We were especially keen to visit Challans, the "Duck Capital" on one of the four folk festivals held during the summer. We also saw some other interesting sights that day... | ||
Aizenay | ||
These deer were actually behind a wire fence, but, through the magic of the digital camera, they are seen here, in the wild. |
A forest ranger, perhaps, takes his lunch. |
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Nick's bingo card specified a "frog with legs" and we were assured to see them in this pond, which we did. |
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Challans | ||
At the folk festival, these bakers showed the crowd how to shape bread. |
This boy hunted everywhere for change. |
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A slightly spooky looking accordionist |
These girls played folk music very well indeed. |
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Drinking Mélusine beer, named after the ubiquitous fairy with a serpent's tail |
Donkey-drawn transport |
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This woman fashioned some sort of ornament from reeds. |
I think he was a boat guide. |
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This jaunty looking man was also wearing clogs. |
What's she looking at? |
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Hide from the camera! |
These musicians tried to parade through a kitchen shop, but the proprietoress threw them out. |
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Onlookers watching the vintage car parade |
The double heart and cross shape is the Vendée's logo, here made from bread. |
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He was offering free samples of peanuts. |
Clogs are the traditional footwear. |
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Sallertaine
This town is taken over by artists in the summer, and we paid them a couple of visits. |
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Nick had to be photographed next to a house with the same number as our own. |
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The 12th century church |
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Sentier du
Souvenir |
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In a quiet corner of the forest just outside Aizenay, we found this memorial commemorating five members of a U.S. bomber crew, whose plane crashed in 1944. Their story is told on shards of aluminum which are scattered on the forest floor. | ||
Poitiers | ||
Perched on the steps of the city's fortress |
There's the fairy Mélusine again, this time rendered in a kooky psychedelic mural. |
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A view overlooking the river |
Trying to set my cap on fire |
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We gave in and ate a meal at McDonald's. |
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We saw this man on the motorway. |
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georgenick.co.uk |