The beach at Carnac was so beautiful... I wanted to show you this satellite image from Google. I put up some more pictures at my picassa site. CLICK ON WAY MORE PICTURES above to go see pictures.
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Angers...

Okay, so another entry about our time in France... We spent several days in Paris, a week "down south" near Spain in the area of Carcassonne, and a day in Carnac near the Atlantic coast in Brittany - but I have to say, my favorite place in France was Angers. The cathedrals in town are almost as lovely as any we saw elsewhere from the same era. The gothic cathedrals of Orlean and Chartres were much more breath taking because of the construction methods used, but in Angers we visited two wonderful cathedrals. Saint Maurice was my favorite. Here in this gorgeous place I felt so much emotion. On the one hand I felt personally so close to God. The sense of awe and grandeur about the place, combined with the devotion of other Christ followers was evident. There was the the prayer labyrinth in the center of the floor where pilgrims would "walk" on their knees around a serious of concentric circles designed to clear the mind and focus it on spiritual things. There was the majestic HAND CARVED pulpit that was easily 12 feet high and probably 25 feet wide. (see the picture above) Up near the "altar" was the relic of Saint Maurice, a skull of a 20 year old boy martyred for his faith in the 1st century AD!! The conflict of emotion was that for all the beauty and majesty, so many here are still endeavoring to gain their place in heaven... I was compelled to sit a while and worship and pray for the people of France.

Throughout our time we visited the castles of Chenonceau, Chambord, Breze, Versaille to name a few but of for my money, the castle in Angers ranks near the top. It is impressive for its construction but also because of its extensive use of slate, setting it apart from almost every other chateau or castle we saw.

I also enjoyed the surrounding areas, Trelaze, and St. Barthelemy to name a couple. In Angers is where we had the opportunity to get to know people a bit too; Ally's parents and the Mumfords. It would certianly be there

Carnac – Our last day trip

Of course it was a later start than we hoped, but we headed off on our last day trip. Our destination this time was Carnac. This area is known for it's stone megaliths and mysterious past. The relationship to the Celts is more evident here than other parts of France.

 
 

We stopped for lunch at a charming Creperie, called La Potion Magique, after the famed Asterix and Obelix series. After lunch we decided to go beach combing since the weather was quite changeable and windy and we thought it might be too cool if we waited till late in the day. The beach here was much more crowded than Gruissan. It reminded me of driving down Ocean Ave. in NJ during the height of the summer crush. Traffic crawled along, shops selling tacky plastic beach toys, boogie boards and umbrellas lined the beach front.

 
 

Of course there were definite differences. The architecture is so different here. Between the slate and red tile roofs there are occasional homes built of sand stone. None of the homes are sided in aluminum or vinyl. Basically stucco or plaster are the chief materials used for siding.

 
 

Another difference is that access to the beach was free! That was a nice surprise. We stopped in a wee antique store but most of the items were huge and didn't lend themselves to packing. Once at the beach we noticed some other differences. No changing rooms. Carol and I made a towel "tent" for the children to change in. They were a bit shy but the call of the waves helped them overcome their shyness. There were many more shells here than in the south. About 100 feet out into the ocean there was a platform erected with two different diving boards. One was about six feet from the water, the other was about twelve feet from the water. Alex and I swam out to the platform and did our impression of cliff divers. :-)

 
 

Before we knew it, it was six o'clock. We headed out to take our survey of the 6000 year old alignments of granite stone. Some of the stones are only two feet tall or so, but some are well over 15 feet tall and two people could not hold hands around the stones. The tourist center provided a detailed map but we were again frustrated by the lack of road signs posted and many of the sites were unmarked and we struggled to find them. Eventually we came upon a lovely site with three "dolmen" or stone tables. One of these was worn enough below that we could comfortably sit out of the elements and enjoy a picnic.

 
 

We made good time on the way home but as it was our last night we took a night time drive around Angers and took some night pictures of the castle, cathedral and fountain downtown. After carrying the kids in we began the process of packing and sorting. Around 3:30 we finally fell into bed. When I woke up at 7:30 I knew I hadn't slept long enough but the alarm would soon sound so I lay there until 8 then dragged myself out of bed.

 
 

Back in the States

Sadly enough we are home. I cannot begin to tell you how inadequate these few blog entries are to express the variety of experiences and emotions I have experienced over the past four weeks. I will try to add a few additional posts here to serve the purpose of recording the trip memories so I hope you enjoy them.

Also, I am adding a link to Bim's blog on MSN... She is a much better writer than I am so you'll probably enjoy reading that too.

Check back soon.

Here are some pictures from the last few days here in France.

Me and Andrew and me and Alex roasting at the slate museum near our "home" in Angers... the museum is actually in Trelaze.


That's me and Liz in front of an ancient wall in Angers.






















Above, Ian gazes at the magnificent Chambord castle where we had a picnic. Lizzie and Ian grin and clutch the fence at the tippy top of the Eiffel Tower. What a tremendous view!

This past week we went back to Paris. It's a three hour drive but we took two days to accomplish it. We toured several castles. Versaille is breath-taking but eventually the opulence became repulsive, as did the evident and arrogant self-aggrandizement of the last king who lived there, France's Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette's hubby. My favorite castle was probably Chenonceau. You can click on the picture below to go to their website. It is so beautiful and the gardens are fantastic.


I have found going to the cathedrals to be a very moving experience. On the one hand it is sad to see how the people of France have been exploited in the name of a God whose Son came to earth and died with His most valuable asset being a woven tunic. On the other hand the splendor of the cathedrals does inspire awe and a sense of the majesty of God that our modern churches lack.

We visited Chartres, the gorgeous cathedral in Orleans, and a couple here in Angers. One of the cathedrals here in Angers has a relic that dates back to the 1st century, the skull of an unknown martyr, quite stirring.

In Paris we went up the Eiffel Tower with Ally which was fun. We also took in the Louvre in hyper speed. It broke my heart to have to speed past so many lovely paintings and sculptures. Ian really wanted to see the Mona Lisa which we got to do. On the way out of town on Friday we drove up the Champs-Elysees and around the Arc d'triomphe where 12 roads come to a big circle with no lane markings or anything! How fun. I also enjoyed speeding along the autoroute

Some highlights for the kids included getting their portraits done in Montmartre, and watching some break-dancers at the Trocadero.

It's been great to see Ally and I leave for now with this picture of Andrew hanging out the window of the car. I think the kids are enjoying themselves although a couple are really beginning to feel home sick. Continue to pray for us friends. Thanks.