Rennes, Capital of the Brittany Region of France

     Three years ago I spent a couple months in the center of France, the Centre Val-de-Loire Region, and loved its castles, cathedrals, and countryside villages. I vowed to return someday to the explore the Brittany region which is in the northwestern part of France near the English Channel. What's unique about this area is its Celtic heritage. Air Canada steeply discounted its USA to Paris route, so voila, I'm in France for the Holidays!

     The capital of the Brittany region is Rennes. I'm staying at a hostel located very near center city (click here for map).  The hostel is far right in below photo, facing a canal.

     My first day here, I decided to do a walking tour of Rennes, and brought along my mask, snorkel and bathing suit; Plan B if Plan A got boring. There's an indoor pool in Rennes.

But Plan A never got boring . . .

     A Canal with several locks was made for the Vilaine River which is navigable to the Atlantic. The canal project began in Rennes in 1540. The above photo looks east, below photo looks west.

The entire canal to the Atlantic wasn't finished until the 1800s.

I love the old walls in this city.

Who crafted these beautiful walls?

And who crafted these round stone buildings?

     This old round building was fortunately left standing, it's the backside view of the Mordelles Gates, entry way to the city during the Middle Ages, built in 1440. 

I loved walking down little winding cobblestone streets.

Boutiques, bars, restaurants everywhere.

I notice the French like dark clothes and many wear boots.

This store sells only boots!

I could stroll these cobblestone streets every day!

A few neighborhoods of the city are lined with 15th Century Tudor Style buildings.

My former house in Harrisburg (1913 construction) was Tudor Style, too.

I smelled chocolate, perfumes, and breads while walking down these streets. Maybe I'll rent one of those bikes soon.

All dark attire and boots, with a colorful scarf of course; very French!

Restaurants have vinyl and canvas protection for outdoor diners.

Le Restaurant Caractere has a lot of ambience. I think the French invented ambience.

Another cobblestone street wins my exploratory heart!

I couldn't stop myself!

     This carousel is very old, the wood is cracked and the paint is crackled. Loads of ambience! Who wouldn't want to ride this pink pig? and the White Swan?

I walked through Thabor Parc on my way back to the hostel.

A wonderful park with informal and formal areas; below is a clump of bamboo.

This Blue Atlas Cedar is the 23rd largest Atlas Cedar in the world.

 Lots of steps with ambience . . .

Instead of removing an old tree, they transformed it into a jungle gym for kids. See the round building in the upper left? That's a bird menagerie.

Parakeets eating fruits.

Roosting together with ruffled feathers on this coolish day.

This magpie was visiting nearby.

 A nice little water falls in the park to conclude a five hour walk . . .

Diamond in my Backyard

    Near my cottage in East Texas are the Sam Houston National Forest and the Davy Crockett National Forest. Together, their 320,000 acres provide miles of piney woods trails, pleasant only during the winter months in my opinion. The trails are multi-use for horses, people, bicycles and ATVs.

     And between these two wonderlands is a musical diamond, the Camp Street Café located downtown Crockett, Texas; population 6,950. The photo below was copied from their website.

     The Camp Street Café has an interesting history going back to the early twentieth century.  Legendary Texas bluesman Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins, Frankie Lee Sims and other musicians played there for tips during the Forties. But the café became run-down and neglected. Fortunately the café owner's grandsons Guy and Pip Gillette (musicians and fiddlers) decided to leave the East Coast and return to their roots in East Texas. In 1998, they transformed the café into a music lover's Nirvana. Click here for their upcoming performers.

     Yesterday, neighbor Chef Jim (in photo above) and I arrived an hour early to get a front table. We brought our own drinks and snack food. For three glorious hours, I stomped my feet to Austin's The Here and Now . . . .

. . . . and Louisiana's Celjun (combination of Celtic and Cajun music). Click here to hear their performance.

Click here for the two-band combo final performance last night, a masterpiece!

     Update - February 11, 2017 performance at Camp Street Cafe was the Michot-Courville Band (Cajun), click here to listen.  March 18, 2017 performance was The Here And Now, returning for another great evening, click here to listen.

Cirrocumulus Clouds Finally!

     Since arriving home in East Texas a couple weeks ago, I've been waiting for a cool morning to ride my horse Topaz. Finally, last night while enjoying a grilled pork chop at neighbor Chef Jim's place, we saw cirrocumulus clouds! That meant ice crystals way up there! And cool weather for riding.

The clouds were followed by a gorgeous sunset.

So early the next morning, I hitched Sally and Boyce's horse trailer to La Lair, loaded Topy, and drove to my favorite private forest.

     This video is my first attempt to capture the excitement of trotting on Topy. Even though I checked the option to block wind-noise, it's still very noisy. Any suggestions on how to eliminate wind-noise? Please share your tips! Warning, video is seven minutes long.

PS: One month later, I did an experiment to cut wind noise by cutting a small piece of pliable package foam and holding it over the two microphones on top of my camera with a rubberband. It works! No wind noise. Click here for the updated YouTube movie to hear the big difference.
PSS: If Topy and I were 20 years younger . . . . click here for horseback archery video.

A Room With a View

     After Labor Day when kiddies return to school and vacationing adults return to work, I get to choose the best site at a campground. When I pull in a nearly empty campground and they tell me to choose a site, I always say, "Give me a scenic site, I trust your judgment." This is the site they chose for me a few days ago . . .

     It's site A17 at the Lakeview Corp of Engineers Campground on Bull Shoals Lake which is located on Missouri and Arkansas' borders (click here for map). 

Bull Shoals Lake is actually the dammed-up White River.

     Below the hill from my campsite is a beach area (see lower right in photo below). I bike there with my swimming and snorkeling gear and look for lost earrings and money that folks might have accidentally dropped into the water. Little fish look up at me. I swim parallel to the rocky shore, too (avoiding motorboats).

The sunsets at my picnic table are nice, too.

     A short ten minute drive away is the tiny Bull Shoals Library. They're lax about their sparse opening hours, so yesterday I made sure the librarian knew I'd be visiting today. I might be their only patron today.

     Made my run to Walmarts about a half-hour drive away, so I'm good for the next few days with food and ice. A short bike ride away from my site is the campground's shower house. And my site has water and electricity. I'm plugged in, using my rooftop AC during hot afternoons. With a senior pass, this site cost only $9 per day.

     For the past couple months I've been waking up, eyes still closed, wondering "Where the heck am I?" Have to think a couple of seconds about where I was yesterday. Since I'm in no hurry to return "home" to Texas (98 degrees, feels like 113), decided to stay here until Monday morning. That probably makes this place my longest camping site all summer (five nights).

     One of the pleasures of relaxing in a room with a view is reading a good book. One of the books I'm reading is Ambition and Desire: The Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte by Kate Williams. Our current political events pale against the shenanigans of Josephine and Napoleon.  From 1799 to 1815, they were the epitome of a power couple in France and eventually most of Europe. They both had humble difficult childhoods yet learned how to successfully exert power (and steal incredible riches) ironically during an era when "democracy" was becoming all the rage in France. Even though the French revolutionaries went to the extreme measure of literally killing off their monarchical government (Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette), a few years later they celebrated, adored and willingly crowned Napoleon and Josephine as Emperor and Empress! And Napoleon and Josephine stole and flaunted more riches than Louis and Marie Antoinette! Just goes to show how flakey folks can be about their political beliefs.
     The other book I'm reading is Agony and Eloquence: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and a World of Revolution by Daniel L. Mallock. Jefferson before he became president was Adams' vice president. Back then, the vice president was the losing presidential candidate in the election; Adams in 1797 won the presidency by a couple more votes than Jefferson. They were at odds politically (particularly about each State's powers and the French Revolution), yet had been good friends socially for many years. They prove that it's possible for political opponents to be respectful and friendly toward each other. An excellent book for our present political candidates to read!
     Soon I'll have to put aside this life of leisure and leave this room with a view. Lots of responsibilities and maintenance issues await me in Texas . . . .

Ozark National Scenic Riverways

     I'm fresh off the Current River, having paddled 14 miles yesterday. I suspect few Americans have heard of Missouri's Current River (Class I, II sporadically). I'm almost hesitant to brag about this river for fear this pristine beautiful river will become inundated with too many paddlers and lose its charm.
     Do you see the color of the river in photo below? That color ribbons through the crystal clear river because ten springs feed into that river. Fortunately, I wore my wetsuit, as I suspect even mid-August the water temp is cold.

     I could see everything in the water, all those pebbles, rocks and fish, some flopping out of the water. The clarity is amazing. Paul, the fly fisherman I met on the river, is but one of the dozen fly fishermen I saw on the river (three were women). I think ribbon trout is their fish of choice.

     And when I looked up from the crystal clear waters, rock outcroppings everywhere. Sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right, some dripping water over ferns.

     And steeply-sloped forests on both sides. I was never bored. In fact, the river twisted and turned frequently. Every 15 seconds throughout the 14 miles, I had to judge the deepest un-obstructed route (to avoid shallow shoals and shoreline fallen trees), choose the approach and line-up for it. 

     No nearby roads, no hum of traffic, no noise except three irritated Great Blue Herons that squawked at me. Occasionally, there was chatter of Kingfishers whose fishing spots I had probably disturbed. It was a lovely weekday paddling adventure in an isolated area of the Ozarks.  I suspect weekends are busier; I paddled on a Tuesday.

     The "other" river of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways is the Jacks Fork River.  I drove on a bridge over the Jacks Fork River and it's just as pretty as the Current although only three springs gush into it.

It was a splendid day paddling 14 miles of the Current River!

PS: One little spill but recovered quickly :)