Annie’s big European adventure

Campervanannie said:
Look who is in the patisserie AGAIN ???? and it’s not me ??


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Let's get the record straight.
I was inside an Artisan Patissiere/Chocolatier buying a patisserie which looked like an éclair.
It was a hollow 'tube' of very thin pastry filled with chocolate fondant then topped with very dark chocolate with an amazingly shiny finish.
Then it was gift wrapped complete with white ribbon.

I then presented The Yorkshire Wanderer with her elevensies patisserie - lest the afternoon was a difficult one.

I should mention that I bought nothing for me.
I'm told the patisserie was extremely good.

Colin ???
 
Yesterday the sunrise over the Loire at our overnight wild camp was beautiful:

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.......so we drove to Guédelon Castle. This is a castle in the making and is being built using the exact same materials, tools and techniques as would have been used in medieval times.
Apparently in medieval times they didn't build castles on a Wednesday.

Colin ???
 
From Guédelon Castle we drove to Rogny-les-Sept-Écluses.
The Wanderer said that she felt particularly safe and secure here.
After all, she explained, there are a total of seven locks on the place:

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This flight carried thousands of boats in it's day but eventually was by-passed by a longer, more water-efficient loop able to carry larger boats.

Colin ???
 
From Rogny-les-Sept-Écluses we returned to La Loire at Briare. This town has a very prosperous recent history. The aquaduct which carries the Canal Latéral de la Loire over the Loire river is found here:

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It's a great piece of engineering and until 2003 was the longest navigable aquaduct in the world at 662 metres long. It is used to this day, including by Wanderers:

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At one end of the aquaduct is to be found the second reason for visiting - an Artisan Chocolatier/Glacier. The people here make ice cream and serve it in homemade chocolate cups:

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Except on Wednesdays:

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Colin ???
 
Briare has a less-well-known claim to fame.
In the middle of the nineteenth century, the engineer Jean-Felix Bapterosse set up a factory in Briare in order to produce jewelry beads, and later mosaic tiles. The beads were shipped all over the world and I believe have been found incorporated into the elaborate necklaces and other jewellery of native African tribes.
The mosaic tiles have been used to decorate Briare church outside:

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........and inside. In fact the entire inside floor of the church is covered in mosaic:

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Colin ???
 
Yesterday afternoon we followed the course of the Loire to Sully-sur-Loire and settled on the lovely free aire to be found there. Late afternoon the sun was out and we sat out to enjoy it.
This morning was very different with frequent showers.
So The Wanderer decided we should go to view the Chateau.
It's an ornate one, even in the rain:

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It has a full moat and wooden bridge to the town:

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I'm pleased to report that the weather brightened up considerably this afternoon. In fact sufficiently to allow The Wanderer to sit overlooking La Loire and dream about the morning's patisserie described previously:

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Colin ???
 
Campervanannie said:
Today at our breakfast stop Colin was surprised at how strong the internet was in the middle of the countryside when I pointed out the tower he says he didn’t see it ????View attachment 44868
Must have been behind a tree ?
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I also admit I didn't see a sunned-out red traffic light until the last moment too. It was in the middle of nowhere.
My heart pounded for a minute or two after that one.

Colin ???
 
Full Member said:
I also admit I didn't see a sunned-out red traffic light until the last moment too. It was in the middle of nowhere.
My heart pounded for a minute or two after that one.

Colin ???
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Well that saved having to get the defibrillator out at least we know it’s still beating ???
 
Annie has really taken to French bread. This morning she revealed that she has to secure her morning bread securely out of reach when driving else there's none left for our 'official' breakfast.
Garlic sausage, French bread and coffee for breakfast this morning:

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Colin ???
 
........and this is my favourite artisan French bread:

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........and Annie quite likes it too. In fact she ate one of the 'ears' of my bread between the boulangerie and the camping-car this morning.

Colin ???
 
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