Thursday 17 May
We decided to go back to the beach at Dragey today but the weather was damp and chilly. Mum and Dad went to the cemetery at St James, closely followed by Pat and David, but again they managed to miss each other. We called into the supermarket in Gorron to buy food for a picnic lunch and then headed towards the coast.
It's never really a good idea to go back to somewhere with magical memories! The beach was deserted and even the little cafe was closed. We ate our lunch in the car and Keith took Sophie down onto the beach but it was too cold to stay for long. I suggested visiting another town but we were a bit tired of just driving around so we headed back to the gite, on the lookout for a restaurant in the town of St Mars La Futaie, which had been recommended to us.
Back at La Returais we played with the children in the garden and chatted to John and Sarah. John barely spoke but Sarah's natural friendliness and kindness was in evidence and she seemed to want to heal the rift that had happened between us. She mentioned an old chateau nearby so we drove off to see it, not fancying a walk there because of the narrow roads and mad French drivers!
The chateau was small and hidden down a narrow track and when we found it there was a very strange looking man standing guard at the gate...had he been forewarned by John, I wondered?! He resembled Donald Pleasance so it was all a little creepy and I was reminded of the French novel, Le Grand Meaulnes which has a mysterious chateau as its setting.
We didn't explore any further and returned to the gite to wash the car and get the children ready for our evening meal at the restaurant in St Mars La Futaie.
Luckily, Michael fell asleep the minute he was in the car so we managed another peaceful evening. Again, the restaurant was empty but the beautiful decor and stunning views made up for the lack of atmosphere. Our first course of ravioli was delicious but the main courses of beef took ages to arrive and the meat was tough and bloody. Deep fried potato balls accompanied the meal and we were all disappointed in the lack of taste. Our dessert was better, though, a fattening concotion of chocolate pie and vanilla cream!
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