France Trip: Day 8 Small Fishing Village

Angie:

We headed off to Brittany to see a French fishing village. It was very picturesque. The whole town was nothing but seafood restaurants. My kids don't eat fish, so for lunch we found the only place that did not serve fish ha ha ha. The meal was decent though, so I can't complain. We had hoped to find a nature walk after the fishing villages, but turned up empty handed. So we took the kids to a playground instead. We had a nice long multi-course dinner back at the gite while everyone packed. We were leaving the Gite for a cabin the next day which put us closer to Paris!

Ray:

Friday we tried letting Angie get to see some of the France she always wanted to see - the quaint sea side villages. What we got was an absolutely gorgeous view of some wonderful bays and inlets full of myriad of small craft with a couple of what used to be quaint fishing villages but are now tourist traps by the bay. Such is the sad commentary of economic times and capitalism. One of the other sad facts about the economic times is that France is now the second most expensive place to drive (on their highways). The first being Delaware. Delaware charges tolls on its highways that average out to over 50 cents per mile. France does the same but averages out to only 34 cents per mile (kilometers to euro conversion already accomplished). Delaware also has more toll booths. So if you get the chance (i.e. aren't in too much of a hurry) you should get off the highways of France and see the gorgeous country side.

We did notice one more thing about France which seems to be untrue - their fashion. Yes, its true that Paris still sets the hearts and minds of fashion designers on fire the world over, and what the boutique owners sell in the store fronts stands up to that, but what the common everyday Frenchman (or woman) wears is every bit as tacky and uncultured as the Americans or British. We are not sure where the French buy their clothes, but it is obviously not in the cute little boutiques that line their village high streets. After a heartbreaking tour of the tourist fishing villages in Brittany, we thought we would settle in and have a nice dinner back at the gite.