Some Good Trouble

 

Last Saturday many cities in the US saw thousands of people turning up for the nationwide Hands-Off protests, making some good trouble. Our local protest counted more than 5000 people and two of those were the Geek and I.

Usually I try to avoid crowds because I tend to panic in tight spaces and literally can't breathe. However, I felt that this protest, this raising of our voice was too important. The Geek and I made a plan what to do and where to go so that I would still feel okay.

I felt okay throughout the entire gathering and the following march. I was just staying or walking by the side and didn't "jump" into the middle of all of it. People were peaceful, behaved respectfully and made the entire event a very positive and safe one. 

We didn't bring posters, but the Geek ironed an image on the back of our shirts. We got a lot of compliments for it.

 I took a lot of pictures of the different posters and signs - I love the creativity of many of them. However, I cut out people as much as possible. And I shut up now as well, so you can see all these images without me commenting.

Sorry for interrupting - I honestly don't think it's a good idea to bring dogs to such big events. Are they even enjoying this? Or is it upsetting for them? This dog was quite stoically standing there, but I wonder what s/he really felt ("Do I at least get some decent treats for this?")

These guys (who both spoke German) had some drinks in their hands - I guess that counts for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday.

This was a favorite one:

We met neighbors, friends and some of the Geek's colleagues. It seems like almost everybody we know were there. We stayed for about 90 minutes, marching, chanting - "This is what democracy looks like". On our way back we stopped at the "reflection place" to take the obligatory front-and-back picture of the two of us (we always do that when we pass here for the annual Pride Parade).

A Few Faces

 

Recently I practiced painting faces again, most of them in a class setting. This first one, "Moon Goddess" is actually not that recent but from September of last year. It was part of the Taster Lessons for Art Soul Gathering; this was a class by Sue Young. I didn't know Sue before, but liked her style of teaching and had actually almost finished this painting by the end of the class. I only had to add the background a bit later.

A couple weeks ago Karen Abend invited to one of her Sketchbook Get-Togethers that happen live on Zoom. I knew that I couldn't be there for the actual class, but when you sign up you get the link for the replay. It was a "watercolor portrait play" with artist Claudia Kazachinsky.

Before the class we got a warm-up lesson during which we learned about shadows and created a face just by painting shadows.

This was very interesting, even though I don't like my painting very much.

The "real" lesson was much more complex and I was glad that I had the link for the replay, because I definitely needed much more time than just the two-hour class. While I'm not super content with my painting I learned a lot in this class. I definitely need to better manage the amount of water. I also chickened out in drawing my own face, but used the reference image that I copied onto the paper. Claudia explained very well and never became tired answering questions from the students in the live class. 

The class inspired me to practice faces more. It's definitely something I do not feel comfortable with. I practiced on scrap paper, mainly using shadows. But this time I drew the face as well - as you can clearly see, no one has a face like that! She looks like a bad tempered horse. This was done with graphite and charcoal.

Of course these faces are for Nicole's Friday Face Off.

*******

I have to say here that I am incredibly grateful for Senator Cory Booker and his amazing marathon speech in the Senate last Monday evening to Tuesday evening. Other than a certain senator from Texas who in 2013 used his filibuster speech to read from children's books (Dr. Seuss anyone?), Senator Booker's speech was substantial for the entire 25 hours. I first became aware of Senator Booker in 2016 during the presidential campaign, I liked his reasonableness and have appreciated him ever since. He stands up for democracy, for this country and for the American people. He is one of the few decent politicians we have. I hope we can keep him - he is up for re-election in 2026. New Jersey, stand up for him!

To the West

 

While looking for all those menhirs, we reached the very West of Brittany and stopped at Pointe de Corsen. If you'd swim across the Atlantic in a straight line from here (not recommended), you would end up in Newfoundland, Canada. Since we're sensible people, we don't do that and just stay here at Pointe de Corsen, the most Western point of continental France.

This is the Atlantic Ocean, but this part is also known by its other name, Celtic Sea. I have to admit that I didn't know this before we went here. But it doesn make sense since the sea also reaches the shores of Cornwell and Ireland, all well known for their Celtic history.

We took a short walk along the edge of the cliffs. It was an overcast and slightly chilly day.

At the end of October there was still a lot of Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus corota) around. Even though you see this plant in America, it is actually a native of Europe, but was naturalized in the "New World". It's such a beautiful flower and a great pollinator plant. It didn't mind the rather harsh conditions at all.

There were rocks in the sea where the waves crashed noisily. Further out there were a lot of smaller rocky islands - a treacherous sea to navigate for sure.

But ships and boats have a lifeline - it's called a lighthouse. Of course there is one here. Interestingly though, it is not right at the shore on the cliffs, but a little bit further back in the commune of Plouarzel, 500 meters (1640 ft.) from the shore. The Phare Trézien was erected in 1894 and automated a century later. It stands 37.20 meters (122 ft.) tall and its beacon ranges up to 35 km (approx. 22 miles).

The path up to the lighthouse is lined by many hydrangeas, still beautiful even though they were past their prime.

Someone posed as the lighthouse keeper.

We weren't far from Brest, the largest city in Western Brittany with a very important habour. We were looking for a crêperie where we had an early dinner (very unusual in France). Usually you have two crêpes courses, first a savory buckwheat crêpe (called galette) and then a sweet one as dessert. Here is my galette with salmon, leeks and a creamy sauce. It was delicious. 

Today I also want to show you where we stayed for several days while exploring the Northern and Western part of Brittany. We had found a B&B in a tiny village near Lannion from where we left for our daytrips.

Every morning we got a freshly cooked breakfast with lots of choices (the French are not known for a big breakfast) and Monsieur (our host) always made something different. Everything was delicious. We met the other guests at breakfast and had lively conversations, even though sometimes the language was a challenge for us (we were the only foreigners). Monsieur himself loved to talk as well and unfortunately he spoke with a very heavy Breton accent that was often hard to understand. Kaefer and I did our best to keep up, but the poor Geek, who doesn't speak French, was a bit lost, even though we tried to translate as much as possible.

The view from our second-floor bedroom (our appartment occupied two floors) at sunset...

... and right before sunrise.

Inside, Monsieur had decorated with some pictures - nothing special, but I liked them.

I especially loved the big poppy on the wall in the upstairs bedroom. How could I not?

Long Stones

 

Today I take you to the menhirs of Brittany. "maen-hir" literally means "long stone" and refers to the large upright stones from the late Neolithic and (early) Bronze Age in Europe (c. 2800-1800 BC). However, recent research in Brittany suggests a far older origin. So much is still unknown about these long stones.

Brittany has the highest number of menhirs, about 50,000 examples. Yes, you read that right, fifty thousand. Some of them just stand nonchalantly by the side of the road like this one, Menhir de Lannoulouarn.

It looks small from the distance, but when you actually stand next to it, it looks so much taller. Kaefer is 163 cm (5'3") tall, but the menhir is thrice her size.

Like most of these ancient monoliths it was covered with lichen and there was a White-lipped snail clinging to it. I'm always surprised how these small creatures get to these places. Endurance I guess.

Here the menhir plays the fourth part in this family photo.

Some menhirs are a bit further away from those narrow country roads and require a short walk through the countryside.

What a lovely opportunity to look at the wildflowers in the autumn landscape. Red Campion (Silene Dioica) is such a beautiful blotch of color.

 The bees were still busy on the Common Hogweed (Heracleum Sphondylium).

You can already see the menhir.

Getting closer...

And here it is, the Menhir de Kerloas.

The Menhir de Kerloas was erected at this spot over 4000 years ago. With a height of 9.50 meters (c. 31 ft.) it is the tallest of any stone still standing. It has a circumference of 6.20 meters (c. 20.5 ft.)  and an estimated mass between 100 and 150 metric tons (100,000 and 150,000 kg; 220,462 and 330,693 lbs.). It had to be transported from the nearest quarry 3 km (1.8 miles) away. How did the people do it? The simple and very unsatisfactory answer is - we don't know.

It is also still a mystery what these menhirs were for. They were definitely cut to last and must have had a very specific symbolism. But which one?

Kaefer next to it, just for proportion.

The last menhirs I'm showing you today are the Menhirs de Kerfland which is actually a megalithic alignment. They are aligned almost perfectly along a north-northwest/south-southeast axis. They remind me of a group of old men.

Even though these menhirs were smaller than the other two in my post, they were still quite impressive.

The faces are for Nicole's Friday Face Off.

On a different note. We're having very typical Northern California weather right now. Last weekend was supposed to be the first warm weekend; instead it was chilly and miserable. Then we had two really warm days with temperatures in the 80s; now we're back to the upper 50s and "light rain" which turned out to be quite heavy. So I turned the chilly into Chili con carne which was delicious and accompanied by a very good Malbec from a local winery. Cheers!