Obelix Would Have a Blast

 

Let's get back to the Alignements de Carnac. Last time we were there it was still foggy, but eventually the fog burnt off and the sky slowly turned blue. With that the atmosphere of this place changed as well.

We walked along the seemingly endless paths.

The standing stones were impressive. 

Do you see a face in this one?

 

One really wonders how the people were able to move these giants and then put them all in a row without our modern day tools.

The Geek and I were too slow for Kaefer, so she proceeded on her own (I suspect she wanted some time away from her annoying parents) and someone was kind to take our picture (this is for Nicole's Friday Face Off). We got rid of our jackets after the sun had come out.

The rocks were all different and had a lot of character I think. Please note the amount of lichen on many of them.

It was going on forever! Menhirs, menhirs, menhirs.

Obelix would have such a blast!

Who the heck is Obelix, you might wonder. Well, I'm glad you asked.

Our heroes Asterix and Obelix are the creations of René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, a French comic album series that almost every child (and adult) in Germany and pretty much all of Western Europe knows. In 50 BC all of Gaul is occupied by the Romans except for one tiny village (which looks like it is located in Bretagne) whose inhabitants fiercely resist the Roman legionaries. With the help of a magic potion brewed by their druid (called Miraculix in the German translation) which gives them temporary superhuman strength they can fight the Romans. Obelix, however, is not allowed to drink it since he fell into the pot of the potion as a child and has lifetime superstrenght. In the comic books you usually see him casually carrying large menhirs on his back or dead boars under his arm, the favorite food for their lavish victory parties. Their adventures lead them throughout the antique world. These comic books are some of the very rare ones that are used in German schools for instruction in French, Latin and Old Greek. In my school it was used in Latin in the 9th or 10th grade (I started to learn Latin in 8th grade).

No wonder that here where menhirs are available in abundance, you would find Asterix and Obelix souvenirs in the shops.

As I mentioned in my first post about the Alignements, there were also tumuli (individual tombs) and dolmens (collective tombs).

Slowly, the sun ws sinking toward the west...

... and painting warm colors onto the menhirs.

When the sun finally started to disappear, the true magic began.

I leave you with a few sunset pictures and hope that you will enjoy them.

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.

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!