My Brittany Vacation Near The Gulf Of Morbihan

[frenchmystiquetour]

Here is the first megalith we encountered. More like a minilith.



They are not always spectacular but even a small site like this can reveal something interesting. The stone pictured above is a large block of quartz. Quartz is a type of stone that has been assigned sacred properties in many ancient cultures. Probably it has something to do with its translucent quality and its symbolism could be interpreted as a light to guide one into the spirit world.

Continuing along.





The next site was a dolmen of the allée couverte type which has deteriorated over time and possibly as a result of human action.



Again, not much to look at but it did have 2 interesting characteristics. The first was the fact that the largest capstone was covered with what are known as cupules. Cupules are cup shaped depressions chiseled or pecked into the surface of stones. This type of feature is a global phenomenon and is often attributed to rites of fertility. Have a look.



The second interesting feature is that the chamber corridor has a northeast/southwest orientation, indicative of a possible alignment with the winter solstice sunset. Winter was often a time of feasts and festivals of the dead in ancient societies. It is common to find megaliths with some sort of alignment with celestial features, often associated with solstice and equinox events.

Time to walk back to the car.







And back to the road.



The final stop of the day was the Forêt de Brocéliande. Entering the domain there is a small village called Les Forges. It is a village where iron was forged from the 17th to the 20th centuries. It is open for visits and looked reasonably interesting if you are looking for something to do.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Moving further into the forest we arrived at the village of Paimpont. Since you know all about the history of Rochefort en Terre and Malestroit there is no need to tell you what happened in Paimpont, since it's more or less the same as those places. Let's just look, because that's really all I felt like doing.



Merlin greets all visitors entering this enchanted village.





The 13th century church and abbey.





Paimpont pretty much consists of about 3 streets so it doesn't take long to visit. We felt like exploring a bit of the Merlin legendry but still had to get to our hotel and eat dinner so there wasn't time for serious exploration. We looked at our map and decided the two places we would visit would be Merin's tomb and The Fountain of Youth. Here are some photos driving through this enchanted forest.





The forest did match the image I had in my head and looked like the kind of place where one might encounter an elf or a fairy.

If you are unfamiliar with the Arthurian legend there have been several thousands of pages written on the topic with several different variations. More than I care to recount or summarize here. We found the parking lot and followed the other tourists who seemed to be heading in the direction of the tomb and fountain. Here is Merlin's tomb.



Merlin's tomb is just the remains of a dolmen that was all but destroyed in the late 19th century by a landowner seeking mythical treasure. It only acquired the name Merlin's tomb in the early 19th century by a man who was convinced Merlin was an actual historic figure and likely an arch-druid.

Next we saw the Fountain of Youth....



….which was dry as a bone and more or less resembled a drainage culvert. I know a guy who might like to meditate here.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Time to go. Here are some views from the road.





We finally reached our fine lodging establishment where we could expect to pass the last night of our vacation in opulent luxury.



Our notion of opulent luxury is a room slightly larger than a closet that has a toilet, bed and shower. But at 49 euros for a double, including breakfast, it was an affordable place to crash for a few hours, which is all we were intending. Now it was time to find a restaurant. Let's look at some of the fine dining options we had at our disposal in the immediate environs of the hotel.



Quick Burger. A piece of grilled beef between two doughy buns. A tried and true formula but not exactly what I was in the mood for.




Buffalo Grill. More beef, less bun. Still didn't capture my imagination.



Well, they were trying to capture my imagination with images of paradise. But pizza isn't much more interesting than a hamburger.




Ooooh. That fancy cursive neon lettering indicates a place of status. I might need a reservation or have to know someone to get in here. Too classy for me.




The ''buffet à volonté'' at the Chinese restaurant for 14.90 euros! I think we have a winner. As I told you at the beginning of this report, if you are the owner of a restaurant offering an all you can eat buffet be prepared to lose money when I drop by. MM and I placed our orders and the dining commenced. Most of the dishes at the buffet cart were labelled but a few weren't so I decided to try some of the unusual looking long, thin, batter fried chicken strips, along with an assortment of my usual favorites. Frog legs taste better than you think, if you've never tried them. Which I never had, until tonight. I bet they didn't label those on purpose. I guess you can make anything taste good (or not) with enough batter and frying.

But the food was decent so, frog leg experience aside, we were once again pleasantly surprised by a less than appetizing looking restaurant exceeding our expectations. MM was starting to get hypnotized by my pendulum like motion back and forth between the buffet cart and our table. She began to get sleepy and decided to go back to the room and go to bed. I decided to stay and make the owner nervous.

At some point in the middle of my 7 course dessert I began to think about what a good vacation it had been. There were still places I didn't get to but I was pretty satisfied with what we did see. I wanted to go to Belle-Île and to visit La Gacilly, Redon, Pontivy, the old section of Auray, Pont- Aven and a few other small villages but there was no way we could have seen all these places given the limited amount of time we had. I'm sure the restaurant owner breathed a sigh of relief as I walked out the door and headed back to the hotel.

The only sad part of the vacation was that it was the last trip our little 1992 Renault 5 would ever make. After 18 years of faithful service she put all her remaining energy into this one last vacation adventure. She had taken us to most regions in France, except for the northern and eastern parts, never once complaining (but occasionally groaning). Often were the times she performed above and beyond the call of duty. I'll always have fond memories of those dirt and gravel roads meant for farm equipment that she navigated so skillfully on my megalith hunting excursions, bouncing through potholes or sinking up to the floorboard in country mud (France has the most deceiving mud). And all those arguments MM and I had about whose fault it was that we were lost. She knew our secrets. And so in tribute, I say to her as I say to you all, farewell.


(Renault 5, 1992-2010)

[PariS]

Bravo!!! I haven't had a chance to read all the commentary yet, but the pictures sure are great eye candy! Who can't love France after seeing your gorgeous pics?! Looks like a beautiful area to vacation. Sounds like you had a really nice time--I need to read the rest tonight. Thanks for taking the time to post.

[Darcy]

I am speechless! What an amazing report and great photos!

An exalt is coming your way!

[Shoesy]

You have captivated so much diverse beauty that you have left me yearning to visit Brittany. I am infatuated with the charm of those villages, and I am smitten by the colorful gifts of Mother Nature in that lovely region.
Thanks for a very enjoyable post. Please know that I appreciate your delightful humor as well as your pics.

[Jody]

Another great report. You certainly saw a lot more of Brittany than we did. We both loved Quimper and our stay in Questembert was excellent. I have to read your report more carefully, I really didn't know exactly what I was looking at when seeing all those prehistoric sites

[mossie]

Very interesting. I was aware that Cornwall and Brittany had close links, but never knew King Arthur and Merlin went to France as well.

[Anne]

Thank you for this great report. The first parts of it brought back sweet memories since we spent a two weeks vacation in Larmor Baden in 1998 and of course visited the île de Gavrinis. Yes, the Golfe du Morbihan is absolutely lovely, even though I must say that I prefer "roughest" Brittany like Western Finistère and Côtes d'Armor. Anyway, I remember that we also visited the small town Auray as well as the big town Vannes, both are well worth a visit if you go ever back to that area.

Er ... no, Brittany isn't the last region to have joined France in the 15th century, Alsace joined for the first time in the 17th century.

[frenchmystiquetour]

AnnetteC - Merci beaucoup. You always have nice things to say about my reports.

Darcy - You may be speechless but as you can tell by the length of my report I have plenty to say. I feel my karma rising as a result of your exalt.

Shoesy - What lovely compliments you give. Thank you for recognizing my attempt at injecting some humor into my writing. I'm never quite sure if it works.

Jody - Funny you mention Quimper and Questembert. I wanted to see Quimper but it was really just a tad further than we wanted to drive. I was trying to find ways to swing through Questembert on one of our day trips but it just didn't make it into the agenda. Is it a nice place? Let me know if you want to learn more about the dolmens and menhirs. But be careful, I can talk for hours about those things. Best that you have a pillow once I start talking about my stupid rocks.

mossie - The Arthurian legend is a cross channel story. Depending on which version of the story you believe and which author, the graves of Arthur and Merlin have several locations on each side of the channel.

Anne - Congratulations. You are the first person I know other than my wife who has been to Gavrinis. I too like the coastline in Finistère and the area around the Côte de Granit Rose but since I have a passion for megaliths it doesn't get much better than the Carnac region, except for The Great Cairn of Barnenez. I missed the old town section of Auray but I've been to Vannes several times before so didn't visit on this trip.

Brittany....Alsace.....um.....yeah....I just sorta made that up.

[Shoesy]

BTW, I forgot to mention that I am also infatuated with rocks, but my preference is the rocks displayed in the shop windows at Place Vendome. ;D

[frenchmystiquetour]

Shoesy - I like your style!

[sistereurope]

Wow, Brittany looks so great!! I can't stand it, too many wonderful places to visit (just in France!), not enough time...
Anyway, thanks for the fabulous pictures.

[holger]

Great pictures that just add to my excitement about the few days we will have in Brittany in September. Know we will just be scratching the surface during that time and may not get to see as much as I would like. But Carnac is on the list and probably Vannes and then Dinan and St. Malo for my husband--so we will see what else we can fit in.

Thanks.

[Jody]

Holger another town we enjoyed was Concarneau. Really lovely with open ramparts. We drove from Paris to Brittany then onto Normandy. Stayed in Le Vey and traveled out each day.In Brittany we stayed in Questembert

Here are a few pictures for you

www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharer

[frenchmystiquetour]

sistereurope - Brittany is as fabulous as the pictures make it look. But then again, so is all of France.

holger - It warms my heart to know that you will be seeing Carnac. Truly an awe inspiring and mysterious place. If you can find a way to swing through Rochefort en Terre on your way to Dinan I would highly suggest doing so.

Jody - I wanted to see Concarneau and Pont-Aven but didn't have time on this trip. Missed Questembert too even though we drove near there a few times. I tried clicking on your link but it wouldn't open. Maybe it's my computer.

[janetnj]

This report is incredible. I've got to get to Brittany.

Somehow I've missed of your trip reports for destinations outside of Paris. I'm looking forward to reading them all.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Thank you very much for the compliment janetnj. If your plan to go to Brittany comes to fruition and you need some tips feel free to direct your questions my way. I love Brittany and am always happy to share whatever knowledge I have of the region with others.