ALENÇON, FRANCE. VILLE FLEURIE.

ALENÇON (Orne)
Le point d'Alençon (Musée des Beaux Arts et de la Dentelle), L'église Notre-Dame (XVs-XVIs), La Maison d'Ozé,

Thursday 28th March 2002

In Normandy again. Staying with friends for a week.

We had lovely weather, sunny every day although it got quite cold at night. Most days it was around 18ºC and a couple of days it got up to 21ºC - very pleasant. There were so many wild flowers - primroses, cowslips, bluebells, all along the sides of the roads. I don't think the farmers use so many chemicals in that part of France.

We took Judy of course. She had a great time, running about and playing with our friends' Border Collie. They have four horses but she stayed away from them. I think she watched our friends' dog and copied him - he was kicked when he was a puppy and now he keeps well clear. She loves the forest and there was a large one just about a mile away so we went there often.

We went to a Festival of Gastronomy one day - that was interesting. On entry each person was given a wine glass and this was very useful to taste the offerings of the exhibitors - wine, cider, calvados - they all gave generous samples! And there were tastings of cheeses, patés, cakes, biscuits, honey and jam, etc. There was a lovely atmosphere - due to the wine tasting no doubt!! I'll attach a picture (St Leonard is the name of the village).

Richard at the Festival in St. Leonard.

There is a good accomodation book: Alastair Sawday's guide to French Bed and Breakfast. Not sure about the actual title of the book but it's on their website www.sawdays.co.uk They do several accomodation guides including "special hotels" and houses to rent. There are books covering not just France but also the UK and (I think) Spain. I know you can get the books in the US, not sure about Canada.

All the best from Gill and Richard.