Moving on : 7th January 2012

                  

After leaving Brittany, we moved north-east towards Bayeaux, where we were to stay at the Hotel Camponile for a couple of nights.

Enroute, we passed the iconic Mont St Michel.  Dull, drizzly weather made us fear we wouldn't be able to get anything worthwhile.  However, the good Lord took pity on us, and let the sun shine for an hour or so, enabling us to scurry around snapping wildly!  January was clearly a good time to be there as there were hardly any tourists, enabling us to somewhat cheekily park in a nearby restaurant carpark.  A newly constructed barrier, with lovely level platform, and a good view of the mount enabled us to maximise our time there

Across the mudflats, and adjacent to some roadworks!
    

Mud, glorious mud!  Well - I think it looks photogenic!!

 

Moving on once again - a view back towards the mount, across flooded fields.

Next stop - Bayeaux.  Getting dark by now - so nothing for it but to grab the tripods, and head off to do some night photography!  We were rewarded by some lingering Christmas lights - and a floodlit cathedral!

A bit of cheating here!  The lights on the trees were changing rotationally, but with the wonders of Photoshop - a combination of the lights has been achieved here to give an impression of the colourful scene!

The wonderful Cathedral of Bayeaux.  A bit challenging to take, as it meant sticking the tripod in the centre of the road!  However, the traffic lights did give us a bit of a sporting chance!

Last days in Brittany : 6th January 2012

Not very good weather - but we did a quick sweep of some local beaches.  People were wisely staying at home - but we did try to get SOMETHING!

Beach stroll by a brave mum and little one.

Blue doors

Beach huts - just liked the rippled foreground sand.

Last light at our gite!

                                       

When it rains . . . 6th January 2012

. . .what do you do when it rains?  Head for a church!  In France, happily, they are not locked, and don't suffer the vandalism our's do in the UK.  No problems, either, with using a tripod!  A very happy few hours were spent whenever it rained, capturing some lovely scenes.

A quiet corner

General view . . .

A stained glass window threw some interesting light across these chairs.

You just couldn't stop snapping!

Even the floor benefitted from the stained glass window-light.

More subtle light on this font.

Couldn't decide which I liked - so you've got both versions!

France - Wednesday 4th January

As promised, some of the pix taken on the recent jaunt to France.

Started out in Brittany, staying in a lovely Gite (www.brittanycottages.com).

The Ferry docked at St Marlo, an old walled city.

Around Dinan " 6th January 2012

As we spent three days in the Dinan area, we naturally spent a little time exploring.  Here's a potpourri of scenes in and around the area.

So French!  And they're delicious.

A patient pooch - right in the middle of the road!

The town centre

Not just Holland have windmill!

That's going to be it for a week.  I'm off to Venice on Sunday - via Exeter and Trowbridge!  Even more images to process and upload then!!

But you have to do it, don't you?

Into the Woods! 6th January 2012

Still trying to get up to date with the French trip!

We're still in Brittany.  Mistletoe abounded in the trees surrounding out gite  Some were quite bowed down with the weight of it - so no surprise that mistletoe was used in great armfuls to decorate shop fronts.

Quite a small bunch of mistletoe festooning a branch

Two more small bunches.  Couldn't discern which types of tree they favoured.

A picnic stop.  Just liked the light.  Notice the mistletoe?

A nearby poplar woods afforded us an hour or so of happy snapping!

Photography!  It's all about light, isn't it?

I won't bore you with any more!  But it was SUCH fun!

Off to Venice on Sunday - so I must try and get a few more days done before I have even more images to sort out - and stories to tell!

Night scenes in Dinan : 5th January 2012

Despite it being two days before 6th January - traditional 12th night, when in the UK, we have to remove our decorations - indoors and out - for fear of dreadful bad luck - in France, we were told, quite often the decorations remain up for the whole year!  However, the street lights were turned off pretty soon after Christmas day.  Such a pity, as the displays would have been breathtaking!
Not to be daunted, we still traipsed into town at dusk, and took a few snaps of the shops and scenes - which still looked pretty!