Noirmoutier Day 1

Noirmoutier Day 1

Welcome back.... Since I wrote about the trauma of the day, I've had a nice dinner (cooked it myself) and a couple of reds and the world takes on a whole new perspective!

So... I arrived in Noirmoutier eventually and parked the car at the Presbytery, as recommended by the Sisters. The streets where I am staying are very small and narrow and there are no garages, so I parked about 300 metres away and luckily I only had my overnight case, so it was easy to walk down

Here are a few pics of the house I am staying in..

Perhaps I should explain why I am here and what's the connection...

The house I am staying in is the childhood house of Rose Pelletier (Sr Marie Euphrasie) foundress of the Good Shepherd Sisters. I chose to come here because I teach in a school (St Clare's) which was founded by the Good Shepherd Sisters in Perth.

As it says on the pamphlet..

Rose Virginie Pelletier spent a carefree childhood in Noirmoutier for the first 10 years of her life. She enjoyed great freedom, living by the sea and listened to exotic stories told by sailors travelling to faraway lands. This experience played a large part in shaping her personality. It was heart breaking for her to leave Noirmoutier in 1810.

 So once I found the house and settled in it was time to try and get a cup of coffee and some supplies. But there were two impediments.... I think Noirmoutier doesn't do Mondays, because nearly all the shops were closed. And eventually I found a mini supermarket, and it was closed too for the midday break - which lasts 3 hours!

So I decided to go for  a walk and see what I could see. Eventually I found a cafe that was open and the only  thing I could have for lunch was a le Croque Monsieur. If you buy la Croque Madame, you get an egg as well!

My very basic French was really getting a workout as I tried to order a coffee to go with it. Eventually we settled for a Coffee a Creme, and they brought me a black coffee with a little jug of hot milk. After the traumas of the morning it was delicious.... I  tried to ask the lovely youngwaiter and waitress about buying some pane (bread) and lait (milk) and eventually they gave me the instructions  and I found the suupermarket (which had now reopened!)


So I was able to buy  the bread and milk, then some potatoes, carrots and a small tin of peas plus some already cooked chicken breasts that just needed heating up...
C'est tres bon!!!


This was the view from my cafe

It's a lovely port town and I'm looking forward to exploring it more tomorrow -  definitely by foot - the car stays put!!!

I also managed to go and see the Chateau Noirmoutier (because it's closed tomorrow). Wasn't going to bother, but then it is considered a highlight of this town and the views from the top were outstanding.

View from the outside

Inside the main walls

Have to say it was a pretty average castle. We weren't allowed to take pics inside but there was some very interesting maritime history there.

The views from the  top were lovely, so I'll put a few pics up of the views...

Views from the top

The other thing I did was visit St Philbert's Church. Apart from trying to contact the priest to let him know my car was in his Presbytery grounds,  Rose Pelletier has an ongoing relationship with this Church. In her childhood she was playing with friends and she rediscovered the crypt of the Church. I went down into the crypt  today and lit another candle and prayed to St Philbert for all my special intentions. (I payed 2 Euro BTW!!)

After such a big day I was really glad to get home and get my feet up. Having purchased the makings of my dinner, I opened that bottle of red (which went down very nicely - not all of it -saved some for tomorrow night!) and started to relax.

This house does not have wifi, but does have cable internet, so I am able to use my laptop and get online with a great connection. The other nice thing is that the TV has  direct connection to the Internet, so whilst I was eating my dinner, I scrolled into youtube and watched the highlights of the 2014 Grand Final .... That's real luxury!!!

Well, it's been a big day alright.... very ready for my bed tonight.

I've uploaded the bigger versions of the pics in this post - not sure how that affects people. If it's a problem, just let me know... Can always revert to the resized versions.