A Walled Town

 

If you thought that I would take you to Saint-Malo when I mentioned last time that I would write about a walled city, I'm sorry to disappoint you. While we did stop there, I wasn't a big fan of Saint-Malo - too busy, too touristy, too crowded, too large. The medieval Ville Close of Concarneau right at the Atlantic Ocean, on the other hand, was a very pleasant place to visit.

When we first arrived it was low tide and the water was far out. This gave us the opportunity to see the full structure of the enourmous walls and the bridges that lead to the Ville Close. This walled town is built on a long island in the center of the harbor which borders the more modern and bigger part of the city of Concarneau. The old town used to be a center of shipbuilding; nowadays it serves as a touristic center with lovely little shops and restaurants as well as an fishing museum. However, despite it being a tourist site, there were only very few souvenir shops. Even though it was a lovely day, there weren't that many people and we felt very comfortable.

You enter the walled town through the big gate and find yourself immediately in a little area where the flag of Ukraine flies right next to the one of the European Union.

The town within the walls is pretty densely built.

Every now and then there are small gates in the walls through which you can look at the harbor and over to the mordern part of the city.

We were looking for kouign amman (pronounced "queen ah-mon"), a traditional round Breton pastry with layers of butter and incorporated sugar. We bought a quarter wedge and shared among the three of us - it's probably the fattiest pastry I ever had in my life.

I noticed this little guy in a wall along the alleys - maybe a saint or a patron?

Windows, of course, and shutters.

After having walked the entire length of the island we decided to circle back along the massive walls that enclose the old town.

The walls are truly impressive!

Being an old enclosed town of course there were arrow slits in the walls and it was always interesting to look through them and see a very limited section of the world behind them.

I enjoyed the different views over the buildings and the roofs. I always find roofs very interesting - and photogenic.

The best part, of course, was my two lovely companions.

For Nicole's Friday Face Off

I have no idea what these strong metal rings were for, but I sure made good use of them with my camera.

When we left the tide had come in and we could see what the Ville Close looks like when the water surrounds it. It was very pretty.

My favorite girl - well, young woman. Not a girl anymore, although she will always be "my girl" even when she will be 50 years old and I'll have no more teeth...

Also for Nicole's Friday Face Off

What was she looking at? Probably at the colorful boats mooring near the waterfront.