More Visitors 2015

A pretty home along a canal caught my eye.

This is where the Loing River and Canal de Briare meet.

We visited a Gallo-Roman site in Montbouy.  This is what was left of the amphitheater.

It's family time.  My niece Heather, her husband Jon with kids Hayden and Jaida.  They found us waiting for them alongside the canal.

 The family arrived during record breaking heat.  It got up to 109 but because of the humidity it felt like 114.  One day we all drove to a local lake and went wading.  It wasn't the most inviting of lakes but with that heat we didn't care.

Jaida and Hayden went swimming in the river.

I gave the kids a lesson in drawing Zentangles.

We weren't able to find a safe place to tie up in Montargis but I had to visit my favorite boulangerie.  Tom dropped us off so we could buy baguettes and pastries.  We met him further down the canal once we were done with our shopping.

All day long baguettes are being baked so we get them pipping hot, straight from the oven.  They are the BEST!

A sample of the pastries in the window.

Lunch was roasted veggie sandwiches with goat cheese, roasted potatoes and melon.

We found an open market.

We took Heather and Jaida to Fontainebleau.  While they did the kids tour inside, Tom and I explored the grounds.

This is a real tennis court built in 1601 at Fontainebleau for the leisure of King Henry IV.  Between the 15th and 17th centuries it was the most popular sport in France.  All other racquet sports originate from this game.

The grounds are beautiful.

We found gardens we had never seen before.

Extreme weather requires desperate measures.

Hayden was waiting until it was time to pull the bar that closes the lock.

A little sampling of cheeses from France

More delicious food of France.

We did some cruising and enjoyed the scenery.

Maybe the kids bedroom wasn't so beautiful.  I would swear a bomb went off in there.

Every man's home is his castle.

Sometimes there isn't much room for passing on the canals.

 We checked out the medical system in France.  Hayden spent a night with a super bad tummy ache.  Heather and I put him in the car Sunday morning and went in search of a hospital  The tourism office was closed.  We finally went to the police station and they gave us directions.  The hospital was in a different town.  The doctors, nurses and technicians were wonderful, caring and thorough.  Fortunately after many tests it was decided that it wasn't his appendix.  The hospital wasn't pretty, the rooms were run down and in need of paint, the toilet in the room didn't have a seat, but it smelled CLEAN!  Not the smell of antiseptic but simply clean.  After we had been in the hospital for hours Tom discovered that Jon had a phone that worked in France.  They found us and brought food (nothing around the hospital is open on Sunday) in the afternoon.  Although it was going to be a long drive, we piled into the two cars and drove to Guedelon for probably our last visit of the season.  Going late in the afternoon we discovered many of the workers spoke some English, it wasn't crowded, and they explained to us what they were doing.  We again learned more about the construction done in the 13th century.

Off with her head.

I promise no more hospital visits while I'm in France

Jon being defiant.

Heather looking too pretty to behead.

After playing in the mud it's time for a nice nap.

In spite of the heat we ate well.

Until the next time.