The Hermione

Is a replica of the frigate used by the General Lafayette in 1780 to reach America in order to fight against the English in the War of Independence. The replica has taken 17 years to build and is due to set off for the US in the next few weeks. The original apparently took less than a year! Over Easter it will be docked in La Rochelle.

As we had free tickets, Rob and I decided to visit the frigate this week. The first view of the three mast ship is amazing. The weather was wet and windy and we were warned that the deck could be slippery as we went aboard.

There are between 23 and 25 kilometers of rope, some natural and some synthetic, depending on the job it will be used for.

1000 pulleys

26 canons


We went below deck which was a bit crowded as a school group was being taken around. The stairs were very steep. Fortunately for me, there weren’t too many.

Masts and crow's nests are fascinating.

Some more views.

Back to the modern world.


There is a modern engine on the ship to confirm with the shipping laws of some countries. The Hermione will be visiting ports in the US from mid May and will arrive in New York for the 4th July.

Dinard

Dom and J-M have rented a house in Brittany for a fortnight. They very kindly invited us to stay with them in Dinard for a few days. So we joined tham on Wednesday for a couple of days.

The house was really lovely and they were the first ever holidaymakers to use it. It was so nice to sit in the garden in the sunshine and be served delicious meals. As well as eat, we played tourists too and went for some lovely walks. The sea was so blue and it wasn’t raining (rare in Brittany). We also explored other towns nearby.

The town hall at Saint Lunaire 

It was hot! 

Thank you for inviting us Dom and J-M!

The year moves on

I think it’s time for a little update. We went to the ‘seaside’ at the weekend. We don’t count here as the seaside as the beach is stony and the island is not far across the way. Last time Rob and I went we decided that we wouldn’t go again. Not much fun without bucket and spades and children. Dom asked if we would go just for old times sake so we went and it was one of the three hottest days of the year – the end of last week. So we swam and it was lovely, very crowded though and lots of Brits. In the evening we ate at The Goldwing which is decorated Mexican style. I love the colours warm and faded. We were really surprised at how good it was and not too expensive. American style burgers, though I suspect any passing Americans will wonder where that idea came from.



Olivier has finished at the restaurant and they were very pleased with his work. He earned more than we all thought he would. I told him that I hope he doesn’t spend it all on sex and drugs and rock and roll. I’ve got a feeling that as he worked so hard to get it he’ll hang on to it, for a while. We shall see. He’s started school again – last year, hopefully. They broke his class up as there were a lot of trouble makers but he doesn’t mind too much as he knows most of the others in his new class. So far he’s been pretty cheerful

Dom is busy packing. I’ve been given some makeup she doesn’t want/need any more, so I will experiment with that when everyone is out of the way. She’s just put in a request for new socks before she goes. All the socks in the house seem to have disappeared this summer. Perhaps there is a sock fetishist in the neighbourhood?

Me? I’ve been postcarding most of the time though I did prune the roses and clean out a gutter last week. When we go for our walk in the evenings there are lots of frogs around and they seem to be all sizes. I don’t know if they are different species or all the same but at different stages of development.

The spiders have started to come in. So far just medium sized ones. Winter is on its way.

The Sea

I was thinking about the sea and remembered this painting by Georges Lacombe. sometimes in the evening the colours are so varied in the sea that I always think that if you painted it no one would belive you. When I went to art lessons I copied this in pastel. that's why I didn't scan mine, imagine Rob's face if the scanner was full of coloured dust!