourists that I have seen around the world, which is always what makes me laugh when I see all of threads about people worrying about how to dress in France. People who dress this way when they are on holiday themselves will never worry about visitors who dress the same.

Can someone supply a link where I can order a pair of those day-glo yellow flip flops? We'll be in Paris in October, and I always follow Kerouac's advice.

We found him in Batz-sur-mer, not far from the very chic-et-cher resort of La Baule. We like to see how the other half (well, make it half of one percent) lives.

We got a €15 discount on our hotel room because it did not offer a sea view. I don't know what to call the grey-blue liquid stuff with boats sailing on it.

Now in Guérande, famous for its sea-salt. It has a nice "ville close" (walled town) that is overrun with tourists, most of them in September being French. According to the restaurateur who fed us well for modest money last night, the season here runs from March into November. That suits her, because she can make a living.

It's bucketing rain right now, so we may scrap the plan to take a boat trip in the Briere Natural Park. Pity: I was looking forward to it, because it is a magical place.

"Can someone supply a link where I can order a pair of those day-glo yellow flip flops? We'll be in Paris in October, and I always follow Kerouac's advice."
October weather won't be hot enough to wear flip flops but I would have loved to see you wearing them! Just a quick day trip to Dijon to show me (and check our brand new tramway)

Padraig, fortunately the French tourists will be back to work soon! Have fun!

Padraig, I've always loved your style. I hope we get to hear more about your trip.

Nukesafe, I will be in Paris from October 20 to 27. If you'd like to meet for a drink, I could easily be persuaded.

Ernie

Yes, Padraig, tell us more. I'm a long-time fan of yours, dating from your days on the Usenet Europe newsgroup.

Here in the Dordogne, all the French tourists appear to have been dressed by medieval beggars. But we're a universe away from La Baule.

When there is rain, or a prospect of it, it is a good idea to do your tourism in a place with some roofed buildings. So we headed for La Roche Bernard, a famously pretty village where we spent a pleasant hour or so about twenty years ago (and where we purchased a fruit bowl that still pleases us).

The morning rain stopped and never returned; we could have done the La Briere trip. But we managed to spend a most enjoyable day at La Roche Bernard, seeing far more than we saw last time, and we took a boat trip on the Vilaine. I was reminded yet again that I want to hire a boat in France and explore the Brittany navigations.

Tomorrow we move on. Somewhat capriciously, we have booked into a hotel at La Roche sur Yonn, a place we have never been before. It claims to have Wifi, so I may be able to tell you how we get on.

AnselmAdorne, I would consider it an honor to have a drink (or two) with you. I followed your stunning post " -- I fear'd to set my foot on a dead man's cheek", and your other posts with reverence --- fine writing, IMHO. http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/-i-feard-to-set-my-foot-upon-a-dead-mans-cheek---anselm-in-northern-france.cfm

Unfortunately, we will only be in France from October 1st to the 16th. Perhaps another time, Ernie.

Dick

Oh Coco, the tramway is now in service? I must come for a visit!

So we are in La Roche sur Yonn. I now know why it is not on the tourist trail for many: it's nothing out of the ordinary. Happily for us, the ordinary in France suits us very well; we like to ramble around and get an impression of everyday life in French communities.

We used an hour or more sitting on the terrasse of the Grand Café watching the world and solving most of a cryptic crossword that Herself found in her bag.

First item on tomorrow's agenda is to find a laundromat. We have been in France a week already, but I was not reporting here because the first part of our trip involved seeing friends, and that is not the stuff of travel writing.

Some years ago I heard a joke that reflected reality very well:
- Why do they have zebra crossings in France?
- So the ambulance drivers can know where to find the injured.

That has changed spectacularly. French drivers for the most part now respect zebra crossings very well, to the extent that if you are on the pavement near a crossing they may stop and order you to cross.

So far on this trip, four exceptions. One was a man in a white van - that's the nature of the beast. The other three were all women.

I don't know what that tells us about the human race.

The schools in France are not long back in session after the summer break. They call the return the "rentrée scolaire". There is a lycée (senior second-level school) just opposite our hotel, and there is another about 1km away in the centre of the town. Our afternoon peregrination took us from the neighbourhood of one to the neighbourhood of the other, a route also traversed by many lycéens in one direction or the other.

The air here is thick with pheromones.

"The air here is thick with pheromones."

The lycéens of Uzès added marijuana to the air about their heads. I failed to detect the pheromones, although they were doubtless there.

nukesafe, I am so sorry it will not happen. As you say, perhaps some other time our paths will cross.

I had written for you a detailed report about our morning doing the laundry, followed by our taking a look at another seaside resort (Les Sables d'Olonne) and then our not getting in to see the stained glass in Lucon Cathedral because of a funeral service.

Then the computer decided to reset itself, and my writings are lost forever. You'll never know what you missed.

Padraig, that is so frustrating!

Kerouac I'd be happy to show you around, you're welcome anytime!

I actually like hearing about the visiting with friends and/or family on a trip. It can be the best part of a trip (particularly for the former class ). But I may be in the minority.

Thanks for posting, Padraig. I'm enjoying this. Bummer that we missed a good laundry story, lol.

You're lucky you even got online. We had to go to the local campground to get wifi, which was eminently unpredictable, and spend lots of euros for demi-pressions while there. And every day the settings to get hooked up seemed to change. La caprice is a hallmark of traveling in rural France. You gotta be adaptable and lower expectations.

I agree that French drivers have mellowed over the years. We made a couple of monumentally stupid moves today driving through La Rochelle, and nobody honked or spat or waved a fist.

Life is a series of missed opportunities. We were also in La Rochelle today. It's a difficult town to drive in, isn't it?

We sat beside somebody famous, taking drinks on a terrasse at the harbour. The only reason that we knew he was famous was that people approached him for autographs or to have pictures taken with him, requests he very patiently indulged. There is a festival there currently of TV Fiction, so he is possibly a television actor. Having registered the fact, we became more attentive. There were several people around who seemed to think they were famous, striking poses and attitudes, and apparently waiting for the fans or the paparazzi to notice them - and all they got was us being discreetly amused at their vanity.

We have moved on to Niort. Having skipped the Parc Naturel de Briere (sorry, can't figure out how to do accents on my travel computer) we have decided to take a look at the Marais Poitivien.

If you're looking for something different, don't skip the Futuroscope.

Yes, there was a big TV fiction thing going on today - I saw a whole bit about it on line but I couldn't leave the Café de Leffe on my crutches to get there to check it out; SO did, and said it looked really interesting and that there appeared to be some fairly famous people there (do you know about the television reality show that's filmed on Le Broyard - it's probably those guys with a heightened sense of importance)

It's also Les Jours de Patrimoines today and tomorrow à La Rochelle, but it doesn't seem to be much of anything special, so I think we'll just go tour Ile de Ré tomorrow, which I've been to a few times anyway, but SO has not.

We're here until Sunday, then to Paris. Tommorow to L'Ile de Ré, then more exploring La Rochellee et environs. It IS a difficult town to drive in... all kinds of bus lanes and one-way streets, but après tout pretty compact. There's the Vieux Port and the centre ville, and once you figure out that, it's fairly simple. You just have to make sure you don't get into a bus lane...we did, major error.

But it's beautiful here.

Following with great interest. Will be in Le Baule in less than a week.

So I asked Herself if she would like to try Futuroscope.
- "What is it?"
- "It's a theme-park in Poitiers"
- "I like Poitiers; why would I want to go to a theme park there?"
- "Well, Kerouac suggested it."
- "Kerouac? Isn't he the one who produced all that good stuff about Paris, and did a lot for our last visit there?"
- "The very one."
- "Well ..."
But she couldn't conceal the doubt.

Futuroscope is fairly antiquated by now, unless they've totally renovated it recently. And it's more for kids than adults. We passed it on the train a couple of weeks ago, and it didn't look updated. Without kids, I'd give it a miss (but kerouac may know more about it than I do at this point - it's been some years since I took my kids there).

we took our kids to futuroscope about 10 years ago, and it was certainly aimed at them, though adults might find enough to amuse them for half a day or so.

Shame that your computer wouldn't play ball - did you get to see the topiary in Lucon, or the shell mosaics in Les Sables? we loved those.

This reminds me of my own visit in the region last October : Niort, Olbreuse, La Rochelle, and a visit to Futuroscope (and then eventually to Toulouse). Loved it all.
Yes driving in La Rochelle was a headache so I left it to my French friends who knew best, though once out of the city, I drove us back to Toulouse.

Futuroscope was rather interesting, being a series of 'exhibits' set in large theatres of outlandish exterior design. As you approach the park from a distance, you think you're entering a city on another planet. We saw 9 attractions, my favourite being the water cinema, and the 3D movie of a bridegroom overcoming impossible physical obstacles to get to the church on time. Rollercoaster seats and all ! The 'Danse avec les robots' was also cool, and the fireworks, water and light show at the end, performed in, on and over the lake very impressive.

We also visited an oyster farm somewhere near La Rochelle but I cannot remember the exact location. We had to take a few dirt tracks off the main road to get to the grassy, marshy ocean's edge and to where the oyster beds were, as I recall. After a tour, an 'all you can eat' feast of oysters, shrimp, clams and mussels followed, with home baked bread, wine and an outdoor table setting. Our group of 10 were the only ones there and the owner and his wife looked after us very well.

Padraig, like the rest, I'm enjoying your report.

We saw 9 attractions, my favourite being the water cinema, and the 3D movie of a bridegroom overcoming impossible physical obstacles to get to the church on time.>>

Mathieu - I'd forgotten about the bridegroom movie - hilarious! definitely worth the price of admission.

Was the bridegroom movie the one where you sit in a chair that moves you up and down and sideways as if you're in motion?

Yes St. Cirq, that's the one - with the rollercoaster chairs as I call them, lol.

Ann, we actually went back to see it for a second time we liked it so much.

Oh, Mathieu, I remember them so well, from years ago. That ride was so incredibly funny! My kids were just beginning to understand French at the time, but they totally got what was going on, and we all had a great laugh!

Today was "La Venise Verte" - Green Venice, the canals of the Marais Poitevin. A great option on a sunny day such as today was, for the cool shady environment. We did some of our tourism by boat, some by walking, and also fitted in some sitting and just watching the world.

We tried for a good dinner in Niort. It's a town that seems to have changed greatly since we were last there about 20 years ago. Didn't find any fine dining possibilities that appealed greatly, so we settled for fairly ordinary dining in our hotel - at least I could relax and enjoy some wine.

The award for the best theme park attraction in the world was won by the Futuroscope last year -- award presented at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, a place which probably knows its theme park attractions.

http://tinyurl.com/6phxbe9

We are moving on today. I don't know where, except that we will not be going further south: I don't like long drives, and we have to be in Cherbourg for Wednesday.

FYI "the bridegroom movie" is called La Vienne Dynamique if you have to search it on the map. We loved it too but my hubby was sick and nauseous afterwards so avoid it if you have ear problems (they affect the inner balance)

Do visit the Cité de la Mer in Cherbourg.

We moved to Saumur. On the way, we visited the abbey at Fontevraud, a place for which we feel some attachment. So did huge numbers of other people, enticed by the free admission for the Journées du Patrimoine. Still, it's a big complex, so there was room for everybody.

I wrote of our last visit to Fontervraud in the spring of 2010:
"Last time we were in Fontevraud, we happened on a tea-shop that had recently been opened by an English couple. We were the only customers at the time, and they were happy to converse with us. They had burnt all their boats in the sense that if the business failed they would have nothing left. And we feared for them, because their business plan seemed to be "hope for the best, and it might happen". So, of course, we also hoped for the best for them, and today we went to see if they were succeeding. All I can tell you is that they seem to have survived: the tea-shop is still there, looking fine, but it was closed today."

Of course we visited again, and it was open today. The proprietors are surviving, although they have not yet mastered all the intricacies of French. I think their cat, William, might be the most contented cat in Anjou.

The temperature hit the high twenties this afternoon, a heat level which we Hibernians find energy-sapping. Shadows are good.

For us, one of the good things about Saumur is that we know where to get a nice meal. Tonight, fish in Le Grand Bleu hit the mark very nicely.

We did almost nothing in Saumur, and enjoyed it so much that we decided to stay another night here.

That is really the best sort of thing to do!

We did almost nothing in Saumur, and enjoyed it so much that we decided to stay another night here.>>

we liked Saumur a lot too. for us it seemed just the right size - large enough to have a good choice of decent restaurants and cafes, but small enough that it doesn't take forever to drive in and out on day trips. and so close to many things that we wanted to see, like Fontavraud.

Some things I don't like in France:
- noisy motos, where would-be hard men have damaged the baffles;
- cars being driven around, windows down, sound system at maximum volume playing music most people don't like;
- fistfuls of lettuce;
- most television;
- cruelty to plants - pollarding, coppicing, and (yes, Ann!) topiary;
- bloody tourists!

Fistfuls of lettuce?

'You're lucky you even got online. We had to go to the local campground to get wifi, which was eminently unpredictable, and spend lots of euros for demi-pressions while there. '

Well, it's getting better. Our village now has a hot-spot by the Mairie. Everything's up to date in Carlux!

Yes, it's definitely getting better. But you live in an actual village. Our mairie isn't even open more than a few hours a week, and more often than not the posted hours mean nothing. We went by three times on a Tuesday to talk to the mayor's sécrétaire, during posted hours, and there was no one there. When she finally reappeared a few days later there was no apology whatsoever. Which is fine...you learn to live with those types of inconveniences, but they're not so much fun when your time is short and you have a long list of things to accomplish. The gossip among the neighbors, BTW, is that things are disorganized at the mairie because the mayor is booting out his old sécrétaire and hiring the new one (who's never there) because he's having an affair with her. But there's always talk like that in the commune, so who knows.

Even here in Paris at the apartment we're staying in, where wifi was advertised as an amenity, it goes off typically after about 20 minutes, and the signal strength is dismal. Our host has given us the IDs and passwords for three different services, so one of them is usually working, but it eats up a lot of time just dealing with it.

NOT complaining...just saying you can't expect things to work the way they do "at home." At all.

Maybe we should move to Carlux

And I'm curious about fistfuls of lettuce too. I always see enormous lettuces and wonder how two of us will finish one before it goes bad...and we eat a LOT of lettuce!

I love fistfuls of lettuce if we are talking about meals. Even better if someone has dumped a bucket of gizzards or chicken livers on top.

I simply don't like lettuce very much, and the amount that has been put before me these past ten days or so is enormous: when I push it to one side to see what real food has been put on the plate, there is often relatively little.

Adding to the list of don't-likes in France (mainly on behalf of Herself):
- the failure to appreciate that tea is best made with water at boiling point rather than with water that was boiled a couple of minutes previously;
- the failure to understand that "au lait froid" means "with cold milk" and not with hot milk, or warm milk, or no milk at all.

On zebra crossings: today I was attacked once more by a woman driver (total 4); later the score was evened up at one crossing when four men refused to let us cross before the fifth driver (a woman) stopped for us.

Today we moved from Saumur to Villedieu-les-Poeles, stopping en route at two towns we like: La Fleche and Fougeres. We are now installed in Hotel Le Fruitier, a place we often use because it is pleasant, value for money, and has a good restaurant.

Villedieu is a very attractive town, with an unusually high survival rate of medieval bits in a part of France that was ravaged in the 1939-45 war. It has, as the name suggests, a tradition of producing pots and pans, especially copper ware. Over the past twenty years, we brought home three pans which get used regularly. Whatever took hold of us, we doubled our stock of Villedieu cookware today. I set out to negotiate a good deal, and had a most enjoyable contest with the shopkeeper - in which, I must admit, she outscored me. I was quite taken with her suggestion that I seemed to expect her to fill them with fish for me.

Tomorrow a relatively short run to Cherbourg, some shopping (especially for wine), and take the ferry back to Ireland.

I feel for your frustration with the French drivers not yielding for pedestrians at marked crossings. Having lived in California where those laws are strictly enforced, I have become quite comfortable with the convention that if one put a single foot into the roadway, all traffic should halt.

Some years ago, when I was working for the U.N. in Mexico City, It really pissed me off to find crossing a street was flirting with grievous bodily harm. I walked to work each morning, and would often arrive at the office shaking with both fear and anger.

One morning some cretin almost hit me as I timorously started across a major street. I blew up, and slammed my briefcase down on his hood, and walked around to his window to give him my opinions in my best gutter Spanish. That was so much fun I did the same several times before I went back to Vienna. The Mexican driver may be a lion behind the wheel, but when confronted with a guy dressed in suit and tie, wielding a heavy briefcase, he is a pussy cat.

I wonder how that would go down in Paris?

I wouldn't count on the same reaction Nukesafe but good on you !

<<On zebra crossings: today I was attacked once more by a woman driver (total 4); later the score was evened up at one crossing when four men refused to let us cross before the fifth driver (a woman) stopped for us.>>

Try France on crutches. The very sweetest, kindest instincts of every French man and woman come out when they see someone using them. Do you want a chair, Madame, while your husband shops? Can I get you a glass of water? Wine? Drivers screech to a halt when they see me entering a crosswalk. SNCF attendants appear out of the mist with wheelchairs and haul me on and off trains and deposit me in cafés to wait for the next connection. Seriously, go handicapped.

Do canes work, too?

Can you buy canes/crutches in the shops at CDG?

Perhaps a white cane would be even better ---

Belatedly returning to wrap up my report -

We have an odd relationship with Cherbourg. It might be the French city that we have been in most often, as it is our most usual port of entry to, and exit from, France. Yet the only time I actually stayed overnight there was on an occasion when the ferry arrived late in the day and I wasn't sure I could get to anywhere else before dinner time. Generally, Cherbourg is where we disembark and head down the road, or where we arrive well before embarkation time to do our shopping (mostly for wine and pipe tobacco, but also for a few nice comestibles - this time cheese and foie gras). We never seem to have the time to do tourist stuff: the Cité de la Mer is on our list of things we must do sometime, but time always seems to work against us.

The overnight crossing to Rosslare was uneventful. We broke our journey home to have a light lunch at the very charming Woodenbridge Hotel in the Vale of Avoca (a place not known to Rick Steeves or his adherents) and Herself got fistfuls of lettuce with her smoked salmon.

We are now wondering where to go for our next trip. Toulouse is under consideration, as we can get direct flights at a good price.

Well, here's what you missed, then. (You even missed the snow that I had that day -- extremely rare in Cherbourg!)

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/cherbourg-cit-de-la-mer.cfm

That report of yours is the main reason why it is on my list of things we must get around to doing! It somehow seems apposite that one of your pictures shows our ferry.

We have made a decision, and are going to Toulouse in mid-October; Herself wants to take a day for Carcassonne.

<<Perhaps a white cane would be even better --->>

Exactly what my SO said!

Padraig - how lucky you were to choose Cherbourg. Brittany Ferries have had to suspend ferries to Roscoff due to "wild cat" strikes, so we learnt yesterday.

ref Carcassonne, don't get your hopes up. Friends [1/2 french] who came back recently said that it was just like a medieval theme park; they, like us, loved Perpignan, and Toulouse too.

Carcassonne out of season is quite nice. When it is not crawling with tourists, it seems more authentic for some reason.