Brittany - Gouarec



We are home from our magical holiday in Brittany.



We stayed in the beautiful Breton house that my sister Pip and her partner Euros are renovating. Pip was with us for the first week which was great fun. That is Pip cutting the hedge.



My brother also lives in Brittany not far from Pip so we were able to visit him frequently and Neil spent a day helping him bring in the bales of hay to the barn (I on the otherhand enjoyed a peaceful walk to Bon Repos along the canal).





The house nestles within an acre of peaceful woodland and we were woken by the dawn chorus and the peck peck peck of a woodpecker.


Gouarec Wood is close to the house and we spent a hot afternoon walking through the wood and back along the path.


It was lovely to escape the heat of the day walking the dappled shade of the woodland.


The area is known for the hundreds of different species of moss and the ground and trees were carpeted by it.





My lasting memory of Brittany will be the beauty of the pockets of wild silent woodlands and forests that still survive from the Forest of Broceliande that once covered the central area of Brittany.


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Brittany - Bon Repos

The canal runs along the lower edge of Pip's garden woodland.



It is a beautiful walk of about 4 kilometres along the canal to the Abbey of Bon Repos.



The tow path is used by riders, cyclists, anglers and on this occasion by the lock there was also a small group of English ladies painting.






The ruined Abbey is in a beautiful setting surrounded by trees many with big bunches of mistletoe.


On one visit we sat at the picnic table on the opposite bank of the canal and enjoyed a leisurely lunch and wandered around.


On my secon visit, I walked to the Abbey, and relaxed for an hour in the small cafe by the lock and enjoyed an icy cold diet coke and an ice cream before walking the 4 kilometres back to the house.








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Brittany - Pointes Du Raz & du Van

Pointe du Raz was a very touristy place when we arrived but it had all the amenities, toilets, shops and cafes. I bought a book of Celtic Legends of Brittany and a few postcards of lighthouses.



The beautiful statue overlooking the point seemed to be for sailors lost at sea (we may be wrong on this as our French is not all that good).






Pointe du Van was beautiful and wild feeling. The ground was carpetted in heather and low growing gorse sprinkled with wild flowers.


We loved the quiet only broken by the singing of the crickets. We stopped now and again to try and see them but we never did.


Neil took a photograph of me trying to get Sasha to stand on the rocks. It was quite a precarious position and I could imagine her going for a tumble.





As we drove away from the car park Neil had to stop as a group of 4 baby weasels were crossing the road. They were all in a jumble and suddenly realised the car was there and made an about turn and a made dash back for the safety of the gorse.




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Brittany - Huelgoat

We parked beside the lake in Huelgoat, crossed the bridge and looked down upon Chaos.

We walked on through the tunnels and arches created by huge 100 tonne rocks and boulders of the Grotte du Diable. It was extraordinary with tree roots grasping hold of the boulders like huge hands.









After a while the Silver River returned to the surface and we walked along the rivers edge following the twists and curves of the sparkling brown water. It was beautiful and we could see dragon flies darting around.



We reached the road and walked along it until we found a signpost that showed where to find the Gouffre.



Here there was a huge rock overhanging the river, and the river swooshed down a fall into the rocks below and disappeared from sight underground.



We was an easy and attractive walk from here to the Mirror of the Faery, a serene and beautiful pool of water surrounded by moss covered granite boulders.


We sat here for a while musing on the magical atmosphere, watching a shoal of fish in the water, listening to the sound of the wind whispering through the treetops and watching the beautiful dragon flies flitting over the surface of the water, resting on the rocks and even on periodically on us.


On our way back to the road we were passed by a man rushing from the Gouffre to the pool, back again, up the steps and by the time we had reached the top of the steps he was slamming the door of his car and driving out of the car park, around the bend and he was gone. In such haste that he had completely missed the sense of calm, the beauty and the ethereal feeling of the place.






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Brittany - Arthurs Cave



It was quiet and cool in the cave and Neil sat for a while.


I wandered in, out and above taking photographs!
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Brittany - Locronan

An attractive town built mainly from granite. It was a very arty place with crafts people, artists and gift shops as well as cafes and creperies.



My sister Pip sitting beneath the wisteria!



The druids created large sacred areas called Nemeton. These represented on earth the movement of the stars in the sky. The Locronan Nemeton is the only one to still survive. This is thanks to the Irish missionary St Ronan who merely replaced the Druidic divinities with Christian saints.





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Brittany - Brehec & Minard Point

It was beautiful at Pointe de Minard.



The views in both directions of the rugged windswept coastlines were stunning.





Brehec was a pretty little village with a small harbour and a lovely flat beach.


We wandered along the beach to the rocks beyond and were rewarded when we realised they were the pink granite that this northern coastline is famed for.


We walked over them and sat for a while when I realised the tide had turned and we needed to head back before we were cut off from the village.








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Brittany - Ponthus



Awesome!


What can I say.


I loved this beautiful moss covered beech tree.
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Brittany - Josselin

We parked at the base of the castle walls and watched lizards darting in and out of gaps in the stones.



We visited a great doll museum where I really loved a pair of carved wooden dolls and adored the beautiful carved breton furniture.



It was a beautiful old town and we enjoyed wandering around the streets absorbing the atmosphere.





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Brittany - Beauport Abbey

I adored Beauport Abbey. It was a marvellous building even though much of it was in ruins.



The local rookery had moved out of the large trees around the abbey into holes in the walls which once upon a time would have supported roofs and floors.





The abbey was built in the Anglo-Norman style in the early 13th century and was an important centre of religion.


There were spectacular sea views through the windows.



As we walked around looking att he chapterhouse, cloisters, refectory, kitchen and store rooms I found my mind returning to Cadfael, Ellis Peters' wonderful creation.




To me the peaceful walled gardens draped in vines and other climbing plants, surrounding orchards, vegetable plots, paddocks for cattle and sheep and herb gardens. Around every corner I half expected to see Cadfael collecting his herbs to make his medicinal potions.


As soon as I was home, I found myself at the library borrowing a couple of audio books, Monks Hood and The Pilgrim of Hate!




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Brittany - Liscuis

There were 3 covered alleys (allees couvertes) which consist of several linked dolmens at Liscuis.



I particularly liked the wilder neolithic sites where the stones had become a part of their landscape.



Beautiful views of the Abbey Bon Repos in the distance.





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Brittany - The Valley of No Return






We spent a few hours walking around the Valley of No Return. Initially we walked up through the trees which allowed us an amazing view of the valley and the trees.


Legend has it that Morgan Le Fay cast a spell on the valley trapping unfaithful lovers within a wall of mist until they were set free by Lancelot ever faithful to Guinevere.


After an hour or so, Neil found a route down into the valley below, I let him make his way down first as it looked very steep but he waved to me that it was passable. As we reached the valley floor the walk changed as we returned following the meandering river to the beautiful lake, the Mirror of the Fairies.








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Brittany - Carnac
















Awesome number of standing stones placed in linear formations.

Some of the stones were huge, while others were only knee high.
















Photographs do not do these stones justice as it is hard to fathom the sheer scale of these stones as they stretch for over a kilometre.
















As we walked around the edges of the stones as you can no longer walk through them, we stopped at the farmhouse creperie for ice creams.
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