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The woman on the Yellow Bicycle

~ Observing life from the saddle of my bike.

The woman on the Yellow Bicycle

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Can’t see the sea for the Agapanthus Day 3 (Resisting that plate of nuns farts)

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Posted by stephpep56 in a story

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A viking ship, beaches, camera, chablis, french pasteries, Ile de Batz, Mary Stuart Queen of Scots, oncologist, painting, Royal Galleons, the yellow bicycle, wells, writing

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It is my second morning waking in the house of the blue shutters and I am up at cockcrow.

I didn’t sleep too well as I feel there is a nightly presence in the house whom I have disturbed.

But no time for that now.

I don’t bother with the view.

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I know the boats will be slumbering in their usual fashion. I am up earlier than yesterday and high tide will be about an hour later so nothing can have changed that much.

But as I rush out the gate and around the corner and lean the yellow bicycle against the wall of the not yet opened boulangerie, I feel a pang of shame that my fear of being too late for a pastry is making me presume my morning view will be the same as yesterday!

What if this is the morning a viking boat sails into the bay?

Or four Galleons.

On the morning of August 13th in the year 1548 the people of Roscoff, on the opposite side of the bay, woke to see such a sight.

Four French Galleons dropping anchor.

One of these was the ‘Royal Galleon’ belonging to the King of France and it was carrying a very important person.

At only five and a half years of age Mary Stuart was already Queen of Scotland and was now engaged to be married to the heir apparent to the french throne, The Dauphin, Francois II.

The Galleon had carried her from her home in Dumbarton near Glasgow and, avoiding the English fleet, landed safely after an apparent rough crossing.

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The next morning the people of Roscoff gathered again to watch as the small boat containing their future queen, her four handmaidens (all also called Mary and all also only five and a half years of age) , their housekeeper and their nanny, pulled up at the slipway from where they proceeded to the church to give thanks for a safe crossing.

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The sound of the boulangerie door being unlocked brings me back to the present. I may have missed some excitement in the bay but nothing as exciting as being first in the queue.

‘Bonjour Madame’

‘Bonjour’.

~~~

As Madam pops the still warm pain au raisin into a bag, she looks back over her shoulder to regard me, one eyebrow raised, hand still hovering over the heap of cinnamon smelling pastries and enquires ‘Deux?’

I dither.

There are more than two hills on the island. At least four I would think, and I remember my calculation!

Two hills = one french pastry!

I feel the now gathering queue shifting restlessly behind me.

‘Hold on! I’m not delaying things with idle chat like you lot did yesterday’ but of course I don’t say this out loud (I wouldn’t have enough knowledge of french to anyway)

So I nod.

‘Deux pain au raisin s’il vous plaît’

My accent is improving

‘Et une baguette’ I add (remembering that ‘Baguette’ is feminine)

‘Une seulement’? she calls back over her shoulder as she plucks one baguette from the basket in which the deliciously crispy breads stand upright. She remains poised.

Again the queue shifts

‘Qui…. une.’ I nod.

‘C’est tout?’ Madam enquires, She is back at the till, holding my order in one hand whilst the fingers of the other hover over the keys. She senses my weakness and is still not convinced I am finished.

My eyes scan the delicious treats in the glass case in front of me.

Brioche a téte, Pain au chocolate, Clafoutis aux cerises, Chausson aux pommes, Tarte Breton, Tartes aux fraises, Tarte Tatin, Tarte au citron, Far Breton. Laid out neatly in mouthwatering rows

Oh and look! a plate of Pet de Nonne (literally translated as ‘the nun’s fart’) a sort of small chocolate covered profiterole which I adore.

But my oncologist is also there looming in the impatient queue, his fictional presence more powerful than her real one.

I drag my eyes away.

‘Oui….c’est tout’ I reply firmly.

~

So Day two of my day on the Island and I’m once again pushing the yellow bicycle up the steep hill though not as far this time.

This time I have managed to cycle about one quarter way up to the supermarket before the hill proves to steep and I have to dismount.

Once more I am on my way to buy my filling for my picnic baguette.

Did I really eat all the Camembert yesterday AND finish the whole bottle of sancerre? (Four hills equals one Camembert. 12 kilometres equals a bottle of white wine)

I am well within the perimeters and breath easily.

This time I buy some brie instead and a piéce de saucisse and a bottle of Chablis.

Then with my shopping complete I take a different route, no map needed.

I am getting a sense of this Island.
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I always dreamed of living the rest of my life in a small cottage by the sea where I would spend my days writing, painting and tending the garden.

I always imagined it would be in the west of Ireland but I actually found it here on Ile de Batz.

At the end of a small gravel road which heads north west from the village, I come on a small blue shuttered cottage. The sea in front of it, a sheltering hill behind, It is built in a place of complete perfection.

I would willingly give up one years supply of pet de nonnes for it

Unfortunately someone has found it before me and I know that even if they loved these small profiteroles as much as I did they would not part with it.
france-2016-773I sigh sadly but then I see something that cheers me up!

A small sandy track leading on passed the house. Immediately my sense of exploration takes over and without further ado I’m off again, pushing my bicycle along it as it winds up and around a rocky headland.france-2016-502 I am now approaching the ‘wild’ end of the island.

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And I find the perfect place to sit and have my picnic.

And its while having this picnic that I meet Regine (I could have used her real name as she will hardly read my blog for when we talked about computers her face took on such a look of disdain it led me to presume she is not in favor of using them. Instead she pulls out a small note book from her pocket which is filled with the neatest painstakingly tiny writing and proceeds to slowly add the name Stephanie and a description of the yellow bike using, I note, the older bicyclette rather than the newer word Velo.)

It is hard to tell her age but I would imagine she is about 65.

She has dyed blond sholder lenght hair and bright blue mascara and is wearing a frock. An ancient Pentax camera hangs round her neck and she has a small faded rugsack on her back. She is here for two weeks, walking and taking numerous photos with her vintage camera. Her sentences are filled with such words as incroyable, formidable, fantasique, fabuleux which she pronounces slowly emphasising each syllable

She is intrigued and delighted with the yellow bicycle

‘Is it your mothers?’ she asks excitedly

I tell her its not and go on to explain that though it looks rusty it is actually not that old, just has spent too much time at the sea.

She looks so disappointed that wished I had lied to her.

‘Are you sure it isn’t your mothers’? she is circling  it reverently as she points her camera this way and that at it.

She stops to run her hand along the rim of the basket.

‘Incroyable’ She exclaims.

The day is wearing on. we talk some more and then I make my excuses. I still have a swim to fit in and I had passed a well on the small beach with stone steps leading down to it, which I wanted to go back and get a better look at.

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She waves goodbye

‘A toutes alore’

Yes I suppose I will see her again. The island is too small not to.france-2016-427

As a cloud passes over the sun, I pass a group of old men playing boules in the middle of the road.

‘Bonsoir Madame’

‘Bonsoir’

A woman whizzes down towards them on an old moped, face wrinkled by the sun and hair dyed bright auburn, helmet-less, a cigarette hanging from her lower lip which is a slash of bright red.  Leaving behind a trail of petrol fumes mixed with the smell of Gauloise’s .

I pass the now familiar windows as I head home to my blue shuttered house.

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I am beginning to feel part of the island.

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To be continued…….

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stephpep56

stephpep56

Writer, storyteller, Artist, photographer, mother and grandmother, with a passion for living in the moment, for nature and gardening and meditatively pedalling my yellow bicycle which helps inspire my stories and observations of life. And what better place to be from and to live and cycle in then Ireland. A country filled to the brim with songs and stories, small boreens, lakes, mountains and wild seas. In between all the above I just about manage to squeeze in my real job as a nurse in a busy Hospital.

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Stephanie Peppard an and Thewomanontheyellowbicycle and the inquisitive hen 2014/2015.
This Written material, drawings, photographs and paintings are all my own original work. I would kindly ask that you do not use any of the above without my permission. Excerpts and links may be used provided that full and clear credit is given to Stephanie peppard and thewomanontheyellowbicycle and the inquisitive hen with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. thanks Steph.

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wildsherkin

Once upon an island...the musings and makings of a part-time islander

The clueless photographer

Pietro Mascolo - IZ4VVE

Frog Pond Farm

Julie's garden ramblings ...

Site Title

Persevere

By Dan Sims

ALYAZYA

A little something for you.

Singersong Blog

An Aussie in County Clare

An Oldie Outdoors

Trail Blogs : Gear : Outdoor Life

Dartmoor Wild Camper

My wild camping adventures on Dartmoor.

Alex Awakens

The musings of an awakening soul

Fernwood Nursery & Gardens

Maine's Shadiest Nursery

avikingjourney

A nordic journey from the past to the present with Denmark's largest Viking war ship, the Sea Stallion.

JustUs Society

After all, who else is there... well except for aliens

aoifewww's Blog

This WordPress.com site is the bee's knees

idleramblings

Poems, ditties, lines, words, wanderings, ramblings, thoughts, memories, prompts,

140 characters is usually enough

Seven Spheres

Aqua Terra Ignis et Aer

naturekids

A place for kids to learn about the natural world

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is the best place for your personal blog or business site.

The woman on the Yellow Bicycle

Observing life from the saddle of my bike.

Off The Beaten Path

Random Peckings and Droppings of a Free-Range Chicken Mind. A Wide Range of Topics Discovered Wherever Nourishing Thoughts Present Themselves.

The Campervan Gang

A Family's Journey To Become Campervan Heroes

ronovanwrites

Writing to Discover My Self In the World

Murtagh's Meadow

Ramblings of an Irish ecologist and gardener

HAPPY DAYS

Steps To Happiness.

Beside the Hedgerow

About Bette

Myths and Memoirs

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owen swain artist

Kent the Banjo Cat

It's turtles, all the way down.

spaceship china

~ a blog that travels through time and space through the complex narrative we call “China” ~

The Aran Artisan

Making a living by creating every aspect and ingredient of daily life

HOME: ACORN PONDS GLAMPING SITE : A peaceful place to stay! Inspiring! Vintage vehicles! A working Smallholding

Glamping at its best!! private, own kitchen, own shower and loo, peaceful, wildlife, no kids!!

Dust off the Bookshelf

It's all about the read.

The inquisitive hen.

poetry, prose and whatever you're having yourself

julz crafts

for crafters: spinners, weavers, knitters, quilters etc

debooWORKS

Everything you can imagine is real. - Pablo Picasso

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An adventure in writing

Atypical Italian Traveler

A Travel Blog. No Kidding.

Birds of a Feather

Here's a Story for You.

I'm a Writer, Yes, I Am!

Martha Ann Kennedy's Blog, Copyright 2013-2018, all rights reserved to the author/artist

wildsherkin

Once upon an island...the musings and makings of a part-time islander

The clueless photographer

Pietro Mascolo - IZ4VVE

Frog Pond Farm

Julie's garden ramblings ...

Site Title

Persevere

By Dan Sims

ALYAZYA

A little something for you.

Singersong Blog

An Aussie in County Clare

An Oldie Outdoors

Trail Blogs : Gear : Outdoor Life

Dartmoor Wild Camper

My wild camping adventures on Dartmoor.

Alex Awakens

The musings of an awakening soul

Fernwood Nursery & Gardens

Maine's Shadiest Nursery

avikingjourney

A nordic journey from the past to the present with Denmark's largest Viking war ship, the Sea Stallion.

JustUs Society

After all, who else is there... well except for aliens

aoifewww's Blog

This WordPress.com site is the bee's knees

idleramblings

Poems, ditties, lines, words, wanderings, ramblings, thoughts, memories, prompts,

140 characters is usually enough

Seven Spheres

Aqua Terra Ignis et Aer

naturekids

A place for kids to learn about the natural world

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is the best place for your personal blog or business site.

The woman on the Yellow Bicycle

Observing life from the saddle of my bike.

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