Family and Sean

I visited the eastleigh museum to view a replica of the steam engine locomotive my dad worked on in the 1940's.

Uncle Vic, 2nd cousin Kate and I in front of locomotive replica

Went for a long walk along the riverside near my auntie's house - beautiful walk and scenery. Before trains, barges were used on the river to transport coal and timber to Winchester.

Thatched roof cottage around the corner from my aunt's house.

 

 

 

 

It was exciting to have Sean here, if only for 48 hours, however this entailed lots more visiting with family.

Pub dinner with my cousin Gerry, husband Harry and 2nd cousin's Greg and Sarah.

Coffee with 2nd cousins Simon and Kate who visited Canada in 1993. No Starbucks here but I now have a Costa coffee card!

Cousin Michael drove Sean and I to Portsmouth to have lunch with the son and grandson of my Aussie girlfriend Janice (she lives in Victoria). I have not seen Steven for about 4 years and this was the first time I have met Kelyk (sorry Janice if I have misspelled his name). Kelyk was very well behaved as we sat around chatting for an hour and a half at lunch.

 

 

 

Sunday morning up at 5:30 am to drive Sean into Winchester to catch the 6:50 coach to heathrow, then I drove to Southampton airport to drop off the rental car and catch my plane to Brest France.

My cousin Elaine and her husband Mick picked me up at the airport and we drove about one hour northeast of Brest to their lovely country home and cottage in rural Brittany.

 

Old well

 

 

 

 

 

 

Backyard

 

Cottage

We took a drive to the seaside town of Binic- as you can see the tide was out ! Binic, in the past was a fishing village and during the war german submarines were located here. Today it is a vacation destintion for holiday seekers during the summer.

In france all shops are closed on sunday but French people love to stroll the town and seaside with their families taking time to stop in cafes for coffee, beer or glass of wine while they people watch. Dogs are considered part of the family so there are dogs everywhere including restaurants and cafes. I enjoyed my first French cappuccino - did not realize it would come with a generous topping of whipped cream. This along with baguettes and cheese at every meal - oh I need to walk more or eat less!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cousin Elaine, husband Mick and cousin Tony

In France all shops that do not sell food (restaurants) close between noon and 2pm. We visited the town of Quintin today where some of the buildings dated back to the 1500's - it is a town of 2800 people. in France if you work more than a half hour from home your employer must supply you with a hot lunch. Therefore most French workers have their lunch in local restaurants as they often live in villages outside of the town. This can make cafes and restaurants very busy at lunch time.

Tomorrow Elaine and I are off to Paris and will meet up with my cousin Rosemary from Scotland. My very brief visit to this area of France has wetted my appetite to return to investigate this it more thoroughly.