A Mystery Woman in France

I followed a mysterious woman throughout Brittany and lower Normandy, managing to get some good shots now and then.

She had a particular liking for remote shorelines in Brittany.

She liked long hikes

She also was partial to gorges with paths running along mountain streams

On occasion she entered towns filled with half-timbered houses

And walked for hours, admiring the buildings

She stayed in hotels with red fabric wallpaper.

Once in a while she stopped in a brasserie or cafe

She paid a long visit to the Maison Picassiette in Chartres

She stayed on the waterfront, port area of Vennes

But her preference was for more remote places

Particularly those with rocks

Especially rocks and water

Sometimes flowery fields provided a nice break

And sometimes she took a panoramic view

But big rocks on the Pink Granite Coast were her favorite

Civilized Features of France

Here are some things that make traveling in France satisfying.

The typical petit dejeuner, a french breakfast. Sometimes just a croissant, bread and coffee, Often supplemented with cheeses, cold cuts, jams, yoghurt, muesli, fruit cocktail, juices and more.

Boiled eggs were a new experience for me

Cafes everywhere

And pastry shops ...

where a quick meal or just pastry with tea or coffee can be had

Cooked food available in the open-air food markets

Open-air booths full of fresh oysters in Cancale

Opened right in front of you. The separated top of the shell is left on for you to remove. Often there is meat on the top and bottom shell.

Eaten on a ledge over the water with the shells discarded into the sea and the plate returned to the vendor.

This represents the amuse bouches delivered at the start of many meals to delight the palate. Here, a tomato partially coated with Elmer's glue and sesame seeds in an olive oil sauce. An egg concoction alongside.

American coffee, proudly offered

Excellent wines at low prices. The muscadets went very well with oysters in Brittany.

Cider on the right, served in the traditional way

This church-corner sculpture represents a culture which provides a tourist with plenty of places to piss

Tourist #1

Tourist #2

The tradition of pissing in public lives. Here, a man pisses on the side of a church.

Many hotels provide toilet rooms separate from the wash room

A funny list of instructions in a restaurant toilet

Countless beautiful places to walk on the wild side

Ditto

Well marked

Or nice places to sit in a museum

Flowers everywhere - at a fair price

Street decorations

Nice walks on the river in Rouen ....

With special features to make it easy for bicyclists

Well-designed manhole covers

Playful rolls of hay in the countryside

Amusing greenery at the entrance to a museum

Good little hotels, easily found by recommendation from other hotels if they do not have room

Bars (here in a small Brittany port) where everyone who enters shakes the hand of those already there - including mine

Graceful old objects. Here, a rope holder separating lanes inside the abbey at Mont St. Michel.

Witty souvenirs (this one at Mont St. Michel)

And a love of vacations! Here shown in a message on a restaurant door.