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Saturday 20 August 2016

Jour #4 - Chateau-ed!


Hi peeps, hope you are well.
I'm still on hols, day 4, and still working within the constraints of the limited technology I have to hand.
So I give you.


The head.


The rest.
Blue Magasin stripey top over Next navy camisole and white Peacocks crops.

And wearing this ensemble, I left 




What a wonderful time we had there.  Lots of walking, swimming, touristing and socialising.  Fabulous!

And we hit the French roads for the next leg of our journey.

Now, we have a new car with in-built navigation.  This new lady is very bad.  She takes us along C roads running (slowly) parallel to the A road (speeding) motorways.  She's now done this to us twice, down through Brittany and now down to the Vendee, our second stop.
We now know that we have to totally ignore her for longer journeys and go back to our roots, (or our routes!) using previous centuries' archaic 'technology'.  The Map.

Oh she looks good, plumbed in there neatly on the dashboard. with all her flashy lights and her sweet, calming "everything's just fine" voice as she smooth-talks us down to a cobbled gradient 4 cul de sac cycle path.  But she is so not fit for purpose.  She is the chocolate teapot of the sat nav world.

But with common sense, logical analysis and a huge amount of steering wheel thumping and expletives, we got to the Vendee.

We found out party house for the next few days - a definitely work-in-progress house and outbuildings deep in the French countryside.   

We're here for a 25th wedding anniversary.  The couple left the UK a few years ago to make France their new home.  We met the party guests at a party-eve BBQ.  A few party guests are staying in the bedrooms which are missing bits of ceiling and floor and sharing a half -finished bathroom.  Some are camping in the grounds and are sharing a composting loo.  Several are staying in basic B&B rooms and sharing even more basic bathrooms.  Two are staying in a nearby Chateau in an en-suite antique-furnished bedroom.  No prizes for guessing where I am staying!

Must dash now ... party time!

A la perchoine.




4 comments:

  1. I love your post and look forward to reading it every day. I love the photos! I live in Canada but have been to the Channel Islands and have spent lots of time in France - it never fails to excite me! Thanks for continuing to post even while you're on your hols! PS: It sounds like your Satnav is set to "avoid highways" instead of "fastest route". I've spent hours meandering down country lanes before realizing my settings were to blame!

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    1. Hi Barbara, it's great to hear from you again and I'm pleased to hear you're still enjoying popping in.
      I do hope you visited Guernsey when you spent time in our neck of the woods. Did you enjoy your stay?
      France is looking lovely right now and I have taken a fair few shots to post when I get back.
      We did think we were set on 'scenic' gps when she sent us through so many villages but we've checked and she's set on 'fastest' and with toll roads. Anyway, we've just arrived at our next Chateau, having whizzed up here on motorways by completing ignoring her. It was a much more pleasant journey. We've given her a name. In French. It's not a nice name but totally reflects how we feel about her right now!
      Looking forward to hearing from you again soon.
      P.s. haven't found any chateaux owned by Canadian universities yet :-).

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  2. I tend to ignore Mr Him when hes navigating. Your two part shots are a bit disturbing:) A classic French look, where's the beret?

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    1. Hi Anna. Sorry about my unnerving shots, my available tech stuff and my pics get worse and worse as the holiday progresses.
      Oh, it DOES look like I've chosen a Breton outfit for Brittany - a beret would have made a cliche-cute outfit, thanks for pointing it out!

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