Our first outing out of the manoir....

We drove a few km down the road to the tiny village of Bretteville-sur-Laize.  It was a tiny town with a boulangerie in the heart of the town square.  We entered to a a kind lady with a warm smile who instantly realized our limited French speaking skills.  She then began as any teacher would - to show us around her store - pointing to each baked good and telling us the French name and the ingredients inside.  It was a delight!  She was so patient and as she talked it was if each of us inhaled each item in our mind.  At the end - we couldn't resist two different types of baguettes for coming meals and then each of us chose a pastry for after dinner.  We left with a box of goodies and hearts full of our first Normandy outing.

From there, we drove into  Caen.  The city where Chris will begin teaching at the university in the coming days.  We drove through on the main thoroughfare & were on the lookout for somewhere to have dinner.  Yesterday was Beaujolais Nouveau, a country wide celebration of the release of the young wine.
We passed brasserie after brasserie closed for the day.  We found one open & decided to step inside.  It reminded me of the movie Return to Me where all the old men sat around at tables talking about life and enjoying food.  There were no patrons in the restaurant at that hour but a table full of local older men talking in their beautiful language and politely expressing bonsoir to the family of 6 entering.  The kids had a hamburger & fries, the plat du jour (special of the day) and we had boeuf bourguignon - so delicious!!
Afterwards, we went to the local super marche, L, and had an adventure just trying to figure out how to get a cart.  One lady was so helpful and thought we were looking for a grocery points card, that Chris filled out the paperwork & we are now part of the member program.  Unfortunately, we thought it would help us get what we needed to unlock a grocery cart.  It did not.  After a few more requests, we got a coin that was the key to unlock the cart or chariot and off we went to buy this week's groceries.  We did well, and enjoyed the L way more than the Carrefour the night before.  We had to zip through at the end because the store closes at 8pm - note to self.
After a few circles around the parking lot, trying to find the on ramp for the motorway, we were off to the gite.  Back at the house, we ate our delicious pastries from the boulangerie.