We had a particularly pretty sunrise a few days ago. Some days recently it’s been so foggy we can’t even see the other side of the river!
The birds we were missing in Brittany are abundant here. The cliffs house hundreds of black birds called choucas. Every dawn and dusk huge flocks swirl overhead, coming together then separating again, and calling to each other throughout. Since dawn isn’t until around 8 am, it’s not too bad, but if this was the summer, it might be a little annoying to be awakened by them before 5 in the morning!
This sign says the choucas (#5, shown in lower right) provide the aural landscape for the village, and that’s really true. Aside from the big dawn and dusk show, during the day smaller groups sit in the tree across the river from us and continue chatting with each other.
Birds aren’t the only things we’ve seen flying!
There isn’t a lot of fall color here, or at least it’s more muted than at home. Few bright reds, but some nice yellows…
They do grow big leaves on some of the trees in town!
As the river has gone down, we’ve started to see kayaks and canoes. These huge canoes (or are they kayaks?) with outriggers are a type we’ve never seen before…
It’s amazing what’s still growing here.
The microclimate of the south-facing cliff is really evident in the tropical plants that flourish here. It’s one thing to grow a banana plant – I’ve grown them in pots at home myself – but it’s another to actually have bananas! My plants weren’t 6-7 m (20 ft) tall either…
We had a fabulous sunset a few nights ago, one of the best we’ve seen in years!
Our French Adventure 