A Visit to Portsmouth, A Ferry Ride, and a Long Drive to Quimper

Bonjour mes amis!

We're now settled into our lovely home in Quimper, France. Let me catch you up with where we've been.

Thursday we took a train from London to Portsmouth, England. We only had one small problem when we arrived in Victoria Station to catch our train, and we were told that there was a problem with the tracks and no trains would be going to Portsmouth. But we were guided to a bus that took us to Waterloo Station and from there onto the correct train. The public transportation in England is wonderful, and wherever we went, people would offer to help us when they saw us looking lost.

Portsmouth is a beautiful historic city. We stayed close to the ferry port so we took a cab to get to the downtown area after checking into our hotel. Portsmouth has a marked walkway that goes through the old part of town and along the ramparts of the city with wonderful harbor views. Lots to see as we went along including another church that had been bombed in WW2 and several forts.

Greg toured the D-Day museum while I sat in a park and enjoyed the flowers. There are lots of park areas in the city and benches everywhere. Greg didn't feel the museum was as good as it could be - he was hoping for more information about Portsmouth's involvement rather than just a general overview.

Dinner was at The Marmion, a pub in the Southsea area where there are lots of restaurants and shops. A young bartender was delightful and the service was excellent. Greg ordered a steak which in hindsight was probably not the best idea. Fortunately, my pasta and chicken was large enough to share and excellent.

We were up Friday morning at 5:30 and after walking to the ferry port, we were there by 6:00. And of course, we were the first to arrive. We took the high speed ferry with Brittany Ferries, and it took us from Portsmouth to Cherborough in 3 hours.We decided to buy one of those wrist bands to help with seasickness, and it was probably a good idea. Lots of people looked pretty green by the time we arrived. Arriving on May 1, a national holiday, was a bit of a challenge since virtually every office and service was closed, but we had made arrangements with AutoEurope to pick up a car from Europecar, and a woman from the office had opened the office to help us. This is probably the 4th or 5th time we've used AutoEurope to rent a car, and it has always been a great experience. Their headquarters is in Portsmouth, Maine, so it's easy to just call them if there are any questions.

We piled our stuff into our almost new Renault, and set off. There was a navigation system built into the car that we set, but had two major problems. Since it was part of the audio system and the radio was on, we couldn't turn the radio off without turning off the nav system too. So we listed to Roy Orbison who was interrupted every now and then with a driving instruction. Then we realized that the navigation system was about 5 miles behind where we were! So she would tell us to turn, and we were miles beyond the turning point. Very convenient. Good thing we had a back-up. (Thank you, TZ!) We set up the Garmon, and it helped a lot, but it really wanted us to use only major roads, and we sometimes ticked her off by choosing something else. We managed to see some beautiful scenery along the way, and Greg stopped for a couple of photos. These yellow fields of flowers were everywhere, and if we had had some sunshine, I think they would have glowed!

We were greeted in Quimper by our delightful hosts, Michele and Gilbert, who showed us the house we're renting here for 4 nights. It's at the top of a huge hill overlooking part of the city, and it's perfect. We decided to walk into town - well over a mile - but we'd been sitting all day and the walk sounded good. Except it was all downhill to dinner and all uphill after a big meal and a bottle of wine! Dinner was amazing at Le Prieure. Scallop soup, wonderful fish with risotto and veggies, and some kind of caramel dessert.

Today it is pouring. We found a grocery store and managed to fumble our way through buying what we needed. Why does everything here look so much better than at Sendik's? The cheese aisle goes on for miles. I love looking at all the things on the shelves and trying to figure out what they are. And right outside the store, there was a table set up where people were making crepes for charity - kind of like the people in the US who are selling candy bars for a cause. Of course, we had to try one. And then another one. Just simple crepes with butter and jam but so good. Tried to find a flat white to wash it down but no luck. We settled for a cafe creme which was close but not the same.

So now it is mid-afternoon on Saturday and the rain is still coming down - just a general nuisance mist that gets you soaked in a few minutes. We walked around the city center and it is beautiful. Creperies and shops along cobblestone streets. Charming. I'm sure pictures will come later once the weather clears. We felt obligated to try the local pastry called Kouign Amann. They sell them everywhere, but we found some small ones that were in different flavors. I think every bite has a pound of butter.

For now, we're content to stay inside and relax for the day. More later....