11 days near Dinan, France

by brian

Stephen, who owns a rental house in Vire, agreed to bring us back to Dinan. Having a free ride, instead of trying to sort out the bus situation, was a fantastic break but it also meant we would be helping Stephen prepare his rental for the new arrivals. Annie busied herself with vacuuming, while I cleaned windows and cleared cobwebs. We then ate something and waited for the new guests to arrive. Stephen gave a truncated explanation about the house's amenities to an English family, and after a brief drama involving one of the guests locking herself in a bathroom, we were off.

We arrived in Dinan after midnight and were greeted by 5 dogs who were out of their minds with excitement. The little howler, Jacob- a half beagle/ half yellow Labrador- followed us upstairs to make sure we found the right room.

Ann's house is located in the middle of a small community of very tall, slender farmhouses about 10 km from Dinan. She knows all of her neighbors, especially the nearest ones as she regularly hears from them about the noise made by her dogs and chickens. Though she has a very successful tomato patch the focus of our energies would not be on farming. This was to be more of a homestay situation. Ann was planning a party, and though she wouldn't tell either of us or anyone who rang asking her what was the occasion, we found out from Stephen that it was to be her birthday. Our job was to help with the preparations.

Annie's first job was to get to work on shining up a respectable amount of antique brassware; mostly knick knacks and old kitsch. We both helped out clearing out the kitchen cupboards and restocking the food pantry. Once Stephen was available, he and I started putting together the new Ikea kitchen furniture.

There were a number of perks to staying with Ann and Stephen. This was the first time a host had let us do our own shopping. On the second day we went with Ann to the store and loaded up the shopping cart with whatever we wanted. We were both excited about the prospect of being able to cook for ourselves and not have to take other people's diets in mind. We made soup, stir fry, pasta, pesto and many of our favorite dishes that we'd been missing. I was able to try Ann's meat dishes and she enjoyed a tasty peach/ apricot crumble that Annie dreamed up.

Another big bonus was the freedom of movement. As with our last farmstay there were many scenic places to take an after-dinner walk around the community. To complement that, however, Ann had a scooter and a pair of bicycles that she had purchased, primarily for the use of helpxers. On the bikes we took numerous trips along a canal that ran into Dinan and also the opposite direction- further out into the country, we had a beer at a local pub and saw live music, and rode through farm land. We used the scooter mostly for shopping and for errands.













Ann's house also had a pool and it received regular use. Ann's pre-adolescent neighbor, Cloe splashed around on her pool toys regularly and the rest of us read, sun-bathed and dipped in when the sun was too hot.

Over time we became aware of the tension beginning to build as the big party drew near. The barking of the dogs seemed to make Ann and Stephen more tense which seemed to increase the intensity of the barking. I often found myself in our room or by the pool avoiding the tension and the fresh aromas created by the 5 dogs- who spent much of their time inside. Be that as it may, Ann went out of her way to make sure we were comfortable and well-fed- which we were- and that we didn't work too hard. Both Ann and Stephen were always very cordial and polite; and we very much enjoyed our stay there.

In the final days Stephen and I erected a massive tent which would house the tables set up to feed 26 people. The rain and wind made cameo appearances to test the tent's durability. Ann and Stephen dropped us at the bus station in a little town called Evran and we made our way to Rennes where we would begin our 18.5 hour bus marathon to Amsterdam.

To read about our adventure in Vire, click HERE.