Château de Breuil

After leaving Giverny, we went to our last appointed stop, the distillery of Château de Breuil, to have a taste of their products, specifically the apple brandy known as calvados, and pommeau, which is made by mixing calvados with unfermented apple juice.  Calvados is also the name of the départment in which the Château is located.  (There is also a variety of calvados made from pears, but the apple-based version is far more common.)  We tasted the calvados and pommeau in this shop.

Near the shop was this metal apple tree.

In another part of the grounds was the actual château.

Near the beginning of the driveway leading to the shop was this barrel, similar to those used to store and age the calvados and pommeau.

These are my last pictures from France.  Afterwards, it was time to get back to Honfleur, pack up, and get ready to go home.

Claude Monet's Estate At Giverny

Now that I've made a few posts on things west of the Atlantic, it's time to return to my Normandy travelogue, with which I am almost done.

We spent most of the last full day of the tour in Giverny, at the estate of French impressionist painter Claude Monet.  Because Giverny was the farthest east, and thus farthest inland, place we visited, it was also the least rainy.  Monet's estate comprises a Japanese-inspired water garden, a flower garden, his house and a gift shop.  We first toured the water garden, which includes a grove of bamboo.

This pink-flowered bush was also in the water garden.

This bridge, called the Japanese bridge, spans a pond in the water garden.

Here's a closer shot of the bridge.

There was a woman on the tour who was originally from Japan, so I asked her if any of the water garden was authentically Japanese, to which she answered in the negative.  Although Monet had a soft spot for Japanese art, and collected Japanese woodblock prints, he never visited Japan, and thus never had a chance to see a real Japanese garden.

After walking around the water garden, we proceeded to the flower garden.  Here's a walkway, surrounded by flowers, trees and neighboring houses.

Of these two walkways, the one under the green archways was closed off.

Here are some more green frames, holding up flowers.

They had some penned-up chickens.

The tourists file into Monet's house, in which photography was forbidden.

Behind a wall were two neighboring houses.

After leaving Monet's estate, we took a short walk over to the Giverny Museum of Impressionism, which included an exhibit on American impressionists, including some who had traveled to France to learn from Monet himself.

Election Official: Rep. Conyers Fails To Qualify For Primary

According to a story by the Associated Press appearing in Fox News, longtime Representative John Conyers (D-Mich) has not qualified for the primary election to be held this coming August.  Wayne County Clerk Kathy Garrett says that Conyers does not have the 1,000 signatures necessary to have his name put on the ballot.  He has a brief period of time during which he can appeal Garrett's ruling.  If unsuccessful, he can still run as a write-in candidate.  Why an incumbent Congressman is even required to collect nominating signatures is not explained the story.  During his time in office, Conyers has often won re-election with over 80 percent of the vote, and even survived a recent redistricting.

John Conyers was first elected to Congress in 1964 and is currently 84 years old.  This would make him not only a career politician, but a lifetime politician.  For this reason, he is one of several, in both Houses and from both parties, that I will not miss when they step down.  Read the full story.

The Santa Maria Possibly Found Near Haiti

I guess that one good archaeological discovery deserves another.  Archaeologists have found the remains of a ship on the sea bottom off of the north coast of Haiti, and believe that it could be the Santa Maria, which was Christopher Columbus's flagship on his first voyage.  According to The Independent:

“All the geographical, underwater topography and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that this wreck is Columbus’ famous flagship, the Santa Maria,” said the leader of a recent reconnaissance expedition to the site, one of America’s top underwater archaeological investigators, Barry Clifford.

Mr. Clifford's crew has measured and photographed the wreck, but has not otherwise disturbed it.  The wreck had also been surveyed in 2003, but was not suggested as possibly being the Santa Maria.  Read the full story.

A Stonehenge In Virginia?

An archaeological site in Clarke County, Virginia is reported to contain stone circles dating to around 10,000 B.C., making it about twice age of Stonehenge.  The site is privately owned, by Chris and Rene White, who are respectively Cherokee and Lumbee Indian.  Like the famous ancient monument in England, the Virginia site reportedly includes seasonal astronomical alignments.  According to newsleader:

A line from a center rock, over a specific boundary rock, intersects the feature called Bears Den Rocks on the mountain. Standing on that center rock, looking northeast, a viewer can see the sun rise over Bears Den on the day of the summer solstice in June.

Moving around the circle, another set of rocks points to Eagle Rock on the Blue Ridge, and also to sunrise on the day of the spring and fall equinox in March and September.

Yet a third points to a saddle in the mountain, where the sun rises at the winter solstice in December.

The "mountain" being referred to in the above excerpt is the Blue Ridge.

Astronomical alignments have been found (or least have been claimed to be found) in a variety of Native American sites, including Mound Builder sites such as Serpent Mound and Anasazi sites such as Chimney Rock.  Another site known for such alignments is America's Stonehenge in New Hampshire, which is also called Mystery Hill.  Read the full story at the above newsleader link.

Saturday Links

Now that I've been back in the USA, here are a few things going on, both here and elsewhere:

From the New York Post, Tiger Woods' ex takes some swipes at him during her college graduation speech.

From Yahoo News, Russia's deputy prime minister, after his flight is denied permission to pass through Romanian airspace, Tweets that he would return in a TU-160 bomber.

From France24 and the country I just visited, French President François Hollande says that his county would continue with its sale of two warships to Russia "for now".

From ABC News, a plane bound for Hawaii returns to LAX due to smoke in the cockpit.

From Bidness Etc, Microsoft and Google join the debate on net neutrality.

From CNET, two scientists theorize that the gene KL-VS boosts IQ and helps prolong life.

From Rare, Mel Brooks says, "We couldn't get away with making Blazing Saddles today."  Considering the movie's rather frequent use of the N-word, I'd have to agree with him.  (via Gulf Dogs)

From Fox News, in April, two American officials in Yemen reportedly fought off a kidnapping attempt.

From Gateway Pundit, FLOTUS gives her weekly radio address on the recently kidnapped Nigerian girls, without mentioning Boko Haram or Islam.

From America Rising, then-Senator Scott Brown (R-Mass) warned about Boko Haram two years ago.

From The Hill, Vice President Joe Biden, while in South Carolina, takes a swipe at.....the Clintons?

The New York Times calls Rhode Island "sized just right to contain its pride".

And from The Cagle Post, a Mother's Day cartoon.

Mont Saint Michel

Mont Saint Michel is a small fortified island that has been connected to the French mainland by a causeway, which is in the process of being replaced by a bridge.  The island is dominated by an abbey that forms its highest part.  Being the westernmost place we visited, it's not far from Normandy's border with Brittany.  At times in its history, Mont Saint Michel was connected to the mainland during low tide and then disconnected during high tide.  Just off the coast of County Cornwall, England is a similar place named St. Michael's Mount, which I visited in 2002.

Here's one view of Mont Saint Michel, as we walked from the shuttle bus stop on the causeway to the island itself.

Here's another view, closer and from a different angle.

Visitors walk up to the entrance of the abbey.

One of the many interior rooms of the abbey that we walked through.

Here's the cloister.

One room included this double fireplace.  The truncated pyramid shape reminded me of the American colonial-era furnaces that I have seen in Maryland.  One tourist looks up one of the chimneys while another gets ready to take her picture.

This garden provided a nice contrast to all the stonework we have been seeing.

At one time, supplies were brought up to the abbey using this wheel.  It's like a wheel in a hamster or gerbil cage, but scaled up for a human.

This is the Chapel of St. Stephen, with an altar and the arm of a tourist.

Finally, a section of the outer wall of the abbey.

After touring the abbey, we made our way down to the pedestrian part of the causeway, some of us taking in a snack at one of the small cafés along the way.  Eventually, we caught a shuttle bus back to the mainland and our tour bus in the parking lot.

Bears Draft Hokie Cornerback

Cornerback Kyle Fuller of Virginia Tech was selected by the Chicago Bears (or in the local dialect, dah Bearss) during yesterday's first round of the NFL Draft.  Fuller becomes the tenth Hokie to be selected in the first round, and the third member of his family to be drafted after playing for Virginia Tech, with a fourth one about to enter his sophomore year on the field this fall.  Several other former Tech players await their possible selection.

Read the story at Hokiesports, TechSideline and The Roanoke Times.

UPDATE:  Read yet more from the Bears themselves.

A Brief Stop In Caen

After visiting the German cemetery at La Cambe, we proceeded on to the Peace Memorial in Caen, one of the larger cities in Normandy and capitol of the départment of Calvados and the region of Basse-Normandie (Lower Normandy).  At the memorial, we visited its museum, had lunch, and generally looked around.  I didn't find much worth photographing other than a few things outside of the building.

While wandering around, I found this pool, which appears to be the top of an artificial waterfall.

There were signs indicating the presence of an American garden and a Canadian garden.  I don't think I found the Canadian garden, but I did find their flag.  In the D-Day operations, Canadian forces landed in an area designated as Juno Beach, which was between the British areas of Gold Beach and Sword Beach.

There was a small park beside the memorial.

House Holds Lois Lerner In Contempt

The House of Representatives has voted to hold former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress, largely along party lines.  She becomes the sixth person in the last 40 years to be held in contempt by the full House, although others have been held in contempt by various congressional committees.

Read the story at the Washington Post and at Politico.