A mini break from chemo which meant some days out at last!

I have finally felt well enough to have a few trips out this last week. I explained how I had negociated an extra two week break with my Oncologist when I saw him last in this post here a few weeks back. My new anti nausea drugs worked really well so I continued to eat during the last chemo session with no nausea, and have continued to eat well and have done lots of cooking during this time.

My brother came over from England and we've had three meals out, two of which were in scenic places where we had some walks around and watched the wildlife and for me it was absolutely magic to have this opportunity to get out and see some different parts of the countryside other than the same old route to the hospital! I've still felt very tired at times as I get bouts of energy, make the most of it doing a bit of gardening (or going out) but then crash out and need some down time sleeping or just resting, reading in bed. But this is still tons better than before! Chemo starts again on Thursday but guess what, finally I have put some weight on - about 5 pounds/2.5 kg, which is exactly what I wanted, as I was so worried about the weight loss and weakness and how on earth I was going to get through the rest of the chemo sessions. Now I've only got 5 more sessions to go and feel refreshed and ready to face the grindstone again. Even if I lose some weight again at least I shouldn't get any worse than before.

Our first trip out last week was to a restaurant we discovered last year when my brother was over. For anyone in this part of Brittany it's called Le Col Vert on the lake at Hédé. They serve interesting food - some Asian and African dishes as well as some Tex Mex ones. My brother and I had fajitas - I must say this is the first time in my life I have managed to finish an entire portion of fajitas, tortillas and all! My appetite is quite amazing at the moment. You'll see that in all the food I've photographed in this post. :-)

There are a lot of photos because I decided to put the two trips out together.

My brother and his fajitas - yes I ate all that!

Le Col Vert at Hédé.

A rather scruffy front garden of a cottage looking great
because of all the self seeded Hollyhocks in it!

There wasn't a lot of bird life on the lake apart from this Great White Egret
(Ardea alba) - don't think I've ever seen one this far north before!

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).

Spotted Longhorn Beetle (Rutpela maculata) on a bramble flower beside the lake.

Interesting green Sawfly (Rhogogaster viridis).

Thick-Legged Flower Beetle (Oedemera nobilis).

Seven-Spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata).

Black-tailed Skimmer, male (Orthetrum cancellatum).

Les Onze Ecluses at Hédé-Bazouges - there are 11 locks here.

Lock Keeper's House, there seemed to be one of these houses for every couple of locks!

My brother and me.

and with Keith (aka my OH).

Another lake we walked beside and got to hear Reed Warblers here,
another species we rarely see in Brittany. We don't find many lakes
which are accessible to the public, let alone ones with reed beds.

Sunday we headed for the coast to our favourite spot at Port Mer. I've written tons about this place already as around the corner is the headland known as la Pointe du Grouin full of wildflowers where I love to go butterfly spotting! If you want to see photos from sunnier days look at the tag at the bottom of the post and that'll take you to previous posts. We were lucky as although it was quite overcast, it was warm and the sun seemed to come out when we were on the headland so there were plenty of butterflies about. But first, we ate. :-)

I had a fish and shellfish dish with choucroute underneath, a bit of an odd mix but very nice.

I was thinking of having a paddle in the sea but by the time we had finished lunch the tide was way out revealing a rather slimy green seaweedy area, also it just started to spit with rain! But by the time we'd driven the five minutes round to the headland, then spent 15 minutes trying to find somewhere to park (bloody tourists!), the sun had come out.

Up on the headland at Pointe du Grouin; lots of wildflowers here.

Saw my first Small Copper of the year!

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas).

There were two of these lizards beside the Semaphore Station.
I think they are Common Wall Lizards (Podarcis Muralis)
but I'm not 100% sure.

I never tire of seeing Swallowtails (Papilio machaon)! There is tons of wild fennel
growing here which is one of the host plants, although I've never
spotted one of their caterpillars on the plants.

Wild Fennel, Yarrow, Grasses and a partial view of the Semaphore Station.

I was so happy to spot my favourite and most tiny of Skippers,
the Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon). This is the male which has just
a faint hint of the markings that are prominennt on the female.

Female Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon).
These guys are tinier than Small Skippers and are oh so cute!

A view over the island (Île des Landes) which is a bird reserve.

Another view with wildflowers and rocky islets.

I'm finishing off with four photos of what I ate at our favourite all you can eat Chinese buffet. I ate four courses.... forgot about taking a photo of the first one until I'd already scoffed the prawns.... I still can't believe that I can eat this much food!!!

First course - Thai salad and prawns.

2nd course, tempura prawns, crab claws, squid rings and a spring roll.

Main course, various dishes!

And a strange mix of Chinese desserts....
I love lychees but I brought the cookie and the 'nougat'
(peanut and sesame seed chewy stuff; it's wonderful) home but ate it a few hours later!