Au Revoir Paris

These guys do an awesome job. There were 2 more behind us at the check in line. They appear, and then disappear but they are all over Paris. Standing in quiet corners and ready for anything.

#dontwannaleave

Picnic in the park.

A nice park only a block away from our apartment.
Evening picnic. Brie from Mauxe Champaign from Aye. Bread from the Boulanger in the shop next door to us. Strawberries from Belgium. (Very sweet and almost local).
Sun not setting till 10pm. So sitting in the park in the late light is nice.

Monday afternoon stroll.

Just a pleasant early afternoon stroll (again) by the river.

Sometimes we get lucky.

3 things we are always looking for in a new town.
1 Free carpark
2 toilettes
3 ATM

In Provins we got all three at once. Next to the carpark was an authentic mediaeval auto bank with attached toilet. Those mediaeval guys were clever.

Côte de granit rose

Rose granite glows along a 30 km stretch of Bretagne coast. Unusual rock formations and pink sand. We will return here.

Cairn Gravinis

6000 year old tomb. No photos allowed inside. Nice carvings on rocks inside.

Town of Fougères.

Rain had set in. Spectacular tide had done it's thing. The big buses had all arrived in town so we headed away to the town of Fougères for the afternoon. Being a Monday everything in town was closed. (Except for the creperie selling crepes normande)
We spent the afternoon wondering around what is claimed to be the best preserved (not restored) mediaeval fort and town in France.
Beautiful. Even down to the backyard gardens that reminded me of Pop. All for the price of a crepe normande.

The Allied bombings spared most of this town fortunately.

Beautiful fortress (to keep the English out). The whole town is in very good repair. It's a living town. Not the standard tourist trap.

How to spot a local.

They are the ones not dressed in traditional Bretagne costume like these guys.

M had to request a room far far away from this lot. 

This stuff is for sale at the petrol station. Next to the engine oil and beer. No. We did not purchase.

Bretagne.

Fromage cidre et huîtres

Yum

The Bretagne people have their own language, as do the Catalan and Basque.  Unlike the Basque and Catalan however, the signposts are in French and Bretagne, as are the descriptions in supermarket aisles. The black and white flag of Bretagne flies everywhere. You can spot the locals because they are the ones not wearing "traditional" blue and white striped tops which can be purchased at every bistro and cafe selling postcards.

A very proud and old culture. Music and artwork has alot in common with northern Ireland and north Scotland.

Celtic and then alot older again.

Think of the culture of Morgaine before King Arthur's mob almost destroyed it.

Standing stones (menhirs) massive alignments of stones, dolmens (burial chambers) in the forest on morning run.  Monumental tombs and exquisite rock carvings. All from a very large and wealthy trading civilization dating back to 6000 BC. (3000 years before the pyramids)

If you google
"Carnac alignments"
"Cairn Gavrinis"
"Le Petit Mont Arzon"

You will begin to get an idea of what this part of the world is all about. (Apart from beaches, forest walks, sailing, fishing, lobsters, prawns, shellfish of every kind, cheese, cider, and preserved meats.)

Some photos follow.

Dolmen or burial chamber on a headland. Marked on the map. Gets lots of visits.

Menhir. The carnac alignments. These stretch for kilometres and are very impressive. Why are they there? In the words of one of our (better) guides, "my whole tour can be summarised by "we just don't know".

Another view of carnac alignments. 

We ran past this gatehouse every morning whilst we stayed in Bardon. (Access to Gavrinis). As pretty as it is, (and the oysters were delicious), in the forest behind on a little used track is another dolman.

Dolman hiding away on the track in the forest. Neolithic remnants are all around us here. (And it's all free)