The Sixth of June,
2006
 
 
On the remblai of Les Sables, waiting for the Vendée-Mobile.
Our driver Jean-Pierre is from Saint-Denis/Paris, but he loves Vendée and it shows.
The sites along the drive are a part of our classroom-road experience.
The commentary on the road helps us understand what we see along the way.
The marshes along the coast are a vital part of the life and history of Vendée.
In Saint-Gilles Croix de Vie we have a few minutes free to visit the town.
The port on the River Vie.
Today is market day in Saint Gilles.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are the main attraction - along with my silhouette...
Most every town in France has an area reserved for foot traffic only.
The church of Croix de Vie
A finely restored example of the romanesque.
The round arches are a key to this style of art that is the foundation of Gothic.
One of the finest features of the church of Croix de Vie - “la chaire”.
Next, the historical ‘fisher’s house’, where we learn of life in generations past.
Fishing was and is a main source of livelihood.  Here, some traditional clothes.
The ‘quichenotte’ protected women from the sun when she worked, and from the English.
The word dates from the 100 Years War, and  English “KISS-me-NOT!”
Guess how you get pleats like this.
From these delicate irons heated in the chimney.
The traditional shirt of the sailor.
The sailor’s traditional breakfast ware.
The fisher’s net - the tool that meant life or starvation, depending on its condition.
The only thing more vital than the net -- the boat that carries it.
Luncheon awaits.
All are in good humor and spirit.
To start ‘l’assiette du pêcheur’ - (sardines, anchovies, tuna, salad).
‘Rôti de veau avec légumes’
(roast veal and vegetables)
A fine mid-day pause for all.
The plateau de fromages
(assorted cheeses)
Side by side, two born on May 10, eleven years apart:  Laura and Lucie.
Finally, dessert: mousse chocolat, crême au rhum et à la vanille.
May 10: Taurus, the sign of the bull - and two  charmingly bull-headed women...
An real, live functioning windmill - and ‘mill’ means it makes real flour for real bread.
We’ll visit the mill in a moment, but first...
... the bakery that makes our daily bread.
The oven that heats day and night.  Our baker started at 4:00 am this morning...
Back to the mill.  The wind provides the force that turns the wheels inside.
Great stones of flint grind the wheat to flour, which the baker will turn into bread.
A little flour for the taste buds.
Amelia continues with a few questions for her team’s podcast.
A ‘baudet’ of Vendée.
Next, a local vineyard.  The wine of Brem is a secret treasure of coastal Vendée.
At the domain Lux en Roc Jean-Pierre Richard produces a series of fine wines.
Madame Richard herself explains the processes and qualities of their winemaking.
The vines here are kept close to the ground and away from the winds of the sea.
 
Yes, this day at the beach happened 62 years ago, only yesterday in the timeline of the life of France, but everything for the life of France and Europe today.  As usual this day and those preceding have been celebrated in the media and on the sites of those historic events that involved the generation of our parents and grandparents in the struggle that made the world as we know it today.
 
Jean-Pierre, our driver today, is fresh off a jig up in Normandy where he witnessed some of this year’s activities in person.  Prime among them, he said, was, a re-enactment of the parachute landing at Sainte-Mère-l’Église.  If you don’t know about that, you’re lucky, or you haven’t seen a movie like The Longest Day.
 
As for us, our day is not quite so long nor quite so much on the beach as beside it.  The twin towns of Saint Gilles-Croix de Vie are just up the coast from Les Sables, and they present a charm all of their own.  From pre-history to today, our visits will lead us across the ages to ways of life sometimes gone but never forgotten in this region.  The treasures of the past are among the greatest riches for all who live here and most who know how to visit a place and understand its being.
Day at the Beach, one that every one here remembers...