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French Canal Life – Living and Cruising the French Canals

Living and cruising the French canalsFrench Canal Life – Living and Cruising the French Canals

Does living on a barge on a French canal appeal to you? Would you like to give it a try? I love walking along the tow paths of canals and often wonder what it would be like to live on one of the barges I see tied up along the grassy banks.

Our French holiday home is within a short driving distance to a couple of canals and we often take the children for a walk or bike ride along the canal towpaths.

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Château de Brest

Chateau de BrestChâteau de Brest #PhotoSunday

According to a 10 year old boy it’s the best day ever, when you can nonchalantly pose beside an ancient cannon within the walls of a Château!

Château de Brest has so much history and a tour of the Musee National de la Marine is recommended, particularly if you want to find out more about Richelieu, you know, of The Three Musketeers fame.

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Village House

Village House #PhotoSunday

Walking around our French village (where we live part of the year) and the region of Brittany, we are often amazed at the large stones and boulders that seem to rise out of the ground and can be found in the strangest places.

This photo taken in our village shows a house built around a large boulder and we often wonder about it and love to show our guests this house on our walks around the village and nearby farm lanes. I guess before cranes and jack hammers you just built around huge boulders and called it home.  I wonder whether part of the boulder forms an internal wall, maybe with narrow shelves carved into the surface of the boulder within the house.

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Bourbriac and its Surprise Treasure

Broubriac and its Surprise Treasure

Do you visit churches and cathedrals when you travel?  I love the peaceful cool environment, (especially on a hot day after lots of walking) the architecture, the ornate wooden carved furniture and the stained glass windows.  That’s a lot of things I like about them I guess.

However it’s not only the large cathedrals and basilicas that are worth checking out when in France, it is also the local church in any village or town.  For example, Bourbriac, a village in our greater region has a smallish population that has hovered around 2,330 persons for years, and their town church is huge.

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Abbaye de Bon Repos #PhotoSunday

Abbaye de Bon Repos #PhotoSunday

Abbaye de Bon Repos, which is at the western end of Lac de Guerlédan, dominates the view at this point of the Nantes-Brest canal.  It is a favourite spot of ours to get an ice cream at the little shop near the lock and enjoy the summer sun after walking in the woods surrounding the Lac (lake).

I know the Cistercian monks who lived here in the 12th century didn’t enjoy these summer luxuries!

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Giveaway Winner

Thank You to Sarah our Giveaway Winner

For sending us this gorgeous photo of herself enjoying the Most Beautiful Villages of France book.

We love connecting with our readers and followers … Thank you to everyone who comments, likes, shares and posts photos for us all to enjoy.  You all make my life richer and spur me on to create even more material, that I hope, enrichens your life too.

Watch out for our future Giveaways and make sure you add your best email address so that we can let you know if you’re our winner.

          Bisous d’une collection française 

One Sip At A Time: Book Review

One Sip At A Time - Book Review

One Sip At A Time: Book Review

“Every man has two countries – his own and France.”  Thomas Jefferson

“A walk in Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty and the point of life.”  Thomas Jefferson

Living in France is a dream of many Francophiles but few get to enjoy the reality of it.  Keith Van Sickle and his wife Val have however made their dream of ‘living in Provence, the land of brilliant sunlight, charming hilltop villages and the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean‘ come true.    We read as they ‘quit their jobs, become consultants and split their time between two countries’.

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Saint Malo and All The Light We Cannot See: Book Review

Saint Malo and All The Light We Cannot SeeAll The Light We Cannot See is set in Saint Malo, Brittany

Imagine being a blind sixteen year old girl living alone with your reclusive aged great-uncle in a narrow derelict and silent house in Saint Malo during the German occupation of the greater Saint Malo area and then the final assault and eventual liberation by the British and Allied Forces.  This is the situation Marie-Laure the brave Parisian teenager finds herself in the fictional work of All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

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