Day 112, 24 October 2012, Saint Lo -
We have been such busy bees that today was a rest day - more so for me than James who went to check out Lee's boat and summer home. However before I took the most massive afternoon nap, we all spent an hour or two just down the road at the local Brocante. This is the shop a level or two under an antique dealer. Magical mixed boxes of glass and china abound. Furniture older than Australia and New Zealand is priced very reasonably in Euros. Shelves shudder under the weight of everything from Limoges porcelain to WWII soldiers helmets. There is even a system of pricing roulette. Labels on the more expensive furniture work thus... from say 1 Oct to 30 Oct an item might cost €400 then on 31 Oct for a few weeks €350. By Christmas it could be half price... but the question is, how many bullets are in the pricing roulette gun... how long can you hold your nerve... any day an antique dealer from across the Channel might beat you to it. In fact a dealer was in when we visited and loaded up quite a trailer of finds to take to his antique barn in England. But alas and alack, no treasure for us today. No Faberge eggs, no hidden Sevres. But hunting is 99% of the fun of treasure. We had a last supper of homemade French onion soup - James the Australian chef assisting Annie the French chef. Followed by James's internationally renowned Chicken Lasagne (French chef Annie assisting Australian Chef James). Vivienne and Lee onboard as internationally qualified tasting and eating committee. We will miss Saint Lo very much indeed. Travel Day tomorrow which means Packing Night tonight. Best get on.