Shrouded in Mist

 

Let's go back to Europe. When I last wrote about our fall trip we were on the beaches of Normandy. A day later we arrived in Dunkerque where we visited the Musée Dunkerque 1940 Opération Dynamo. It was heart wrenching. I didn't take any pictures here except of the numbers of allied troops evacuated and a model of the evacuation.

After that we left France and went to Brugge where we arrived in the late afternoon, when it was already starting to get dark. The entire day had been overcast and gloomy.

Brugge (West Flemish) or Bruges (French) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The two other regions are the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. And there are also two main lingusitic communities found in Belgium, the Dutch-speaking Flemish Community and the French-speaking French Community. There is also a small German-speaking Community. This alone shows the diversity of this relatively small country that is quite important within Europe - it is one of the founding members of the European Union with Brussles as its de facto capital.

We hadn't eaten anything all day (except for snacks in the car) and were now looking for a place to eat. Belgium is famous for its French fries, called frites. Kaefer was the one who had found a supposedly good place on the internet and we were now looking for it - it was across the building in the picture above.

The place was packed, but two young guys invited us to sit at their table. This was our first encounter with the friendliness of the Flemish people, and it wasn't the last. They are a very friendly people! I had my fries with seafood (fish, calamari, shrimp) accompanied by a Belgian beer. Both were delicious. 

This is for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday

After this very satisfying dinner we explored the city. The historic city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is criss-crossed with canals and therefore sometimes referred to as the "Venice of the North". It is definitely a very beautiful place. The foggy evening added to its magic.

There were gates and mysterious corners lit by street lights.

While we were walking along the canals and across bridges and courtyards we could hear the bells ringing - it sounded a bit like a Glockenspiel, but also was dissonant at times. I recorded it, if you like, you can listen to it.

This old bridge I found particularly beautiful. 

There were many more bridges because there was water everywhere.

The light was so magical! So were the reflections in the water.

The following four photos show my favorite part of the city. Look at the warm light and those fantastic reflections!

Where there is water, there are swans - we saw quite a bit of them! I was very happy to also find some crooked trees, an enigmatic silhouette against the illuminated sky.

If you wish you can do some great shopping in Brugge. There were many small shops and little restaurants and bars. We didn't see any chain stores, at least not in this part of the city.

Belgians are known for their excellent food, and especially for their sweet stuff. Macaroons...

... marzipan, nougat and chocolate...

... and, of course, beer. There's more to Belgian beer than just Stella Artois.

There were also a lot of places to eat. We could have eaten our way through to our hearts content.

The Provinciaal Hof (Provincial Palace) and Belfort at the Grote Markt (market square), beautifully illuminated.

Narrow alleys right out of some dark mystery novel (or movie) - let your imagination run wild with all the mist hanging over it.

On our way back to where we had parked the car we repeatedly saw more little corners and beautiful courtyards with a lone street light illuminating a dark corner with reflections in an artificial pond.

It was a bit of a challenge to get out through all these narrow streets - we had a moving truck blocking our way, but people were super nice directing us around it (it was just centimeters between our car and the truck) - did I mention that people here were super friendly? Then a draw bridge over one of the canals was drawn up and we had to wait until the boat was through and traffic could move again. Everybody was patient and quite stoic.

I would return in a heartbeat!

A Moody Rocky Morning

The most exciting site we visited in Bretagne was the Alignements de Carnac. They were so impressive that I am not able to limit them to just one blogpost. When we first got there the weather was anything but friendly and therefore we experienced a very moody atmosphere. Later in the day it became sunny and the whole area completely changed and became more cheerful. Finally at sunset, the atmosphere changed yet again.

Before we even got there, we had to trundle behind this vehicle, probably transporting manure. It was very slow and on these narrow country roads there really is no way to pass it. Luckily, it eventually turned off in one of the tiny hamlets along the way.

While driving to the parking lot, we already got a good view of the Alignements by passing along a good chunk of them. Just watching from the car the size of these fields of menhirs were impressive.

We paid the parking fee and crossed the street to walk among the menhirs in the long stretching fields.

The Alignements de Carnac are actually four megalithic sites (Kermario, Ménec, Kerlescan and Petit Ménec) that are made up of menhirs and megalithic enclosures like tumuli (individual tombs) and dolmens (collective tombs), stretching over more than four kilometers (approx. 2.5 miles). They were erected around 4,500 BC and are the most famous megalithic site in France. There are nearly 3,000 standing stones. The Alignements became historic monuments in 1889 and they might be considered for the UNESCO World Heritage status in the cultural category.

The birds sure liked this location.

Wandering around these stones - some of them enormous - on this moody morning had something magical and mysterious. Tell me why I had to think of Tolkien's "Not all those who wander are lost"?

There were a few farm buildings in the fields and we passed by a small herd of sheep contently ruminating their breakfast.

Rows upon rows of menhirs, with all of them oriented in the same way, their short side in the axis of the row. These alignements are oriented in a general southwest/northeast direction, with the largest menhirs (more than 3 meters) located on the high points and the smallest (less than .90 meters) in the lowest areas. All the menhirs are made of granite blocks from the local area. How did the people of that time do that? How were they able to move these huge blocks of granite? What was the purpose of these stones? There are still too many questions that are waiting for answers.

So for now we can just use our imagination. Druids come to mind, but thanks to Tolkien I'm thinking of elves and dwarves. I wouldn't have been particularly surprised if Galadriel had appeared behind one of those standing stones, saying "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Tonight you shall sleep in peace." - even though in my imagination Lothlórien doesn't look at all like Carnac.  

Among the stones there was so much to discover as well. 

Eventually the fog burnt off and the sun took away most of the mystery and magic. That didn't make it less fascinating. More later.