Wednesday 10/15/14
Over half way through our vacation and it feels like it
really just began. I know we have seen
and done many things, but the jet lag is finally wearing off and we are
energized, kind of J
Today was really a travel day. We left St. Mont Michel this morning – I
tried to go get some pictures at dawn but the sun came up later than I expected
and I had to leave with the tour, 15 more minutes and I might have had some
great shots. I have some ok ones to
prove I was there that morning, but 15 more minutes…. There is a lady on our tour I’ve been
calling Dee Dee – apparently here name is Deenie, yea who knew? Anyway, she is tends to run late – marvelous
woman whom I really adore, but a watch is not her friend. So when I returned to the hotel to catch the
bus and found it was running 5 or 10 minutes behind and I could have stayed
longer I looked at her and said I should have pulled a Dee Dee J She probably wanted to kill me, but it was
all meant in good fun – and seriously I should have said screw it they can wait
and got my pictures, ah well. I hate to
be late – it stresses me.
Anyway, on with the story – we left the hotel and drove to
Angers. It is a little village that has
a 13th Century Castle and it also had a market going on today. We took pictures of the castle, walked
through the market and just enjoyed stretching our legs. The market was interesting, you could buy
live chickens and ducks, seafood ranging from crab, to eel to regular fish,
cloths, scarfs, books – all kinds of stuff that was set up in this outside
market place in the middle of the street.
It was raining a bit so I was trying to take pictures while holding a
phone (interesting) but I still enjoyed it.
I bought a scarf and Mama ate a Crepe.
We then hopped back on the bus and drove to a larger town
for lunch. We went to a restaurant that
had English subtitles and ate. Mama and
Jack had steak burgers, basically hamburgers with a higher quality of meat and
I got a ham and cheese sandwich. I had
hoped to get what they got yesterday but ended up with a Croque-Monsieur. They put the cheese on top of the sandwich
though and the bread was soggy, the ham was also different. They again choose well in their menu and I didn’t,
next time I’m just going to order what they do, LOL. I ate my fries, the ham and the apple I had
gotten from the breakfast buffet.
One
thing to note about this town it has a unique wood buildings with lots of
carvings. I need to ask the name of it
and the town tomorrow and will input it then.
After lunch we headed back to the bus and drove 2 hours to
our hotel. I say hotel, but this is so
much more than that. For the next two
nights we are staying in a Chateau, formally known as The Chateau du
Breuil. This place is massive, it is
located on a 45 acre estate and dates back to the XVth century. The central part of the building dates back
to the XVIIth Century and the main building I am in was built in the XVIIIth
Century. It has of course been
completely renovated and is very comfortable, but still has all of its old
elegance. The barn was also renovated
into hotel rooms, but the end of the building is still a barn for the 2
resident horses. There is a dog name
Joseph who is exceptionally friendly and the area is just magnificent. I can’t believe I’m sleeping in a castle –
how cool is that? Maybe not
Cinderella’s castle, but a castle none the less – it belonged to the Marquess
of Meloize Frenayback then to Count de la Salle until 1968. No idea who they are but still cool!
The estate is gorgeous, with walking paths, ponds, weeping
willows, grassy yards, beautiful flowers and the sound of nature lulling you to
sleep! Not to mention it is a 4 star
hotel with 4 star quality.
Once we settled in and roamed the estate for a bit it was
time to get dressed for the extra dinner out.
Mama elected to stay in so it was just Jack and myself (and 20 or 30 of
our new friends). We went to a
restaurant that is owned by a husband and wife where we had authentic French
food, supposedly. It was ok – everyone
was raving but I didn’t really love it all that much and the conversation over
dinner was slightly forced. Just the
luck of the draw on who we sat with, etc… - nice people, just not the conversationalist
of the group, except Deenie – her and her husband Jim can talk to anyone. I want to take them home and keep them, they
are so freaking cute!
Jack didn’t notice the forced conversation so it may have
been all me, but well you know what I mean.
Anyway, given we are in France we did decide to try new stuff.
Jack had the Liver Patee and I had the Fish one – both were
really good with bread, though I liked the fish better. They didn’t give us enough bread though and
without the bread it wasn’t all that.
Then I had the salmon and Jack had the duck, both were good – I wish I
could have had a steak, but alas. And
last but not least we both had a chocolate desert – it was basically scones of
some type filled with ice cream and covered with deep chocolate dessert – rich
but yummy!
Once dinner was done we had coffee, talked for a few minutes
more and headed back to the hotel. I sit
here, nestled in my antique bed with my window open (wood shutters J ) and am listening to
Jack breath. Life is good J
Tomorrow we visit more chateau’s and do a wine tasting -
looking forward to the chateaus J
Also, some interesting tidbits our tour guide told us about
France today:
·
- Ways the French make money:
- Nuclear Power – 55 plants in France, they export power to most of Europe and also help other countries design, build and maintain their plants.
- Oil (refining / processing / etc…)
- Cosmetics
- Hotels
- Transportation – Design / Install subway stations all over the world including Mexico City
- Airbus
- Mineral Water
- French are discrete with their business and are a leader in several industries but they spend too much and national debt is high.
- Taxes:
- Citizens Taxed on almost everything
- Most taxed population in the world behind Sweden.
- Waiters are taxed on 5% of the checks regardless if they made 5% - if they made 2% taxed 5%, if 15% they are taxed 5%. Thus, due to recession waiters are hard to find because they don’t want to be taxed on money they are not making.
- Unemployment Benefits:
- 2 Years – 90% of Salary
- After 2 Years 40% of Salary
- Max is $6,000 Euros a month
- Educational loopholes allow you to collect the 90 for well beyond 2 years so many people don’t want to go back to work – I can see why
- Employment Strikes are Common – Employees have right to strike over anything as long as they told their boss they needed whatever it is 3 weeks before they strike. Strikes are unpaid, but often in the agreement for workers to come back there is a condition all strike days are paid days.
- All workers have a minimum of 5 weeks paid vacation, if you work 39 hours or more a week you have 8 weeks – I need to live in France.
- Worker Minimum Wage – 1,375 Euros a Month
- They don’t have health insurance, part of taxes, as a result all health procedures are free. However, they have some of the best hospitals in Europe thus citizens from many countries come here and they have to compete with those patients for the Drs / Hospital’s time.
- President in office right now if very unpopular because he doesn’t work a lot and doesn’t make any decisions. French have no interest in Presidents personal life, they can be divorced, have girlfriends, mistresses, several kids, no kids etc… just so long as he does his job. They have had a president die in the bed of a prostitute before, no big deal.
- Gas prices right now roughly 6 Euros a Gallon or $10 a gallon.
Well, that is all for tonight, sleep well dear friends.
P.S. This was posted
on 10/16 due to fact I couldn’t get connected to the precious Wi-Fi J
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