Post by kasthor on Jul 23, 2007 4:02:59 GMT -5
My mom spent 2 weeks in the bay of St Brieuc and we decided to join for a long weekend.
We left Paris after work on thursday night and after 4hrs drive we got there, under the rain, how else!
Our friends own a wonderful 19th century farmhouse in the middle of nowhere and like most traditional families from the region the husband was a sailor and the wife would take care of kids, the house therefore is full of indications to where their heart lies.
The weather has been very changing, from wind to rain and sunshine but in the end you forgive Brittany for its very british climate, the landscape, the food make up for it!
On Friday we went to the market, of course to buy some fish and fishermens bread and start the day with an aperitif overlooking the sea,
coming home our host was waiting with one of her meals only she has the secret for, cold meats from the farm next door, the fishermens bread we brought and of course salty butter and a housemade quiche to start, fresh green peas and two hughe and wonderful chickens, not to mention the homemade fries following. I can't recall the desert, I must have skipped it... We left the table three hours later.
The afternoon weather promised to be rather nice so we decided to visit some castles, we started at the chateau de Bienassis a 15th century domain in which the original owners still live and in which the grandmother of our host used to cook, very interesting to see how tradional brittany is, mostly in the way that everbody knows everybody and they all have some kind of link to each other. Further to another chateau, the name I can't recall but this was more of fortified one which was mostly in ruins, C. had never seen medieval castles before so that part of the trip was for her.
On the drive home, we stopped at a 18th century farm that had been renovated in 1974 and where the visit explains how farmers in these days would run their homes, an old steam tractor some pigs and a german sheppard watching the cows and their little veal, cerise, born on July 7th '07.
Now back home, one needs to prepare the next 3 hour meal!
While we visited Bienassis, the man of the house went to buy some crabs for the evening meal, a little side story from this man, he is from an aristocratic family of brittany (he has the title of Baron) and is commander in the merchant navy (now retired), a sailor at heart, very interesting personality. So as a matter of fact he loves everything coming from the sea and knows how to cook it
Crab is not difficult though, 25 minutes in boiling water with some onions pepper salt and vinegar. Important the crab must be boiled alive! Tonight the meal was a mix of lots of little dishes one could pick and again I don't quite have the words to express how good and fresh everything was. Crab, Shrimps, homemade mayonnaise, some green beans with potatoes left over from lunch, cold meats and chicken. DInner started late so it's midnight and one must sleep, NOW.
Next morning started early because we wanted to do a sailboat excursion, we went but there were only 2 seats left for the four of us so we agreed I should go with my son while C and Mum would wave from the shore, as real sailors wives and mothers
To the history of the boat, it was a tradional fisherboat from the early 20th century that had been renovated by a non profitable organization who wanted to keep the tradition. It is made of (Oak? Chêne in french) wood and weights some 18T, has a total 100 sqm sails and is 9.5 m long. Our captain and his crew (one elderly man) took us on a three hour (had to come back before tide...) cruise at an average of 3.5 knots, the kids on board could hold the bar and we were served a 12.00 aperitif!
Back to the harbour were our wives and mothers were waiting, a second aperitif in the harbour of Dahouët and while the rain starts pouring we drive home for the next lunch!
I really can't remember what it was, I just remember leaving the table at 5pm and crashing into bed while outside it was raining even more and having a ... 3 hour nap...
Saturday night was the night we decided to cook the fish we had bought at the market on friday, it was a "barbue" it is a big flat fish that looks and tastes very much like turbot (sorry for the english names).
This has to be cooked entirely, just adding some onions, salt pepper, a tomato and white wine and in the oven for a good 40 minutes (it was a big fish!). With this some new potatoes from the farm where the chicken came from and a beurre blanc sauce.
Cold meats cheese and today we had a tarte tatin for desert, at 11.30pm despite the nap we had we crash into bed to wake up 9 am on sunday morning with the sunshine again!
Sunday was special, I had to bring my son to his next holiday destination so in the morning there wsa not much to do, we went to the beach had apperitif there bought some newspaper we enoyed reading on the promenade and back home for lunch, and, very important to our host (the man) and myself, the Formula 1 Europe Grand prix...
Today lunch were left overs the chicken (yes the two we bought were hughe but all natural) with some rice fired in a pan with peppers onions and some tomatoes, some cold meat and a salad, I had to eat light, I had to drive and a nap on the road was out of the question...
After that short interlude I come back and the sun was shining almost like it was July... so we decided to visit le Cap Frehel, a cape (how do you call that in english?) with a lighthouse at the end, the sight is amazing but... full of tourists.. So just before getting there we decide to turn left to the closeby Fort Lalatte.
Again a medieval castle built on the rocks and overlooking the bay, from there you could walk to the lighthouse, we strolled around but the big walk was 2 hrs round trip and it was already 5.30pm. just enough time though for an Icecream for the ladies and a beer for me and we drive back through the side roads (avoiding tourists coming back from the beach) and enjoying this truly marvelous part of France.
Aperitif in the garden on our return and it was almost time to leave, we had bought oysters for the occasion so we had a last feast of seafood and around 9.30 pm we drove back to Paris.
After 4 hours of sleep I'm now at work and it feels we've been away for 2 weeks, I can only recommend a visit in one of the many B&Bs there that are off the main roads (which btw how we met these people some 25 years ago) and you will enjoy the region far from the camping spots and crowded beaches.
And this is my little man:
We left Paris after work on thursday night and after 4hrs drive we got there, under the rain, how else!
Our friends own a wonderful 19th century farmhouse in the middle of nowhere and like most traditional families from the region the husband was a sailor and the wife would take care of kids, the house therefore is full of indications to where their heart lies.
The weather has been very changing, from wind to rain and sunshine but in the end you forgive Brittany for its very british climate, the landscape, the food make up for it!
On Friday we went to the market, of course to buy some fish and fishermens bread and start the day with an aperitif overlooking the sea,
coming home our host was waiting with one of her meals only she has the secret for, cold meats from the farm next door, the fishermens bread we brought and of course salty butter and a housemade quiche to start, fresh green peas and two hughe and wonderful chickens, not to mention the homemade fries following. I can't recall the desert, I must have skipped it... We left the table three hours later.
The afternoon weather promised to be rather nice so we decided to visit some castles, we started at the chateau de Bienassis a 15th century domain in which the original owners still live and in which the grandmother of our host used to cook, very interesting to see how tradional brittany is, mostly in the way that everbody knows everybody and they all have some kind of link to each other. Further to another chateau, the name I can't recall but this was more of fortified one which was mostly in ruins, C. had never seen medieval castles before so that part of the trip was for her.
On the drive home, we stopped at a 18th century farm that had been renovated in 1974 and where the visit explains how farmers in these days would run their homes, an old steam tractor some pigs and a german sheppard watching the cows and their little veal, cerise, born on July 7th '07.
Now back home, one needs to prepare the next 3 hour meal!
While we visited Bienassis, the man of the house went to buy some crabs for the evening meal, a little side story from this man, he is from an aristocratic family of brittany (he has the title of Baron) and is commander in the merchant navy (now retired), a sailor at heart, very interesting personality. So as a matter of fact he loves everything coming from the sea and knows how to cook it
Crab is not difficult though, 25 minutes in boiling water with some onions pepper salt and vinegar. Important the crab must be boiled alive! Tonight the meal was a mix of lots of little dishes one could pick and again I don't quite have the words to express how good and fresh everything was. Crab, Shrimps, homemade mayonnaise, some green beans with potatoes left over from lunch, cold meats and chicken. DInner started late so it's midnight and one must sleep, NOW.
Next morning started early because we wanted to do a sailboat excursion, we went but there were only 2 seats left for the four of us so we agreed I should go with my son while C and Mum would wave from the shore, as real sailors wives and mothers
To the history of the boat, it was a tradional fisherboat from the early 20th century that had been renovated by a non profitable organization who wanted to keep the tradition. It is made of (Oak? Chêne in french) wood and weights some 18T, has a total 100 sqm sails and is 9.5 m long. Our captain and his crew (one elderly man) took us on a three hour (had to come back before tide...) cruise at an average of 3.5 knots, the kids on board could hold the bar and we were served a 12.00 aperitif!
Back to the harbour were our wives and mothers were waiting, a second aperitif in the harbour of Dahouët and while the rain starts pouring we drive home for the next lunch!
I really can't remember what it was, I just remember leaving the table at 5pm and crashing into bed while outside it was raining even more and having a ... 3 hour nap...
Saturday night was the night we decided to cook the fish we had bought at the market on friday, it was a "barbue" it is a big flat fish that looks and tastes very much like turbot (sorry for the english names).
This has to be cooked entirely, just adding some onions, salt pepper, a tomato and white wine and in the oven for a good 40 minutes (it was a big fish!). With this some new potatoes from the farm where the chicken came from and a beurre blanc sauce.
Cold meats cheese and today we had a tarte tatin for desert, at 11.30pm despite the nap we had we crash into bed to wake up 9 am on sunday morning with the sunshine again!
Sunday was special, I had to bring my son to his next holiday destination so in the morning there wsa not much to do, we went to the beach had apperitif there bought some newspaper we enoyed reading on the promenade and back home for lunch, and, very important to our host (the man) and myself, the Formula 1 Europe Grand prix...
Today lunch were left overs the chicken (yes the two we bought were hughe but all natural) with some rice fired in a pan with peppers onions and some tomatoes, some cold meat and a salad, I had to eat light, I had to drive and a nap on the road was out of the question...
After that short interlude I come back and the sun was shining almost like it was July... so we decided to visit le Cap Frehel, a cape (how do you call that in english?) with a lighthouse at the end, the sight is amazing but... full of tourists.. So just before getting there we decide to turn left to the closeby Fort Lalatte.
Again a medieval castle built on the rocks and overlooking the bay, from there you could walk to the lighthouse, we strolled around but the big walk was 2 hrs round trip and it was already 5.30pm. just enough time though for an Icecream for the ladies and a beer for me and we drive back through the side roads (avoiding tourists coming back from the beach) and enjoying this truly marvelous part of France.
Aperitif in the garden on our return and it was almost time to leave, we had bought oysters for the occasion so we had a last feast of seafood and around 9.30 pm we drove back to Paris.
After 4 hours of sleep I'm now at work and it feels we've been away for 2 weeks, I can only recommend a visit in one of the many B&Bs there that are off the main roads (which btw how we met these people some 25 years ago) and you will enjoy the region far from the camping spots and crowded beaches.
And this is my little man: