Kayaking on the Loire

A month ago on a beautiful sunny weekend we went kayaking on the Loire River.  So far this fall, we have had unseasonably good weather.  August was very rainy, but September was beautiful warm and sunny.  

The night before our kayak trip, we cooked home-made pizzas, including making the crusts from scratch.  We had learned to make them this past summer at our cottage on Lake Charlevoix, cooking the pizzas on an outdoor grill.  Here is Genia with Rafael showing a pizza ready to go into the oven.

Here is Rafael heartily eating the finished product.

Tom looking relaxed...

Ready to take off for the kayak trip, packed 6 into the Multipla.  Notice the 3 seated in front, each with their own bucket seat.

Departing early Saturday morning.   Although the river looks very calm in the picture, it was actually shallow and very swift.  Over the centuries, the river has shifted and changed significantly.  In the 9th century, the Vikings navigated longboats into the area. In the 14th century, the river marked the border between the French and the English.

Here are Rex Eric, Sophie, and Rafael in their longboat (canoe).  They took Rex because they had the most room. 

The rest of the group followed quickly.  

One of the castles we saw along the river.

We pulled our kayaks and canoe up to the bank to stop for lunch.  

Here is the group eating lunch.  We had a fantastic bottle of red wine.

The view from our lunch spot.

 

Saying good bye after lunch.

 Au revoir!  

A Saturday in Angers

The weekend of September 12 to 14 the City of Angers hosted a huge city-wide arts festival - "Accroche Coeur" (the literal translation is hooked heart, but we believe it means heart stopping or something like that).  We went on Saturday.  There were thousands of people, and many things to do. 

On the way to the festival, we stopped at the local shooting gallery ("le tire") to visit their open house.  Gary's cousin Rafael goes to lessons there once a week.  

Gary was very proud - he got a bullseye!

Even Genia got into it!  

Gary and Genia practicing their skills.

Tom shooting.  Below Tom's hand, you can see the crank that was used to retrieve the target.  Gary thought that was a very cool design.

Rafael got to shoot the higher powered rifles.  

To do that, you needed to lay on your stomach for stability.  

We got to the festival at about 5 pm.  

Here is a crowd on the Loire river, with the Angers castle in the background.

Here is an Indian singer that we listened to.

Eric listening to his son Rafael.

One of the things that they did at the festival was to construct a village made out of cardboard buildings.  Here is Gary in front of one of them.  

Gary was shocked by the amount of cardboard that was used for this event.  At the end of the three day event, all of the buildings were destroyed. 

Here is Sophie in front of another one of the buildings.  

One of the buildings at night.

Here is a magician that we saw on the street.  He claimed that he was not a magician, but the things that he did were mind-boggling.  On the left, he had two glass balls floating in the air (no strings attached).  On the right he had four glass balls floating on his head. We don't know how he managed to balance them.  If you look closely at the picture, you can also see that he turned his pupils white (you can click the picture to make it bigger). Gary thought this was done with a contact lens....

Here he is making two sticks float.

He also did a number of amazing poses. Here he is in a one arm handstand.

A "pirate" ship on the Loire.

The most impressive performance that we saw was a group that called themselves "Page Blanche" (White Page). They were on scaffolding with nine squares - each square had a performer. Their performance consisted of very fast sequenced painting accompanied by dancing and music, with amazing results.  To see a video of this, go to:  Page Blanche video

Here they are starting to paint.

At 11 pm, we went to see Titi Robin in front of the City Opera House.  He is a local and very talented musician who played an eclectic mix of music.