La Marée du Siècle/The Tide of the Century (2)

Just six hours later here we are again, but this time for the high tide. It was a pretty calm sea so no damage was done: lots of people there to witness the occasion though.

Walking along 'our' beach the tide has made an extra lake

There's not so far for sailors to manoeuvre their craft

The seagulls seemed very happy: obviously rich pickings to be had.

Before and after: the water overflow pipe by le Pavillon at low and high tide.

I've allowed you some colour this time as the clouds lifted a little!

La Marée du Siècle/The Tide of the Century (1)

A bit of a misnomer really as these majorly high and low tides occur about every 18 years. In France tidal range is measured as a comparitive coefficient, comparing the high tide to the previous low tide:

Last weekend we had a coefficient of 119 but sadly the weather was very dismal and photos were not as clear as I would have liked. Anyway, here are my findings in good old-fashioned black and white!

There were quite a few vehicles on the beach and lots of people enjoying hunting for their sea-food lunch.

This photo and the next were taken at exactly the same position: one looking towards the shore...

...and one looking out towards the Ile de Ré

Photo taken in front of le Pavillon 

This was the day after the eclipse when we had similar weather. Thankfully I saw lots of brilliant photos taken by my Facebook friends.

See you in 2033 for the next Tide of the Century!

Walk near Bourgenay/Veillon

Using our trusted walks guide from the tourist information centre in Talmont Saint Hilaire we returned to Bourgenay but this time headed inland instead of doing our usual walk along the low cliffs.

This used to be where they dried tobacco leaves. I had no idea that they grew tobacco in Vendée!

An old mill dating from the Middle Ages, now partly restored...

...and how it used to look.

I found a couple of visitors there too!

Nearby there was, believe it or not, a pigeon house built in 1722.

There were four levels and it could house 2000 birds.

There's no mention of hot water but there's plenty of running cold water from the open roof!

We had to curtail our walk (lunch and Tine's commitments) but not before walking through ancient woodlands.

We'll certainly repeat this walk. Any takers?

Signs of spring

There are definite signs of spring everywhere, with nature finally waking up from its long slumber. Just a few more warmer days wouldn't go amiss though...

Cheerful daffodils are to be seen everywhere...

...accompanied by the sweet smell of mimosa

Even wild flowers are getting in on the act

In the garden there are catkins,

Shrek plants, 

forsythia  (which actually had a few flowers in December!)

and early buds on the cherry tree and onions in the raised bed.

A splash of colour in Les Sables...

...and a neighbour's beautiful flowering cherry.

Grape hyacinths can often be seen by the roadside with hollyhocks starting their growth spurt!

Guéhenno

I've never seen anything like the calvery at Guéhenno. The original was damaged during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution but a later rector Abbé Jacquot rebuilt it starting in 1853, using some of the original materials and adding his own sculptures.

Christ in His tomb

Detail on the side of the ossuary

We found it strange that all the children's graves were grouped together, unnamed, behind the church with no explanation.

Once again the Wikipedia page is very informative - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvary_at_Guéhenno

Questembert & Trédion

On the Saturday the weather was better and after lunch outside (yes!) we took to the car and continued our visits.

Earlier we'd gone to Questembert for 'Er from Brittany to collect a parcel and enjoyed a peaceful walk around the lake there.

Later in the afternoon we stopped at the magnificent château at Trédion and walked in the grounds. If you have a wedding to organise or want to rent an apartment, this is your place!

I feel I'm being rather reflective today!

Back to Sulniac and new-born lambs aplenty. Don't mention mint sauce though...