FRANCE - September 22, 2012

FRANCE

September 22, 2012

Staying put in our little apartment in Areines felt really good…both of us were tired from the past few months. And one of the best things we enjoyed was watching the pair of owls living in the steeple of the church attached to the building we’re in. When darkness fell one or both would come out, “going to the market”. With all the crop fields surrounding us there was lots to hunt. Within a half hour they would go in and out five or six times. Each time their snow-white plumage reflecting the local street lights. And each time without any sound whatsoever… absolutely nothing. Just observing nature at its finest being represented by these beautiful birds was priceless. Now fully contented we would go back up to our room for a sleep sometimes interrupted by the screech from these two just to remind us they were still flying by our open window in the middle of the night. 

 

Then it was time to do a mini-trip, four days to the Vendee area in west-central France. A 3 ½ hour drive through beautiful rolling countryside brought us to a simple camping place, massive and filled with RVs, near a park. Not just any park. This is “Puy du Fou”, meaning “The Fool’s Well”, which in March 2012 won the prize for the World’s Best Theme Park. It beat out Disney and all the other pretenders. But no rides here; this is meant more for older kids and adults and is based on the history of the region. The Vikings, the Romans, Jeanne d’Arc, et al from the year 1000 to the 1800s. It’s a huge park with shows representing the various time periods throughout the day. The park is actually a forest first and an entertainment area second. Walking from one show to another on hard sandy paths under a canopy of trees is actually refreshing. Between the show areas are buildings of the times with, in many cases, artisans of the day. Depending on the show there can be horses racing with knights armed with lances, lions, predator birds, animals of all sorts, large ponds, fire, thundering music, disappearing full-sized castles, appearing full-sized Viking ships, a man in a light suit playing a grand piano appearing out of the water, dancers skimming on top of the water, horses running on the water, massive water jets, human actors, and on and on and on. All this with a story being told accompanied with music.

 We were flabbergasted by inexplicable happenings, seen with our own eyes. The Puy du Fou is also a place which champions predator birds. They manage almost 500 birds of various types from around the world. Each year 50 to 100 young are produced for reintroduction. The falconers, the people who handle the birds, and the birds themselves, put on a show second to none. It impressed us so much we went back for a second time. Owls, eagles, hawks, buzzards roaring inches from our heads, landing a foot away, being placed on our heads, screeching. A hot air balloon is sent up at one point with birds inside built-in cages. Three thousand feet up the buzzards are released. Then…two Peregrine falcons are outside the balloon, black dots against a bright sun, hovering for a minute before heading straight toward the trainer on the ground at 250 kph only to open its wings to slow down well within the small stadium!! The finale is as the title of the show says… “Le Bal des Oiseaux Fantom” or “The Ball of the Phantom Birds”. Hundreds of birds of all sizes and types flying just above us, around us, beside us and going from one trainer to another to get a bit of food with the music giving it all a sense of dance. The crowd was absolutely and totally awestruck!

But the most amazing spectacle of all was the once-a-week granddaddy of them all…a two hour show in darkness. Again it was based on the history of the area and personal accounts. The light show, the sound show, the projection of pictures on rooster-tailed water jets, the changing shapes of the massive castle, the close to 800 actors, the animals was unbelievable. The 14000 spectators, a packed house, were really blown away and gave a ten minute standing ovation at the end. All thanks to 3200 volunteers. At any one time there are 500 volunteers in training to replace those who plan to stop. This show, as all shows, are performed from Spring to Fall, rain or shine. Luckily we got the shine part. No description, no pictures can ever describe this one. Ya just gotta see it for yourself. It was two days of jaw-droppingness!!

 The last day we visited a large Japanese oriental garden. At some 85 hectares, over 200 acres, it was stunning. Started in 1908 and greatly improved in the 1980s, it was certified by three Japanese experts. Serene and beautiful, magical and present. That particular day there was also a special event on Bonsai, the miniature trees so carefully groomed. A hall presented the works of Bonsai clubs from around France.

 We’ve talked about the barn owls which live in the church steeple next door and how we go out most evenings to watch them. One night, no different than others, we watched them. Then just as we were going inside and while walking beside a large cherry tree, something fell through the tree’s branches in the darkness. A pigeon still shaking…at the end of its life. Blood from a puncture wound in its back showed the cause. One of the owls had attacked the smaller bird but was unable to hold it dropping it though the tree at our feet. A warning to us? We went inside.

 On Sept. 12 my sister, Nadege and her daughter, Carole came in on the TGV train from Paris having flown in from Canada for a two week visit. But their arrival couldn’t just be simple. With cohort Daniel in tow, we waited on the arrival ramp. Carole was to be the target. Daniel would be telling saying her ticket was faulty and that she was to go back to Paris to get the problem resolved. But Daniel has a sneaky side. Instead he asked Carole, standing next to me, if she knew me. Yes. Daniel then told her I was wanted on complaints that I had exposed myself in front of schools. He told Carole and I to follow him. Going down the escalator Carole asked me what was going on. I told her we would soon find out. Once out of the station Daniel finally told her who he was. And so having betrayed me on the gag, he will pay…and he knows it!!

Since then the two of us have been acting as tour guides…and really enjoying it especially watching Carole’s reactions to things French and to some of the crazy friends and funky family we have here. So it was off to some of the local “farmers” markets, dinner with friends, the farm where I was born, a village famous for its troglodyte dwellings, some of the more quaint and historical villages in the area, Amboise where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life and where he is buried (his house and grounds have been turned into an amazing museum with working models of some of his inventions – that’s the picture shown here), and Chartres Cathedral (near Paris and one of the most impressive cathedrals in France and one undergoing renovations to remove a hundred years of air pollution.

And for new visitors like Carole and Nadege, it’s almost mandatory and certainly expected to take a guided tour of “Marcel’s Caves” in Asnieres, a small village twenty minutes from here. Marcel hand dug many of the caves which he uses to store countless bottles of mainly red wine. This wine is Oberlan, a type of grape now illegal other than to those who already had the vines before the law was passed. The wine is smooth like silk and deep purple in colour. It carries a punch at 18% alcohol (compared to 12% for most wines). The taste alone makes people smile and open their eyes with pleasure. Marcel’s wife, Huguette, keeps a local “museum” with artifacts unlike many.

To end the day, Nadege, Carole, Dawn and I threw a party for a few friends with a typical French meal and lots of wine. The “raclette” dinner which involved each person to melt their own cheese and add a potato, meat or smoked salmon. This is all done on small individual heating plates on the table. The four-plus hour meal took place in Daniel and Jo’s cave by their house. The cave is organized as a “party cave” and with the food, wine and constant laughs, no one left empty, totally sober or sad. It was a real gas!

From here Daniel and Jo head south with us to Morocco to spend a month or more. We have been there once while Daniel and Jo have been through the country countless times. Daniel is very experienced in the region having done the famous Paris-Dakar race seventeen times! With little if any access to the internet in the regions of Morocco where we will be, the next piece of the blog won’t be until late November from Spain.