I decided as crazy as I can be to eliminate all the my travels in the Morbihan posts from my blog. After coming up and looking at them , I realise they are simple small dots of places already visited and full post and pictures in the blog. So rather than have a double sites have deleted all 94 (XCIV) of them !!! I like to thank all those who have given likes or comments over the years in my blog on these posts. However , all is not lost.
Rather than loose all these memorable moments since 2012, I will condense all of them into several posts for my memories of always , the story of me and my blog. Hope you enjoy these memories as I. The word Morbihan means Mor for sea and bihan for small in the breton language so therefore small sea (coming from the famous gulf of Morbihan) the local costumes is that in the South areas around Vannes, Breton is spoken by the elders ,taught in schools ,and all signs on the roads, etc are bilingual. On the extreme north by Loudéac par example ,Gallo, a gallo roman language is also spoken, and the road signs are shown in both gallo and French.
This is 2018 !!! And this was a long year of things to do and saddest of them all. We are visiting some of the animal refuges in our area. so far two, one in Vannes and other in Lorient (actually Larmor Plage). We have another pending in nearby Pontivy for next weekend. In going we notice posted on the road a Puppy fair going on in Lorient so we decided to take a look at that too. This was in the Parc Expo of Lorient, the Salon du Chiot. Once finished here we went back to Vannes for lunch at Scoop’s but were out for vacation so we settled for a quick one at Subway ,the chain in Vannes at avenue de la Marne; Recharge, we went for FNAC for my sons to pickup one of their dvd ordered and pickup at the store .And on the way back home we did our groceries of course. Our wonderful Carrefour hypermarket right in the same area of FNAC, where shopping is a pleasure and we find everything we need always with friendly service, getting to know the employees already and been recognized as you entered on their aisles and counters is superbe! Entering our wonderful country town of Pluvigner, we went for the local car wash, the first for our new car Ford Focus!!! yes we begin !2018 with a brand new car!!! Of course, it’s a Ford, would not buy any other for the money; always a Ford men. Ok so we got it at our favorite car dealer in the region, Mustiére Ford in Vannes. Finally, we went for our favorite bakery Boulangerie Delumeau (closed) for our wonderful baguettes but especially made for Brittany call the Breizh which is Brittany in Breton language! Always delicious.
Another thing I mentioned is that one of my sons was thinking of getting a scooter ! We purchase the scooter this morning and will be delivered for free to our house next Wednesday morning. It is at Mash City black purchased at Morbihan Moto in Ploeren just outside limits of Vannes. (many changes later he now has a Yamaha scooter),We did our groceries in our favorite Breton chain E Leclerc in the shopping park of Kerbois in the historical town of Auray. We just had to go over across the road to the other shopping park Océane to stop by V&B (this is vins et biéres or wines and beers) for our beers from Germany we get here with deposit rights, we loaded a box pile of beers; we need it ,is cold outside ::) We took advantage of stopping by Castorama a home supplies store we use to get some joints for our tiles etc of course when better weather comes around.
We started off in our town of inland Pluvigner, where we got to play the EuroMillion lottery at the tabac sundry store on place du Marché. Then, we set out to visit a wonderful store we used to frequent often while living in the Yvelines dept 78 (Versailles), this is Truffaut. It is a garden store with home deco, gourmet goodies, and animal store where you can buy even puppies! And we are still looking for one. The store is in the Centre Commercial Keryado or K2 in Lorient. We went over to GIFI a bazaar of all trinkets and home deco, well all inexpensive here that we have been to the one in Auray and Vannes. So now Lorient lol! An open air mall to go over to Boulanger, the electronics, home appliances store that we have been to the one in Vannes. Well here we were on the shopping mood with my gang and we grab a Moulinex robot or do it all machine sort of the things they have now for the kitchen.!!! We needed to eat lunch so rather than take a trip to find a restaurant we stayed on the shopping area and got into the cafeteria Flunch (family lunch!) this is a buffet style restaurant chain of inexpensive prices and is like eating on the job cantine but with more choices .We came by our old route home in Auray exit for the beaches and shop at the E Leclerc supermarket there. This is a chain of hyper/supermarkets started from Brittany to most of France and also, Poland, Spain, Portugal and Italy. They are the biggest single supermarket market share group in France.
We went to our local regional and French champion pizza maker at Le Scampi right in our town of Pluvigner for a take out action. The pizzas are just like mamma made and the rest is wild cheers and jeers. Then, Saturday morning after a nice park walk of our puppy Borador REX , and a bit upset as he did his stuff on the newspaper and not on the walk; oh well he is only 4 mos old and nothing on the floor!!! Then, we headed for our historical city of Auray, where we loaded up on our beers of Germany at the famous V&B store on the Océane park in Auray. This gave us hunger to stop by the Le Café qui Fume, a salon de thé and fine groceries store that recently open in what it was our frame and portrait store (folks retired). The store is loaded with goodies of a gourmet quality at reasonable prices (always better than Paris::)) . From Auray we rode on the freeway N165 to Séné to get some stuff for Rex our puppy, Frisbees, rewards food ,and a chicken/turkey meal to try it Maxi Zoo , an European chain of German origins with about 80 stores in France. Get Rex out again and he did it good boy !!! try his new snacking and food and ate it all! gourmand Boradors !!!
We did the initial vaccines for our puppy Rex, a mix Border Collier/Labrador or Borador! who is just fantastic and make us enjoy the outdoors a lot more than we did before. He is 5 months on April 11th and just a fine boy. Our veterinery is very nice and not far from home in our town. Clinique Vétérinaire du Chêne. We were in town so finally we ate on a local restaurant we have not been in a while, Le Scampi Pizzeria in city center, very nice place indeed and always welcome, we got free coffee expresso !!! we did our groceries at the town Super U supermarket just to make it a whole day local event
We did our duties with the bank at Auray, and then went back to Vannes to have lunch in one of our family favorite pizzerias (we love pizzas) this is the chain Tablapizza. We went for a spin to nearby Electro Depot store of plenty of electronic gadgets and home accessories and we got some earphones, cups:plates, etc . Continue practically next door to do our groceries at E Leclerc hypermarket. We got home and took a tour with our dog Rex, he had his first taste of dog food sausage on real beef from Germany. Very happy to do so. He is now relaxing , yes as soon as he is in the veranda he is calm once inside the house he does not stop moving high energy borador of 6 months old.
I am at my blog to help me go over the illness of my wife,cancer, so is not good. I will try to bear with it in my posts and go on with life as usual ,but it will be very hard. Thanks in advance for your prayers and best wishes. Yesterday as today or any other day was a day to visit the hospital by noonish time. We went out to get a new toaster as when back the boys just reported not working the previous ones ho ho ho; replace a moulinex by another bigger same moulinex at Darty a good chain of appliances here and they had opened a store in Auray closer to us than Vannes. We went around to visit Vannes after the hospital, and took a walk around our family favorites areas as well as had lunch at Le Saint Nicolas on rue Francis Decker right next to the tour prison or prison tower on the ramparts of Vannes. We continue a bit of walk in Auray as we needed to change my wallet I had and again purchase a Hexagona cow leather at Sacmania at rue du lait, Auray (the store since closed). We visit the hospital again etc. Lucky will have a rest day on Monday, Tuesday is Labor Day here so off, then I go to Paris on Wednesday on same day for an opinion of the Hôpital Americain of Neuilly sur Seine (Hauts de Seine 92) even if we can call it the Paris American Hospital. It was not to be sadly, The appt was for May 2nd and my dear wife Martine passed away on April 30 2018. A very sad day for me and still is hard.
Time goes on without my beloved dear late wife Martine. As said, she was the organizer to go places and it is missed. We got up this morning waiting for the nurse to come in for my father Elio, yes here they come to your house. My son had already gone out in his scooter to get us the baguette breads so essential here can’t have breakfast without it and not even lunch or dinner lol! From our town city hall webpage the boulangerie Tual in city center pl Saint Michel: First stop , the bank to drop off some papers in Auray, quick turnaround. The bank is out of the old town zone. Then ,we continue to Electro Depot in Vannes to get some external hard drive for my sons games etc. Very nice Verbatim done deal. We got on to get me some computer ink for the printer at my favorite office supply store here, Bureau Vallée in Vannes .We went with the boys to browse at the Centre Culturel Leclerc inside the shopping center, and then we did our groceries.
Today, we decided to try again to take our dog Rex on a long car ride,as he is already 6 months old and we did not give him food before and we took off for Vannes. The Conleau peninsula is very nice with a sea pool and walking trails, picnic tables, and just fun for the whole family. This time he made it alright and we are thrill about it. Our Rex is a Borador, mix Border Collier and Labrador Retriever. We got it from a local farm in Moustoir AC ,and it has been a pleasure so far. Only sad part, my wife only saw him for 19 days once brought home as she went into the hospital for her cancer treatment that was not good enough. In the Parc du Golfe you have entertainment, hotels, congress convention palace call the Chorus and the Vannes Aquarium as well as butterflies garden. This is the Pointe des Emigrées ,and this is what we did walk starting from Conleau (you can do the other way around too). For tonight, my oldest son did a wonderful NY cheesecake with real Philadelphia cream cheese that was very good. In memory of his loving Mom who used to do it for us and taught him well indeed. Good for the memories of always.
It was special because it was my Father’s 83rd birthday and he lives with us. We started our day going to by now famous liquor store, V&B in Auray to load up on German beers. We stop by at Micromania in the Shopping center Carrefour in Vannes for my sons to pick up a cable to connect to their new game machine, another one !!! It looks as I have a TV studio at home.. oh well. My sons in front! We then move on to Electro Depot to buy a big 127 cm or 50 inches TV for their better reading of the video games, something with the word 4K in it go figure too high tech for me. Needed to come back to celebrate my father’s 83. So here we go again back to our now almost home Vannes to have lunch with Dad at Hippopotamus steakhouse chain.
I had to take the boys to Micromania (they live there lol !) for some orders pending as usual from them, they just don’t stop, the most popular customers in the store, everybody knows them and even the store manager had come to our house for lunch! This store is in the shopping center Carrefour in Vannes. to re check prices on animal food, dogs of course as we have one now 7 months old Borador (mix border collier mom and Labrador dad). This is Animalis in Ploeren just outside Vannes; and it was confirmed the prices are higher so we move on. We went by our favorite animal store Maxi Zoo at the near town of Séné next to Vannes Here we did purchase our usual dog food 15 kg bag and again nice and cheaper. So we continue here. As we got there in the shopping plaza les quais de Séné, we saw that a popular shoe store chain here Chaussea had summer sales of up to 70% on most of their stock. So we went in to take a look,and as usual things remaining from her mother’s time , we got out with one pair of sandals for my oldest, and two pairs (one sporty and one dressy) for me!
We have to wait now as we need to take of our dear dog Borador call Rex ,he is now 8,5 months old and about 24 kg or 50 pounds thereabouts. Big boy and very nice my sons take him out in the morning and evenings every day as well we have a big patio of 1000 square meters. After we are done with Rex, we set out into the heat wave of the Morbihan. We went straight for Maxi Zoo store in Séné of course, we get our dog stuff there, and we got him a brand new ball and a car seat harness to ride with us yes! From there we went to have lunch at a new restaurant in my area, the USA chain Steak ‘N Shake (from the original Route 66 chain its now closed ) has opened a resto in Vannes! old favorite is now very close to home! My boys went in to sale more of their old mangas, dvd, video games, computers etc to the pawn shop chain now in Vannes call EasyCash. They had so much junk not even can describe it, now they can get some cash for it so they are already well known in the store I went out and did my gardener’s best as usually it was my dear late wife Martine who took care of it. We have 1000 square meters of land including the house, the garden/patio is about 1000 square meters (about 10 760 sq ft) and the house about 255 sq mt (about 2 744 sq ft) . So its a lot of land, and hopefully my boys still helps me a lot. As my boys were changing TV from the one they got yesterday at Eletro Depot as in my previous post, the old one needed to be discarded. We have been flooded now with pawn shops or cash outlets in our area and the new one was Easy Cash, (very nice French name ::)). They were not only able to sell the old TV there but ,also some manga books and now they know.
My Dad stays home as not able to walk much, and my dear late wife Martine sadly is no longer with us on earth, even if always in our minds: 29 years do not and will not go away that easy. First, we finally try the Domino’s Pizza in Auray, it took over from our favorite in the area Pizza Sprint, and now the US Chain Domino’s is taken all over. A stop at our favorite fashion store for men’s, Armand Thiery in Vannes. We are regular customers and buy most of our clothing here, recommended . The boys, stopped at Micromania to get the latest of their machines, the PS4 Pro, 4K! whatever that is lol!!! They are the biggest customers there and all the staff knows us, even the store manager had lunch in our house!
And traveling nowadays is hard as do not have my second half anymore (Martine passed away last April 30th due to cancer) we are content to just be with us , glued together and share moments. I tend to go back to old posts and revive them again for the memories. The public gets the benefits of more information on traveling the world with me. We have not been for quite a long time to a chain we have visited before so we decided to go today. This is the steakhouse US style (but smaller steaks) Buffalo Grill at Ploeren just outside of Vannes. From there we walk to the nearby favorite office supply store for printer ink HP at Bureau Vallée. This month is my birthday, (naaah no way no number given) still young at least at heart which is where it counts, in my opinion. However, will be my first birthday in 29 years that my dear late wife Martine will not be with me … physically; and to add to the misery, her birthday is on the 26! We were days apart same year and so much in common. She is missed and remembered every day. Thanks for putting up with my trivias. We went out early to attend our first Forum des Associations in our town, we already have 5 years living in the house and town, which is my average per domicile in my lifetime!!! The association/clubs get together to introduce the locals into all kinds of activities. My twins boys got into the football/soccer club, they will be in C level or rookies as this is a competitve environment they are not used to. They have done basketball and archery before but doing football as now we all like it and struck together around it. As for me well I join the Patrimoine club or heritage club ,the one dealing with history architecture of all our things to see and more; very neat group, we will go into libraries to search the history of our area and visit many of them. Then, we stop in the post office for our weight mailings needs and continue to Auray a nearby town to stop at the new branch of Bureau Vallée now closer to us as we used to go to Vannes for our office supplies . Auray is only 14 km (less than 9 mi) from me while Vannes is 27 km (less than 17 mi and where I worked).
My twins boys are 25 Saturday but it is my travel day to Asia so we are taking advantage of my two days off today and tomorrow to do all before I leave for a week. First, we went this morning to neighboring historical Auray. In this town we have our bank and studio photography to renew do my father’s US passport by mail. We then hop over to our capital city of Vannes and our fav store FNAC to get an agenda for my French buddy in Asia , spiral style weekly layout. we first encounter in Honfleur while on the sad mission of depositing the ashes of my late wife to sea with the help of the lifesavers SNSM. We realised they had an outlet in nearby Lanester ,next to Lorient The boys decided their outing for their birthday will be there. So we did
We started at the bank in Auray, ho ho ho of course, we need to get those moneys in the right account. Then, we continue to do my son’s moto enthusiast deal at Morbihan Moto or Dafy accessories for a nice bag from Yamaha. From there we went deep into old town Vannes to seek out another of my boys favorite the Japanese mangas store Japanim .We did go into our favorite wine store Nicolas for a load of 6 bottles of Château Cavalier Provence rose wine by one of my son’s as roses are his favorites and this property is very good. We went over for our lunch at Oncle Scott (Uncle Scott) is an American Western inspired chain of 6 by a Frenchman who fell in love with the concepts while visiting the USA. The restaurant is nicely decorated with western, indian artifacts and the service is prompt and friendly. This is in Lanester, near Lorient.
In my area of Vannes again, the capital of our department there have been escargot or snail drive blocage of main roads, blocking of oil refinaries,and home building materials stores, main intersections blocked like the roundabout of Luscanen and Kergiran. traffic circle Luscanen police there but off over bridge was block by gilet jaunes or yellow jackets .Before all the above, we went to get our dog food at our favorite store Maxi Zoo in the town of Séné .While there, and in the company of my father, I invited all to Au Bureau, an English style sports bar that is very nice if a bit slow today. From there we went to of course ,Micromania at the Carrefour shopping center in Vannes for my sons new exchanges and purchases. All while raining as it was all day. Then, we headed to E Leclerc hypermarket in Vannes (Plescop) to do our groceries shopping before heading home.
We got that at Maxi Zoo in the town of Séné (next to Vannes). As we were there, had our lunch at a new place. We passed by it and finally decided to stop in. Le Triangle brasserie restaurant in Séné. Nothing fancy just a regular French mom and pop resto. First, was Bureau Vallée in Vannes for our 2019 calendars . We continue to E Leclerc hypermarket for last minutes Christmas shopping , and had our lunch at the unusually Brooklyn Café (now closed) very French indeed .We finally headed for the town of Le Hézo, in the Rhuys peninsula to load up on cider, apple juice, breton sweets and the local gifts for my in laws that will be visiting next week in Seine et Marne dept 77.
We went two ways, some went to Joué Club (closed 2021) for some model cars and boat purchase for Christmas and some went to FNAC to get some dvd’s ,both walking distance from each other. And we had our thirst calm at the La Cervoiserie beer and take out place between them. We continue to Micromania in the centre commercial Carrefour to have our boys tapes on video games. We took the route of the Côte Sauvage or wild coast a beautiful road along the ocean waves pouncing on the cliffs we ride on ,and onwards toward Quiberon. We stop by at L’Esplanade Cafe at pl Hoche facing the grand plage or big beach of Quiberon, the cafe bar is sideway to the beach. On the way back, we stopped at our favorite local store La Trinitaine in the town of Carnac along the coast too but the store is inland. We loaded on fish soups , pates, etc for the entrée dish here and now we are all set for Christmas!!!
There you go folks, many years of wonderful time and happier moments to remember forever. Thanks to all for following my blog all these years since November 26 2010, and yes some of you go that far back. My pleasure to partake the wonderful world of travel with you all. Hope my posts brings ideas and memorable moments to you too. Thanks
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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