Tuesday, June 21 - Conquering Carnac and Fête de Musique

 This is a little out of order, but I'm excited to show Evie the 4th dolmen that we couldn't find the other day. So I'll tell that story first. As you can likely guess, we were in Carnac again today (our third day here, it never gets old). We went to the Dolmens of Mané Kerioned to show them to Dan and Paulette. 

Dan & Pauleltte entering the dolmen of Mané Kerioned

carvings on one of the walls of the dolmen

It's a long dolmen

 But, of course, the 4th dolmen wasn't anywhere near these. Papa looked on his hiking app and decided we needed to look across the highway. First we went into a road on the right that said Parking just before the bowling alley but that only went to the parking lot for the bowling alley. Duh. 

Dan, Paulette, and Dave discover that this road doesn't lead to a dolmen, only to the bowling alley.

But then Papa said we needed to walk past the bowling alley a little ways and turn left on a path that went through a horse farm. And then  all of a sudden, we saw it. It's a good one. We took lots of photos of it for you. Its name is Dolmen de Keriaval. 

Dolmen de Keriaval is really big.

This is the large chamber at the end.

This dolmen has a central corridor with a room on either side and a large room at the end.

Papa trying to figure out the layout of the dolmen.

Before all that excitement, we had stopped near Erdeven north of Carnac to see the Alignment de Kerzerhol (By the way, I learned today that Ker is the Breton word for little village. Were there perhaps little villages in all these places?). This alignment is not fenced off so you can wander among the 1000 stones however you'd like to go. 

Dave, Dan, and Paulette studying the lines of menhirs (standing stones).

There are several rows of stones in this alignment.

looking along one of the rows. These stones are quite large.

You can see that the stones go right up to this person's house.

There are more than 1000 stones in this alignment.

At the end of the alignment, there was a class studying among the standing stones. I'll bet they were studying archeology. 

a class discussion amongst the menhirs

We also followed a path off to the left side that led us along a tree-shaded path to more menhirs and then to another dolmen. That was a cool discovery we weren't looking for. 

These menhirs were ginormous

Dave and Paulette standing next to a ginormous menhir. It must have been 12 feet tall or more.

Finally, we made our way to Carnac where we parked in our usual lot by the Maison des Megalithes. We first ate our lunch at one of the picnic tables on the side of this visitor center, then spent a bit of time inside looking at a photo exhibition and watching an introductory film about Carnac. The experts on this video also didn't know what was meant by these stones, but are leaning toward an interpretation that the alignments of Carnac were some sort of border - perhaps physical, but perhaps spiritual such as a border between life and death. But their meaning remains a mystery.

We walked the paths again and stopped again for an ice cream and a beer. (Guess who had what?) 

Our rest stop - Dan, Paulette, Lynn

The hydrangea are in full bloom and the bushes are covered in flowers.

Pretty flowers on the house where we had ice cream

I continue to be in awe of that place. It doesn't speak to me spiritually, as in giving me anything from the stones, but I feel a connection to the humans who erected this monument. I'm awed by their skill and  the cohesiveness of their society. 

Dave had one more stop and we had about 45 minutes left before we needed to return to home base. So we drove to a tumulus near a château. We saw the tumulus (which you could enter) but not the château which was hidden behind trees and walls. 

We were home by 4:30 with time for apéros while the charcoal heated up. We could have stopped with apéros, but we had committed to bruschettes of chicken with some sort of yummy marinade on them. And the ratatouille made another appearance. 

But the day wasn't over. Today is June 21 and it's Fête de Musique in France. It's a national party for music held every June 21st. But it's only in the evening. We decided to go to Vannes because they had given their venues themes. The ones we were interested in were the music of Brittany and Sea chanties. I had read that the music was from 7 pm to midnight. So off we went to the Place de Bretagne to hear traditional Breton music. We parked for free in a ramp without an elevator. How odd. I had to scooter out the exit ramp. The free was because it's Fête de Musique. The Place de Bretagne is in modern Vannes in front of the Theater and Arts building. 

The Theater and Arts building on Place de Bretagne. Beer tent on left and stage tucked under the building arcade.

As we arrived, we heard Breton music, but there was no one around. The drinks booth, sound booth and stage were set up. The music we heard was one of the bands warming up and doing a sound check. Then they packed up and left. Hmmm. 

We were expecting a concert to start.

The Breton band warming up.

Oh, and it started to sprinkle. We took cover under the overhang of the building and planned what to do next. Dave suggested we go into the old town to see what was going on there. The sprinkles stopped, so we headed out. 

Oh, and did I mention we were carrying rather large but foldable lawn chairs? And I should also mention that we were the only ones carrying chairs or sitting in chairs anywhere. Apparently the French just stand to watch music performances at festivals. How odd. But then the French were probably saying to themselves, "Look at those odd people carrying beach chairs." 

We made our way to the Hotel de Ville where a group from Questembert was singing sea chanties. Our second choice of music. So we parked ourselves in our lawn chairs and listened to their enthusiastic and crowd-engaging  singing until they took a break. 

This man was a really enthusiastic singer, very animated.

This group was called Les Bateliers de Célac. I bought a CD of their songs.

The square in front of the Hotel de Ville. (The mayor's office)

The group included musicians playing banjo, accordion, harmonica, and guitar

By now it was 8:45, so we headed back to the Breton music stage where the party was in full swing. The whole crowd (all adults) were dancing traditional dances most of which involved holding hands by the pinky finger and moving in a line or circle, always moving to the left. 

line dance

The music was lively and the instruments interesting - bagpipe, accordian, guitar, clarinet, some sort of recorder that may have been a Breton instrument called a bombard, and a keyboard. 

line dances

We set up our chairs near the band at the very edge of the plaza. But even then, the backs of the circles of dancers often came within inches of our toes. We watched as people shed their jackets, hanging them on the sides of the stage. One lady even had Paulette keep her sweater on the back of her chair for her. I found it fascinating watching the audience/dancers seamlessly form lines and circles as the dances changed. The steps were similar from one dance to another but with hops or taps added depending on the beat of the music. Often the lines would dissolve into couples dancing side by side in counterclockwise circles. Occasionally, a dance called the mazurka was called and couples danced freely to what looked a bit like a polka (but the beat is different). 

Dancing a mazurka.

In fact, I mentioned several times that this could have been a Wisconsin wedding when I was growing up, except the music was German inspired. We stayed until the band left the stage to prepare for another band to play. By now it was after 10:00. Time to go home. 

Once again, it was a day full of discoveries and surprises. We saw things at Carnac we hadn't seen in previous visits while connecting them to what we already knew about Carnac. The evening music taught us about the joy Bretons take in their music and how ubiquitous it must be in their lives. We did notice that the young people were not at the Breton music but were all headed to the rock, jazz, blues, and modern pop music that was playing in bars and streets in the old town. Some things are the same in any culture. 

Wednesday, June 22, 2022 - Concarneau Encore

Dan and Paulette wanted to visit Concarneau and we were happy with that choice. 

Concarneau Ville Close - the scaffolding is now taken down from the drawbridge entrance to the fortress.

The fortress was built on its own little island just a few meters from the mainland. It remains a formidable medieval fortress from the outside, but the inside is a tourist district of shops and restaurants. Only the inside ramparts remind you of its defensive purpose now. But it is perfect for us because both Paulette and I are looking for gifts for the grandchildren so window shopping is welcome today. (PS we might have found some things.)

Since we were all a bit tired from last night's Fête de Musique, we didn't leave the house until 10:30, arriving in Concarneau at 11:45. We parked in the same lot as before just a block from the fortress (Ville Close). It's busy on the streets, but less busy than the last time we were here which makes strolling the town very pleasant. 

inside a  spice shop

the main street is busy, but not crowded

For a break we exited the Port du Vin to look at the boats in the harbor. We lingered awhile with no other people on the walk outside the fortress. 

Looking out the Port du Vin. After a quick look, most people return to the inside shopping area.

A cormorant sitting inside a dinghy in the harbor. Waiting for a ride, buddy?

Along the walls of the outside of the fortress that faces the channel to the sea.

Looking at the pleasure harbor

We continued to the amphitheater where we found a shady bench to eat our lunch while watching children run around the stage in impromptu dance routines. 

Hydrangea blooming against the fortress walls

Our lunch spot in the amphitheater

Dave, Dan, and Paulette climbed the stairs to the ramparts to look over the wall at the channel out to the sea. 

The channel between the fort and Concarneau

Where Dave was standing on the ramparts to take the photos. 

the amphitheater where we ate lunch with the church of the Ville Close in background and ramparts on the right.

We also spent a few minutes watching the ferry from across the channel load and unload passengers then finished our shopping tour of the streets of the Ville Close. 

looking back from the ferry dock to the fortress entrance gate

The ferry is arriving. It costs 1 Euro and takes about 1 minute to cross the channel. 

We had time for one more adventure before leaving Concarneau, so headed to a ruined fort called Le Cabellou on a point of land across the fishing harbor from the Ville Close fortress. 

Paulette on the rocks at the edge of the fortress Le Cabellou

By now the sun has been clouded over and there's not a clear view of Ville Close even though it's only a few hundred meters across the harbor from us. 

Dan with Concarneau behind him - very hazy.

Le Cabellou is in ruins and has been for hundreds of years, but you can see how it would provide early warning of attack from the open sea. It perches on a rocky promontory sticking out into the sea. Only a guard house is left of the original fort. 

Dan and Paulette looking at the guard house

There is a reminder of WWII left in the center of this ruin - a German pillbox, an artificial rock made of cement that provided protection for German artillery pointed toward the English coast. It is now mostly overgrown with vegetation and the remaining side is covered with graffiti which I found amusing and artistic. 

Seagull on left says: "Isn't Brittany beautiful, guys?" The others answer: "Yes! We're moving in tomorrow."

The end of the German WWII pillbox (made of cement)

This side of the pillbox faces the sea and had an opening for large caliber guns. 

There is no more dawdling in Concarneau as we have dinner reservations for 7 pm tonight. The only adventure on the drive home was finding an "aire de service" (what we would call a rest stop) along the highway to buy some more AdBlue, the liquid chemical we add to the exhaust system that lowers diesel pollution (changes nitrous oxide into nitrogen and oxygen, I think). 

There's a blue tank next to the diesel tank on the car

You pour this stuff (5 liters at a time for us) in the AdBlue Tank. 

The drive to the restaurant is only 10 minutes through back roads that take us alongside farms and pastures. Then suddenly, we are on a spit of land that sticks out into estuary of the Rohu River and at the very tip is Dave's new favorite restaurant, La Cabine des Huitres (the Oyster Shack). This is where he had a memorable seafood dinner a couple weeks ago and he's happy to bring Dan and Paulette back for another meal. I'm a bit concerned because rain is forecast and it feels like rain and the seating is outside. I'm relieved to see that we will be seated under a large tent. 

Tonight's special included a half lobster for 19 Euros which is what Paulette and I ordered. The boys ordered the seafood platter for 25 Euros. We drank champagne with dinner and it was just right. It did rain, but we kept dry except for one windy gust which dumped water into Dan's chair. 

We look all bundled up, but it wasn't that cold. A bit damp was all.

Our meals were messy and slow to eat, but the camaraderie around the table made the meal seem to go all too fast. Toward the end we watched the oyster tour boat, Aux Rhythmes des Marées, come in with a group of people who decided to have drinks before leaving. The restaurant quickly put up a large market umbrella and uncovered a table with a fire pit in the middle of it. People were soon warmed by the fire under the dry space created by the umbrella. How clever. 

By the time we left, it had stopped raining. We have been so lucky this way. If it rains during the day, it always seems to rain when we are somewhere inside and dry. It's been quite amazing and surprising. Of course, we are on the coast and coastal weather is always very localized, raining in spots, sunny in others, and all things in-between. 

We had bread pudding and ice cream for dessert and talked for awhile before heading to bed. Dan and Paulette must pack and leave in the morning and we are sad to see them go. We've had some really fun adventures with them the past couple of days.