Le Puy du Fou (2)

Two more amazing shows at Le Puy du Fou. 

Firstly the Roman arena with its procession, including emus...

...and geese,

Gladiators vs Christians...

...and a chariot race!

The Phantom Birds' Dance was so good we actually watched it twice...

...with birds of prey at close proximity...

...swooping overhead

The finale is totally breathtaking with 100s of birds of prey circling above

ps We still haven't done the evening show. Perhaps next year...

pps Thankyou to John for many of the photos in recent posts!

Le Puy du Fou (1)

The biggest tourist attraction in Vendée is Le Puy du Fou theme park. We had a wonderful day there towards the end of our week with Edith & John. Even on our 4th or 5th visit you cannot fail to be impressed, and not a white-knuckle ride to be seen!

The mediaeval village, complete with characters demonstrating skills from the past

Our two guests in place for the Viking invasion!

This longboat appears from underwater

Different era: The Secret of the Lance...

...where the wall disappears into the ground...

...and the tower rolls forward in full pyrotechnic splendour!

More next time!

We interrupt this blog...

...to announce the birth of a son, Sacha, to Matt & Cynthia on 18th October, weighing in at 8lb 2oz (3.735kg). All three are doing well and Maman & baby hopefully coming home in a couple of days!

Proud Cynthia...

...and Matt

We're becoming experts at this!

As I type this we still haven't seen young Sacha awake!

ID'd at birth!

Sitting alongside Tine here's Sacha's great-grandma...

...who doesn't seem to have lost her touch!

I can imagine my Mum doing this

Meanwhile, Monsieur sleeps on!

In other news: guess whose first birthday it is today: yes, it's young Alfie, as cheeky as ever and about to fly over to meet his cousin!

Ancient things

And the good weather continued...
Some items below are more ancient than others. It's up to you to decide!

Le Moulin des Ramboulières, apparently now inhabited. On previous visits we've walked around it.

Le Dolmen de la Cour du Breuil... 

...with a very ancient Norfolk druid...

...and John!

Les Dolmens de Savatole. You can't approach this one in summer as the field has crops.

Another ancient relic blogger!

And the star of the show: Le Roi des Menhirs at Avrillé, with more than 7m above ground

More fun with Edith & John

The great thing about having out-of-season visitors is that everywhere is quieter and we're able to do more sightseeing (plus the excellent weather this September was an added bonus).

Back to Moricq with its mediaeval tower built to defend the Lay estuary when Moricq was a port - it's now a few kilometres inland from La Tranche.

One question often asked is what happens to the magnificent sunflowers at the end of the season. Well you can see here that they end up hanging their heads in shame at the thought of being used for oil!

As for maize, no wonderful corn-on-the-cob dishes,  they're practically all used as animal fodder. What a shame!

Another day we had very low tides and Tine taught our guests the art of shrimping beyond the end of the jetty

John & Tine were even spotted in action by friend Yvette - merci pour le photo!

Beautiful days and a fantastic sunset one day, Cantine in full appreciation!