Category Archives: Travel

“Snow Day” in Angers

January 7, 2020 By in Blog, Travel 1 Comment
“Snow Day” in Angers

If you’ve been following the blog for any length of time, you’ll know that the chances of having an actual snow day are slim to none. You will also have seen me use the expression back in early December when I had an unexpected Saturday respite from travel to the Paris region.

What do I mean by a “snow day”?

Growing up in the throws of a Canadian winter, snow was just part of the drill. You dressed a little warmer and on a good day, you got a fresh bread bag to slip your feet into before placing them in the snow boot. This wasn’t a “poor” thing, it was a “keep your feet dry despite snow getting into your boot” thing… and very effective.

Getting a snow day was when it had snowed particularly vigorously overnight, snowplows hadn’t reached all of the primary & secondary streets and the school board deemed it precautionary to cancel school for the day.

In other words… you woke up fully prepared and expecting to go to school (or work) and then… surprise, surprise… your day was completely yours… total freedom.

Those days happen less as an adult, but they do happen.
Let me tell you about mine yesterday…

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Chateau de Brissac… the upper floors

March 20, 2018 By in AIM - Missions, Places, Travel Tuesday Tags: , Leave a comment
Chateau de Brissac… the upper floors

In my last post, I introduced to to the Chateau de Brissac and showed you the principal rooms on the main floor. Today I want to take you further.

As promised, I’ll take you through a dramatic episode in the history of the French monarchy, we’ll talk about the arts and I’ll reveal how it is that hunting at Brissac is not reserved for men only! I’ll also tell you about how you can spend a night there and live like a Duke or Duchess yourself!

Let’s go!

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Chateau de Brissac… a stately country home

March 17, 2018 By in AIM - Missions, Places, Travel Tuesday Tags: , , , 4 Comments
Chateau de Brissac… a stately country home

The road between Châtellerault and Angers takes you through portions of three French departments (la Vienne, l’Indre et Loire, la Maine et Loire) passing by wide swaths of agricultural land and, as you approach Angers, field after field of vineyards. For the past seven months I’ve been making the 130km weekly, with the exception of school holidays, in order to teach English at a business school there.

Each trip makes me a bit more familiar with the general surrounding and from time to time my schedule allows me to explore points of interest along the way. Regular readers will recall that I first stopped in Brissac back in January, but was unable to visit the castle as it was closed for the season.  Last week was different… last week I had a guided tour.

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A Walk through Brissac-Quincé

January 16, 2018 By in Places, Travel Tags: , 4 Comments
A Walk through Brissac-Quincé

It was a grey, winter afternoon and my teaching day in Angers was an unusually short one and since I had some time to kill, I swung off of the D748 at Brissac.

Time and again, I’d driven by and seen the large highway sign highlighting the tallest castle in France – with its seven stories no less – but not had the time to stop. Today was different.

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Chateau de Chambord… a closer look

October 17, 2017 By in Blog, Travel, Travel Tuesday Tags: , , 9 Comments
Chateau de Chambord… a closer look

My first visit was in 1995 and I’ve probably been there a dozen times since then… but never inside. I’m not sure why exactly. Perhaps is was a lack of enough time to do it justice, perhaps the combined entry price of a family of five scared me off (although they’re not as much castle-goers as I am… “You seen one, you seen ’em all”, while not entirely an accurate summation of their feeling, is not totally inaccurate either), or perhaps it was those who told me that it was rather empty, or unfurnished, compared to other castles. Whatever the reason, I’d never been in… until recently.

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French Crêpes… not just dessert!

September 19, 2017 By in Travel, Travel Tuesday Tags: 2 Comments
French Crêpes… not just dessert!

It’s the monthly #TravelTuesday post and today we’re talking crêpes.

Crêpes are not part of my native culture. The thin and very adaptable base so common in French culture was virtually unknown to me until I was in my teens. In its stead, growing up in eastern Canada, we had “pancakes” (or “flapjacks”) a much thicker & more filling version of the crêpe (or is the crêpe a thinner & more refined version of the pancake?)… Either way, where they were not part of my native culture, they’re a major part of my adopted culture!

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Follow the Cross!

August 16, 2017 By in Word Pictures Tags: Leave a comment

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An old, iron, road-side cross in the countryside.

There was a time when cross-roads were commonly marked with a cross or, in some villages, a crucifix. At many an intersection, between field and hamlet, those crosses have stood the test of time and can still be found today.

Their placement has always struck me:
At a cross-road… a place of decision.

If there was ever a place where we needed to consider the cross, surely it is those times when we find ourselves at a cross-road, an intersection, a place of decision. Like those roadside crosses, considering the cross will help guide our choices.

When we don’t know what to do in a given situation, the Word of God gives us a hint:
Take whatever course of action will lift up Jesus and give him a place of preeminence.

He will use that moment, that decision to draw the hungry heart to himself; whether the hungry heart is your own or someone else’s.

Follow the cross!

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Great will be their Peace

August 9, 2017 By in Word Pictures Tags: 1 Comment

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Our kids out for an autumn bike ride around Châtellerault.

The whole of Isaiah 54 speaks of a hopeful promise… a time when the pain of the past would be left behind and the future would be brighter. In fact, it is in this same chapter, that we hear the very familiar quotation:

“No weapon formed against thee shall prosper” (v.17)

If you feel as though you are, or have been, weighed down by a very heavy past, I encourage you to go read Isaiah 54. All of the promises made in there are said to be the heritage of the servants of the Lord.

I want very much for my children to experience great peace, but that will not happen all by itself… the same verse states the prerequisite:

“Thy children shall be taught of the Lord”

Teach your children something of the Lord today…
you will build in them a recipe for peaceful living down the road.

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