Good day! Bruce here with your next trip installment.
Dinan to Sevremont
Thursday found us packing up to leave the Dinan area. We gathered our wits and headed for Dinan.
Dinan is a walled town in the Brittany area of France. It contains a number of historical buildings and a charming old town, complete with a lot of small shops, cobblestone streets, and small restaurants. We split up and wandered the streets, checking out the stores and scenic alleyways.
The day we were there was market day. A lot of French towns have weekly local markets which put our American ones to shame. Stands with fresh meats, cheeses, produce, fish, breads, and other farm and local products are packed into a square. The locals were out, buying their fare for the next few days. Prices were very close to store prices and wandering through was very enjoyable. We stopped at a beekeeper’s booth and purchased a piece of nougat. It was excellent.
After a cool lunch at a cafe (It was chilly and small cafes don’t have an abundance of indoor seating for 8), we loaded up and continued on our way.
The next stop was Guérande, another medieval town in Brittany. Its claim to fame is salt marshes. These are a series of marsh ponds which collect the sea water which evaporates leaving a crust of salt on the top. This is raked and collected and sold as a garnishing salt. Due to the late season, the marshes were not in operation but were interesting to peer at. We rambled the town a bit, had some coffee, and departed.
Supper was found and groceries for the following day attained. The VRBO was a welcome sight.
Puy Du Fou
This was highly anticipated. Puy du Fou is in brief a French historically based theme park. It was originally founded near a Renaissance castle. It started with one show and has grown into a large park with over 2 million visitors per year. The grounds are beautiful with gardens, medieval villages, artisans, and a variety of exhibits.
We arrived early and waited for a while to enter. The swarms of people behind us were a confirmation that an early rising time was a good idea. Hugues had been to Puy du Fou before and had an itinerary carved and packed to extract the best 1 day experience we could achieve. A lot of the shows are performed 2-3 times per day and arriving early to line up was important. There are also several exhibits to walk through at any time.
We began with La Renaissance du Chateau, a walkthrough of a 16th century castle. Live actors would tell their stories in the various rooms. We passed a royal bedroom, an artist, a library, through a hall of mechanical knights raising banners to us, an armory, a crypt, and other rooms. Very interesting.
Briskly walking to the next stop, we gathered in the crowds waiting to enter Le Secret de la Lance, a story taking place around the Hundreds-Year War. The knights of Joan of Arc performed horse riding tricks, the castle wall rumbled into the ground, a battle ensued, and the castle keep (100 tons) rotated and moved closer. The chivalrous were victorious and everyone lived happily ever after.
Next was Le Signe du Triomphe, a spectacle taking place in a 6000 seat coliseum including a chariot race and a rotating battleship.
Lunch was consumed and we split up for the next couple hours.
We headed to Le Bal des Oiseaux Fantomes, a fantastic bird show. Over 200 birds, large, small, and in between flew around and over us. Falconers sent birds plummeting down and across the arena, sometimes a few feet over our heads. It was excellent and fascinating.
Taking advantage of a small window, we meandered through Le Mystere de La Perouse, an immersive exhibit of a French explorer who disappeared after being sent out to explore the world. The walls of our “ship” swayed up and down as we walked through the stores of flora and fauna found, bunk rooms, and cabins. Apparently the situation for our intrepid explorers deteriorated as each successive room found the sounds of battle, the smoke of cannon, lightning and storm sounds, and the swaying walls began to spew water. Finally we exited through a barnacle and coral encrusted cabin.
Though nearly an hour early, we queued up for Les Vikings. This proved wise as the line got long quickly and we had to send a guide back out to help Hugues find us in the jumble. We munched some baguette and cheese while waiting, eventually finding our way into the seats.
Les Vikings was the condensing of 300 years of history around the year 1000. A Gaulish village hosts a wedding, which is interrupted by some monks driven downriver by the Vikings. The Vikings then attack, riding a longship down a hill into the river in front of you. Much acrobatics, pyrotechnics, and yelling later, another longship rises slowly from beneath the water, complete with a crew, which join in with vigor. The day is saved by the Saint Philibert who also rises from the water. After peace returns, the Saint mysteriously disappears while being helped across a bridge into the town, a dove escaping his empty robes.
If you hadn’t caught the drift yet, one of the big appeals to Puy Du Fou is how they achieve their practical effects. I still don’t know how the Vikings could ride their ship up out of the water or how said ship works. The castles move, walls move, people disappear and reappear. Later we saw people gliding across a very real lake. It’s all very intriguing and impressive. The next stop was another unique spectacle.
Le Dernier Panache is a play concerning François de Charette and the War in the Vendée. This was a conflict taking place during the French Revolution. The people of the region, where Puy du Fou is located, rose up against the Revolution, in part for religious reasons. François became one of their leaders until eventually the revolt failed and their leaders executed. Ultimately, the Revolutionary forces killed around 170,000 of the inhabitants of the region, (~20-25% of the population.
This sobering bit of history is shown on a 360 degree stage. You sit in the middle all facing one direction. The seats slowly rotate from scene to scene as the actors move around the stage from set to set. It is a bit mind bending and was difficult to tell at first whether you or the stage is moving.
The last stop before supper was Mousquetaire de Richelieu. This spectacle included a gigantic curtain, equestrian feats, the 4 Musketeers defying all odds, and flamenco. The stage eventually flooded to add drama and effect.
Supper was at one of the many restaurants in the park. Interesting food on a buffet which meant you could try a bunch of different things and commit to none.
After supper, we headed to the finale. Together with what felt like the majority of visitors for the day, we filled the seats and woods around the lake. Darkness had fallen and we wound our way through the trees to a spot that seemed to have a good view. We first witnessed a seasonal parade of the actors from the day in glowing carriages lit with torches and lanterns, circling the lake. They disappeared, then Les Noces de Feu began. Beginning with a single violin player in a glowing dress, the cast grew, rising from the lake to seemingly glide and walk on the surface of the water. Fountains and towers rose up, all lit and glowing. For 30 minutes, we listened to them play and dive as the scene shifted and changed. With a dash of flames and a rousing crescendo, the lake slowly returned to normal, towers descending, piano and player sliding under the water.
We rode the crowds back to our cars, and drove back to our lodgings. A full day.
Chenonceau
The next morning we reloaded the rides and headed out into the fog. We had one stop before splitting up in the afternoon, Château de Chenonceau. This is a castle built on the remains of the previous with the twist of expanding over the river as time went on. The kitchens were built in the base of the old mill, complete with a platform and door to unload your groceries from your boat directly into the cooking complex. The rooms are full of heirloom furniture, old tapestries, and portraits. The ballroom is most of the building over the river and offers really nice views from the alcoves along the floor. There have been several significant Frenchwomen who have called the Chateau home. It is very interesting to see how each changed the property, adding to the structure or the influence it had. After touring the rooms, we wandered the grounds for a bit, checking out the old farm buildings and the still tended gardens. Once finished, we departed for Orleans and our train.