Autumn in a Breton Village

 

In April I wrote about the tiny Breton village Meneham and its guardhouse. At that time I promised to come back and show its beautiful fall decoration that we saw during our visit in October of last year.

The Meneham site was originally a guardhouse, strategically located to protect the coastline of Northern Brittany. At the end of the 18th century, the militia occupying the site were replaced by customs officers. They were the first real inhabitants of Meneham and settled in the barracks with their families in the mid-19th century. Later, fishermen, seaweed growers and farmers moved in.

The village of Meneham is clocely linked with the history of fishing and the trade of seaweed harvesting in Brittany. Daily life, far away from any town or trading center, wasn't easy for the residents. Their tasks and chores included fishing, harvesting seaweed, drying and burning it in dedicated ovens, working the land, raising livestock and washing clothes.

But there were also Pagan festivals and their festivities - dancing, singing and laughter.

The village's history is also closely linked to the myth of the shipwreckers - for a long time, the inhabitants were considered to be wreck raiders who would cause shipwrecks on stormy nights. However, in reality, Pagan country is a land of sharing and mutual aid, where festive customs have endured.

We learned about all of this by going into some of the charming thatched cottages that were partly museum and partly little shops. Outside, we enjoyed the fall decorations throughout the tiny village.

Meneham also offers workshops and events throughout the year. We saw kids creating simple fall decorations and admired the beautiful and intricate works of lace.

It was a very relaxing autumn afternoon.

Staying with the autumn theme, last Saturday I cooked a autumn-like meal with roasted potatoes, butternut squash, eggplant, Mexican zucchini (from my garden) and bell pepper. 

With it we enjoyed a bottle of delicious Pinot Noir from one of our favorite wineries. We had bought the bottle when we visited there in September with our relatives from Germany. 

With this I join Bleubeard and Elizabeth for T Tuesday. Cheers!

Le Phare d'Eckmühl

 

When you're so close to the ocean like we were in Brittany, it is unavoidable to come upon a lighthouse. We visited the Phare d'Eckmühl, an active lighthouse in Penmarc'h in the Département Finistère. It is 213 feet (65 m) tall and thus one of the tallest lighthouses in the world. Constructed in 1897, the light was automated in 2007. Like so many lighthouses it has a Fresnel lens.

The lighthouse is open to the public and in order to reach the viewing platform you have to climb 307 steps - 227 stone steps followed by an iron staircase.

Entering the lighthouse, we were greeted by this view to the top:

It wasn't exactly encouraging and I wondered whether my knee would actually make it all the way. While Kaefer and the Geek sprinted to the top, I took my time, stopping every now and then at one of the many windows. Eventually I reached the top as well. While it was sunny, it was also pretty windy and quite chilly.

The view over the Atlantic was quite nice.

I watched the fisher boats for a while and the gulls that were following them in the hope of catching a fish.

The long shadow of the lighthouse onto the neighborhood was interesting - I always like shadows.

Finally, we went down again - my knees weren't too impressed with that! First view down:

It is a bit dizzying, to be honest. The look back up after the climb is much better, knowing that we had made it.

Spiral staircases are so fascinating.

We walked around the neighborhood a bit - I really liked how the lighthouse appeared with the sun behind it. Doesn't the cloud look like the lighthouse is fuming?

The beach was rocky and quite rough here, but the gulls sure loved it.

That afternoon we drove to Guilvinec where we stayed in an appartment right on the beach. We took a walk, looking for shells and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Now I need a face for Nicole's Friday Face Off - I give you two. The Geek and I participated in this year's Pride Parade in our town. We do this every year, but this year we thought it was particularly important for us to show support for the LGBTQ+ community. It was a very happy and joyful event. 

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.

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.