A French Adventure, Part II: The Countryside

(This post is continued from here.)

From Paris I boarded a train to Nantes with a bit of a fond excitement still lingering from my short time in Paris. For the country I was exhilarated. All the time in movies I see the Italian country, the English country and the Irish country… but where does the French country exist in movie land? I was about to find out.

The French country was just as charming and inviting as I had imagined.

My train arrived to Nantes, a mid-sized city two hours west of Paris, just after 6:00 p.m. (18:00). My friends Maïlyss and Ruslan were there to promplty greet me. We drove about an hour to their home in a small town sewn into the grassy meadows of France. I felt like I was in a fantasy.

Maïlyss and Ruslan live with Maïlyss’ parents in an old French country home where you definitely feel the presence of rustic French architecture.

You'll have to pardon my not taking many pictures of their house.

Maïlyss’ parents Frank and Jennifer happily welcomed me into their home as soon as we arrived and then the festivities began. We toasted my arrival with a bottle of cava and enjoyed each others’ company in the fresh air until it was time to eat dinner.

Cheers! Pictured: Maïlyss doing the honors.

Dinner was delicious and prepared deliberately vegan just for me :) 

The next morning the five of us departed early to visit a true gem of French history. A few days prior when my dad learned I was going to be staying in western France he told me that if there is one site I should visit it’s Mont St. Michel. And to my own lucky surprise, that is exactly where my friends took me.

A drawbridge!

Here comes the bride!

Versailles has all of the bells and whistles of French luxury, but Mont St. Michel feels truly authentic. It’s like taking a ride in a time machine back to the medieval days. You can almost see the knights in armor walking around the castle grounds and peasants coming to ask the king for more sizable grain rations. I now feel like I have experienced a real castle!

Following our visit to Mont St. Michel we were famished! We had a picnic in a picturesque little neighborhood with an amazing view of the castle. I wish I could remember the name...

After lunch we went to have a drink in the old walled-in village of St. Malo. Once again I was taken back in time… that is until I was awoken by the strong taste of the calvados (a spirit) my friends encouraged me to try. It was then that I decided I should never again attempt to drink liquor neat :) Too strong for me!

We returned home, drank our aperitifs and our wine and then once again had a delicious vegan dinner. These people could open a restaurant!

For hours that night we played Tarot, a French card game that makes use of its own special deck. Maïlyss and Ruslan had prior taught me how to play in Israel. What is really special about it is that the structure of the game changes slightly for every additional player. Later that night, I fell asleep as we were watching a movie that takes place in my own hometown; the movie: White House Down. I will spare you my comments on the movie and just say that Jamie Foxx should never again be cast in the role of a U.S. political figure.

The next day I was in for a special surprise! We drove half an hour west to the town of Blaine to meet Ruslan’s mother, and then an hour east to St. Herelon where Maïlyss’ brother lives with his wife and six-month-old daughter. 

I can’t say enough in the way of positive remarks about Ruslan’s mother. Like Ruslan she is originally from Ukraine and made a special vegan borscht just for me. The borscht was quite different from any borscht I’ve tasted previously; it was lighter on the beets and a little heavier on everything else. It had a lot more variety than I know borscht to have and tasted great with my Kir wine cocktail!

When in France you must do as the French and you must drink a lot of wine! ;-)

After lunch we visited the Castle of Blain but weren't able to go inside since it was closed. We then headed an hour east to St. Herelon to meet Mailyss' brother's family. His baby daughter was adorable but became sad each time that I spoke... perhaps she doesn't like English!

We found ourselves back at Maïlyss and Ruslan's house a couple hours later, ate dinner and then had a relaxing night.

The next morning day six had arrived of my stay in France and I wanted to take Maïlyss and Ruslan to a nice lunch to thank them for their hospitality. They chose the place: La Toile a Beurre in Ancenis. The menu changes daily and throughout the day depending what local farm-grown produce is available to the chef. The restaurant assured us that my being vegan would not be an issue for them and they proved that to be true ... (for the most part)... the food wasn't as filling as it could have been.

The restaurant is on the first floor of the townhouse found in the middle of this photo. 

My amuse-bouche!

My entree.

Unfortunately for dessert all they could come up with (aside from boring old sorbet) was fruit.

Panoramic view of the area from the parking lot.

After lunch we sat in a nearby pub overlooking the river and sipped craft beers. The rest of the day we took it easy since tomorrow was going to be a long one.

In the morning we woke up around 6:00 a.m. and left promptly to visit five different flea markets. The reason, you wonder... Frank and Jennifer buy and sell antiquities, so they visit flea markets routinely.

The number of vendors present at each market ranged anywhere from 50-250. It was really interested to see the kind of things French people have in their homes.

Food offerings (for the most part) at the markets were crepes, croissants, coffee, hot dogs and French fries.

By the time we got home we were all pooped but I decided to push through it and went for a stroll around the town to see all that there was. It was a Sunday so it was pretty much a ghost town. The only shops open were the boulangeries, because of course the French must be able to buy their bread every day of the week!

The was the towns are structured in France is like this: in the center of each town is the church. Around the church you have a couple boulangeries, maybe a book store, a family-owned electronics shop and some other small businesses. You can drive through must of the small towns, from end to end, in a minute.

Go to bed, wake up... already it is my last day in France. Where did the time go, I thought.

Thank you for having me!

Now looking back on my journey that already is a [approximately] month behind me I have to force myself to believe it wasn't a dream. If I ever can get the chance to go back to France I definitely will :)