Last week at Brecy

During my last week at Brecy, garden work has included - edging, pulling weeds, and hedge trimming. Also, watching the adorable kitten chase butterflies. Trust me, it's hard work. Katie and Michel left on Friday night to go on vacation for two weeks, and a new temporary guardian arrived for the chateau. Georges really likes mayonnaise. I didn't get to spend too much time with him, though, because I was kidnapped by a lady from Tarboro, NC!

This lady has an awesome life story. I've missed the south!

The first day we went to the market and (finally!) the interior of the cathedral in Bayeux, and also to the Gardens of Castillon. There's no way to get there without a car, so I was thrilled! Not only was the garden amazing, but it was definitely a breath of fresh air to get to talk with someone in English for a little while.

I found this amusing, because it's a
Persian Ironwood (Parrotia persica) trimmed into cloud form!

Castillon was a real treat to get to visit. Sallie brought me back to Brecy for the evening, and then came back for more the next day! We went to Caen to see the Jardin des Oiseaux, which has a MASSIVE rose garden.

The rose garden was a little overwhelmingly large.

Some of these suckers were HUGE!

Somehow French roses seem prettier to me.

In addition to the roses, there were a number of other small displays and a hedge maze, and just before leaving, we found a pleasant surprise.

This one represented friendship with Ireland.

This one was just nifty.

We didn't have enough time to find our way through.

Holy cow lace making party!

We came across a group of women ranging from age 13 to 93 making lace in the park! I was rather impressed, but I'm going to call that one too much fine work for me to handle. One lady was making a lace parasol, but it was going to take her almost a year to finish everything she needed for it.

Afterwards, we headed back to Bayeux again, because we wanted to hear the organ in the cathedral there, and we had found out about the ordination of a priest! The service was open for anyone who wanted to come, so we did. The organ was worth it, though it was an interesting service full of pomp and tradition. Tomorrow I head to the train station to head to my second placement at Chateau d'Acquigny!