Well it is 12h30 in Versailles and I have some time to tell again some wonderful things about France to all my readers, friends, and family.
The sad news is that I am leaving the area by June 1st,2011. The good news is that I am leaving for a better management position with a highly recognise French company in the region of Morbihan, Bretagne. Its a decision that weighted heavily on the fact of not only the pay, but the conditions, and the area. It is after all a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Gulf of Morbihan (small sea in Breton language).
My family will stay behind some time in order to get all the paperwork of selling the house,finding schools for the sons, and the usual moving madness that we are so used to having moved several times in our life from regions to regions and from countries to countries. The Versailles area is wonderful, will leave many friends but will stay in touch, the area is superb cant have enough words for it. The palace driving by it every day to work is sublime, the food,the people ,and the closeness to the city, Paris, a movable feast was awesome. As all my previous residences, it will be remembered fondly and with great joy of having lived in a wonderful area.
My new area is known a bit from passing by and visiting Nantes,and Rennes especially on business trips;now it will be by Vannes in the Morbihan department 56 region of Brittany or Bretagne. A wonderful area full of crepes, cider,and ancient stones plus all the other wonderful things you can find in France. I am seeking an apartment either in the city of Vannes or small villages nearby for that country feeling.
Some webpages to know my new area better for you and me ::) The agglo Vannes with 24 cities belonging to a metropolitan scheme of services, http://www.agglo-vannes.fr/accueil
The city hall or mairie de Vannes as well as their tourism office are here even in several languages lol! http://www.mairie-vannes.fr/ ,http://www.tourisme-vannes.com/
Vannes is a wonderful city with ramparts of old, towers, castle ,museum even in halles from the 13C, and a great Cathedral St Pierre, pleasure boat marina, and of course the way to the Golfe de Morbihan as well as many wooden and stone houses from centuries past in a rich and medieval city center. Cruising the gulf and inland rivers with many pleasure cruise companies that takes you to outlying islands is a delight I am sure. The big event now which I will take on the last days is the “La semaine du Golfe” with boat parades and fishing talk, traditional music and food, all at the special webpage (by the way it happenned every year so plan for coming lol!) http://semainedugolfe.fr/
This is a webpage with tourist info on the Gulf of Morbihan and all its outlying communities, very nice, http://www.golfedumorbihan.fr/ Further afield you have monolithics stones that still ongoing discovery all over the most famous I am told are those of Gavrinis where you need to go out by boat to see it, webpage http://sagemorw.alias.domicile.fr/gavrinis/index.php3 , and petit Mont where a causeway somehow was open a long time ago, webpage http://www.petit-mont.info/index.php3
For a nice look of the French resistance during WWII in the Bretagne region see this wonderful place, a must to go for me, http://www.resistance-bretonne.com/ , and one that will remind me of my Everglades in Florida is the natural reserve of Séné, just south of Vannes, webpage http://www.sene.com/reserve-naturelle/reserve-naturelle-sene.php , and one to see make and buy the salt de Guérande so famous, that I use at home, and now so close, about an hour drive ,the land of salt marshes . webpage http://www.terredesel.fr/
there is so much to see and do as usual in France, so only gave the general sites, now its Breton language, most sites are in both French and Breton, so here are some words
Bretagne is in French but in Breton is Breizh. Morbihan is in French but in Breton is Mor Bihan. Vannes is French, Breton is Gwened. and then some polite words ,first in French then in Breton
Bonjour, Demat, good morning
Bon aprés midi, Demat deoc’h, good afternoon
Bonsoir, Nozvezh vat, gooe evening
Au revoir, Kenavo, goodbye
s’il vous plait, mar plij, please
oui, ya, yes
non, ket, no
The wonderful Crêpe is Krampouezh, the Galettes are Galetez, Bon appetit you can say Kalon digor, unique. The tourist page for the whole region of Bretagne is at http://www.tourismebretagne.com/
It is sunny but clouds come back in by Versailles, the gang is out and I am nostalgic inside. One is with a friend birthday party, south of Versailles ,and the others went southwest of Versailles to the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. My father is watching his Spanish TV from Spain.
I have our family lunch at Bougival near us at chez Clément restaurant. Monday take my father to buy his misc at Mantes la Jolie in the morning and go to Paris by 6éme for dinner with local friends. Tuesday is to close deal on my new apartment, and wednesday take wife for appointments, then thursday pickup my new business suits that should be done in west of Paris quai des Marques an outlet store with brand names very nice and good prices; another store in Bordeaux ,this one closer to me at Franconville, webpage http://www.quaidesmarques.com/franconville ;you can get good prices here if dare to come out of Paris ::) ,then next weekend will be my last officially in the area so planning already some outings with the family, probably a walk in the Chateau de Versailles gardens we enjoy so much over the 8 years we lived here.
Enough for my mumbling of nostalgia, I will keep up the blog, for sure; and looking forward to come back to the Paris/Versailles area already lol!! I know ,after a while there it will be hard to leave it as well, it happenned with every place I have been , a lot visiting 55 countries and living as citizen of 4 lol! Cheers
Paris1972-Versailles2003 