Brittany Vacation in The Gulf of Morbihan

[French Mystique Tours]

I like rocks. I like really big rocks. Maybe this is due to the fact that I am a stone mason (or vice versa) but more likely I have inherited a caveman gene. Just ask my wife. Brittany has lots of rocks. Really big rocks. Cavemen built really neat stuff with these big rocks that we call megaliths. Well, okay, it was the people after cavemen who built megaliths but they must have descended from cavemen. The point is, Brittany rocks! At least it rocks me and that's why it's probably my favorite region in France. If there's anything I love as much as rocks it's being cheap. And when you happen to live in the country in which you vacation (and where you are currently underemployed and have large amounts of free time on your hands) you can take advantage of last minute travel deals. Much like the ''buffet à volonté'' (all you can eat buffet) will always lose in a battle with my appetite so too will the landlord with the unrented apartment 2 days before a Saturday in high tourist season. I hate a vacation with rain so I was watching the extended forecast to pick the right week and the Saturday starting the 24th of July looked pretty good for the region in Brittany where I wanted to go. Weather looks good, now it's time to find that desperate landlord. Mrs. Mystique (MM hereafter) undertook the task of finding the desperate landlord and using the same 2 websites we always use we found some prospects.

Now if you do last minute apartment searches in high season most of the best stuff is gone but you usually find discounts of up to 20% on what is available and there are always those few overlooked little gold nuggets. Like the kind of place where the pictures make it look ticky tacky and it actually looks beter in person because the person taking the pictures focused on that portrait of the sad faced clown above the sofa and their ''custom'' paint job in baby blue and pink with the wallpaper wainscotting featuring little lambs floating on clouds, in which they take great personal satisfaction. We found just such a place.

Our landlord definitely will never earn a living as a professional photographer, or interior decorator. But his apartment was only 2 blocks from the beach in Carnac Plage (town of Carnac), which is a highly desirable location in the Gulf of Morbihan region in Brittany and at 368 euros a week (20% discount over the normal high season rate) we had ourselves a real steal. Really, before I get on with the vacation pictures I'll tell you what we got. It was a 1 bedroom but the bedroom was tiny with only a bunk bed good for 2 single people. The double bed was tucked in a little nook in the back of the studio portion of the other room with no space for anything but the bed. Like a little cubby hole in a college apartment. But it had a balcony, the bathroom (with shower only) was decent and so was the kitchen/living&dining room. No washing machine, oven or internet but that was fine for us. We were right across the street from the Super U supermarket where there was also a gas station, laundromat and bank machine. With a wonderful sandy beach within 2 blocks, a supermarket across the street and all kinds of restaurants, stores and touristy attractions in the shopping/tourist district just a 10 minute walk away we were in business. In real estate it's all about location and we definitely had that.

Apartment secured and weather scouted it was now time to avoid the vacation traffic in getting to where we were going. We left at 6:30 in the morning and since it's a long drive from Paris to Carnac we decided to break up the drive with a stop in Fougères. It was quicker to get there on the autoroute but if we took the smaller national road it was only 1 hour longer and there were no tolls, saving us about 35 euros each way. We took the N12 if you are planning a trip to Fougères from Paris and it took us a little over 4 hours including a stop for gas and another for a bathroom break. The country scenery along the way is actually quite nice and better the closer you get to Fougères. Of course since you are on a main road there is lots of commercial development along the road itself but you can see the pretty countryside just off the main road.

Fougères sits on the eastern border of the Brittany region and is most famous for its medieval fortress, one of the largest in Europe. It's just under a 1 hour drive from Mont Saint Michel if you happen to be visiting the Mont or are in that region and are looking for something to do.

The weather to start the day was gray and occasionally drizzly so the pictures may seem a bit drab, especially when combined with the grey and brownish granite stone buildings which are a characteristic of Breton architecture. The town has 2 sections with the ''new town'' (not really so new), or La Ville Haute (high village), on a hill overlooking the medieval town and fortress below. We parked in between the 2 villages and headed for the new town to have a look around and find the tourist office so I could get a map. I was a real estate appraiser for 20 years and a geography major in college so I am slightly map obsessed. Plus, I just like to know where I am and where I'm going so the first thing I do when I arrive in any new town/city is head for the tourist office and get a map (almost always free). Plus there's always lots of other helpful information in the tourist offices with tips on what to see and do.

Before I post any pictures I must apologize for the bland quality. I had forgotten to bring my computer to download photos and as a result had to set my digital camera to the lowest resolution in order to conserve storage capacity.

We arrived on market day and walked down the main street, Rue Nationale.





A series of fires destroyed much of the upper town in the 18th century and the buildings were rebuilt in stone and were mostly occupied by nobles. It used to be full of arcaded, half-timbered buildings like the one you see on the left.

This a photo of the belfry. For all you belfrey trivia fanatics, it dates from 1397 and is the oldest belfrey in Brittany.



Here's the church.



And next to the church you overlook some pretty gardens and the old town and fortress below.



You walk down a series of windy paths and arrive at the old town.



One of the buildings in the picture below had a crêperie with Routard recommendations for each of the past 4 or 5 years. We tried to eat here at lunch time but it was booked with reservations.



Fougères suffered its share of bombing and destruction during WWII. If you look at the building in the foreground on the right you will notice how the ground floor and upper floor are incongruous. Many of the old buildings had stone built ground floors with upper floors in wood frame. Many of the upper stories of buildings were burnt out during the bombing and ensuing fires, if the building wasn't completely destroyed.

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Hiking up a little trail from the old town you get a nice view of the old and new towns.



Here is a portion of the fortress wall and moat. I was disappointed not to see the moat filled with sharks, piranhas and alligators.



Cool rock.





As we were walking around the fortress we suddenly heard the sounds of a Breton bagad practicing. A bagad is essentially a Breton bagpipe band and I find the music quite awesome. I made a little video for you.

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Next we went inside the fortress.



The inside of the the castle is mostly empty stone rooms so to compensate for the lack of visual stimulation there are a series of graphic displays projected onto walls and accompanied by music and commentary detailing the history of the fortress from the years 1000 to 1500. The graphics were quite brilliant and beautiful. There were also interactive quizzes for children (adults too) to learn about medieval fortresses which were quite cool.







Here's the little square where we had lunch at a crêperie, right across from the castle's entrance. Definitely the opposite of ''off the beaten path'' but the crêpes and cider happened to be surprisingly good despite the establishment's touristy location.



Here's our lunch time view.



I had a galette with scallops braised in cognac, smoked salmon and a chive cream sauce. As Rachel Ray would say, DELISH!

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My wife and I have a friend from Fougères who recommended we eat in the restaurant in this building called ''les vins et une fourchette'' but it was closed, unfortunately.



Finished up in Fougères and hit the road for Carnac. From here we could take the autoroute since there are no tolls on the autoroutes in Brittany, a sign of Breton independence and refusal to be completely assimilated into France. Of the various regions that were eventually incorporated into present day France, Brittany was the last in the 15th century. Other regions fell away for periods after this time but up until the 15th century every other region of modern France had at one time or another been under the control of the French crown.

We arrived in Carnac in the early evening and I decided to take a walk to the touristy area to gawk at touristy attractions and tourists, who in turn were probably there to gawk at me.



It was full of all the attractions you would expect in a popular beachside resort, from cheap souvenir stores and arcade games and fun fairs for kids to flashy designer stores. Of course, what tourist district would be complete without a store selling crappy ethnic art.


(Hmmm. That plastic Buddha bust sure would look sweet on my coffee table.)

A closer look at this fine assemblage of household decor.



The car pictured below is a common site at any beachside resort in France.



The first time I saw this type of car was on the French television series ''Sous le Soleil''. It's a series about three lovely young ladies (usually wearing nothing more than napkins) struggling to make it as barmaids at a popular resort in St. Tropez. They usually date losers who turn out to be drug dealers (they can never figure out why the guy has so much money despite the fact that he never works). Highly intellectual stuff. My favorit part of the show is the theme song, which I often sing in my head. If you call me on the phone I will sing it to you. Where I am lacking in vocal tonality I compensate with vocal loudness. Perhaps this is why in 4th grade after my singing audition for the part of Muskie the Muskrat in the play Emmet Otter's Jug Band I was told I was going to play the kazoo. I'm still getting over the humiliation.

The next day was going to be my first full day in the area and I wanted to see one of my favorite attractions in Brittany, and that is the megalithic sites. A megalith is a large dry stone construction built during the neolithic period, from approximately 5,000BC+- to 2,000BC+-. They come in two basic types called dolmens and menhirs. Each of these types has several subcategories, which I won't elaborate on here. A dolmen is a funerary monument consisting of vertical slabs (walls) and topped with other horizontal slabs of stone (roof/ceiling). Inside there could be anywhere from one to a number of burials. A menhir is a standing stone. There is no widely accepted archaeological opinion as to precisely what purpose this feature served, although there are a number of theories.

Brittany has the highest concentration of megalithic features in the world. If you have a Michelin map you will note in your map legend that they have assigned a symbol to megalithic sites. They can be found in most areas in France so check your Michelin map the next time you are vacationing here. MM and I are certified “megalith hunters”. Whenever we travel in France if we happen to be in the vicinity of a megalith we usually try to hunt it down.

Our goal for today was to see the Cairn of Gavrinis (I'll explain shortly), situated on a small island in the Gulf of Morbihan. The ferry left from Larmor Baden but on the way there, taking the D101 from the N165, I noticed a megalith icon on the map near the town of Bono. It was a site known as The Tumulus of Kernours. A tumulus is a type of dolmen that has been covered with a large mound of earth.

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If you are looking for the best places to see and things to do on your vacation just follow the Germans. Since they are so well prepared and organized they know where all the quiet places and off the beaten path sites are. The group above had come equipped with flashlights suitable for viewing inside a dolmen. You should bring flashlights too if you want to visit dolmens since the covered ones are dark inside but even more so because occasionally there is artwork engraved on the stones that you would miss otherwise.



There were other features at this site that indicated it was once an important funerary/ceremonial complex, such as raised mounds and other scattered lithic debris. It was also located in a lovely natural setting with a nice view.



On the way to Larmor Baden we noticed a church marked on the map in the town of Bono and decided to have a look.



I don't know how to define what are the characteristics of a Breton church but they all sort of resembled this one. One identifying trait is that the ceilings are often barrel vaulted and wooden, like the hull of a ship, and indicative of the regional maritime heritage.

I liked the stain glass windows in this church. They weren't made from ordinary glass panes but rather that thick glass that people use to let in light but obscure the view.



We headed for Larmor Baden and looked for a place to eat. The only place near the harbor where the ferry departed from was a crêperie. Since it was the only place around to get something to eat it was made for tourists, so we took our seats like the tourists we were. I had another galette. Better than the one I had in Fougères but the cider wasn't as good. Still decent though.

It was here I got a chance to study something I find fascinating that seems to manifest itself in non-English speaking countries. It's the phenomenon of the shirt with English words that have no contextual meaning and which are often misspelled. Example, the other day I was walking down the street and I saw I guy with the word ''Energe'' on his t-shirt. I think he meant ''Energy'', but still, so what?

Our waiter was the proud bearer of just such a t-shirt. His said:

Downtown Department
Industrie Ltd.
73496 Co.
Authentic and Original

I like how his shirt used the French spelling of industry. That's a nice touch. Then MM whispers to me that I need to discreetly turn around and check out the shirt on the guy behind me. His said 'University of Superdry'. Well, maybe that's some sort of special laundry college. I googled this one when I got home and found out that Superdry is a British clothing line that has a connection with Japan or Japanese culture. I'm not sure what the connection is. Still doesn't make sense. I've never seen University of Calvin Klein on a t-shirt.

Galettes finished and grammar lesson completed we decided to take a little stroll along the coastline near the harbor before the ferry departed. Another thing I love about Brittany is the coastline. It's so distinctive and beautiful but pictures will describe it better than I can with words.

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The Gulf of Morbihan has the second strongest tidal current in Europe. If you've seen the low tides at Mont Saint Michel it's the same effect in the gulf and many other parts of Brittany. At low tide you see a bunch of boats resting on mud with no ocean anywhere in site. And when the water comes back it comes back in force. These kids were taking advantage of the strong current to have a little fun by riding it between the jetties. It looks dangerous but if I had my bathing suit I would have jumped right in. Then again, I like to ride my bike one handed around the rotary at The Arc de Triomphe for fun. You'll also notice the submerged road that leads to the island across the channel. The tide chart is posted at the beginning of the road to prevent you from being stupid.





Walking back to catch the ferry I spotted a lady wearing a shirt with English words. In delicately embroidered silver sequins were written the words ''No Excuse''. Yeah, there sure isn't.

Hopped on the ferry and off we went. Gavrinis is a protected island with restricted access only allowed with guides. The ferry looked like it had capacity for 30 or 40 people but there were only 15 or 20 on board for our trip, so not a huge crowd. Leaving the mainland behind.



Approaching Gavrinis. The grey dot on the right where the trees end is the cairn.



This catamaran type boat is being used for an archaeological experiment. Suspended from the logs tying the two pontoons together and just below the water's surface is an 800 kilogram stone. Something to remember about these megalithic sites is that the stone used in their construction often came from great distances and needed to be transported. Several methods have been guessed at but none proving conclusively exactly how it was done.





Here's some views of the gulf from the island.

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Here's some shots of the entry to the inner chamber.







Before we go inside it's time for a little history lesson. The stones on a cairn are purposefully laid whereas the tumulus is essentially just covered in earth, with perhaps an underlying pile of loose stone. Some cairns, such as at Gavrinis, also have some or much of the stonework covered in earth. While Gavrinis is an island at present, when constructed the sea level was much lower and the present day gulf was a broad plain cut up by 3 rivers.

While the exact age of Gavrinis has not been precisely determined it ceased being used around 3000B.C. The cairn itself is about 160 feet in diamter and about 20 feet high. The inner corridor is 45 feet long and ends in a small square chamber measuring about 8 feet on a side. There are 29 vertical slabs making the walls and 23 of these are elaborately engraved with various designs and motifs. And this is exactly what makes Gavrinis so famous and important. It is essentially the Sistene Chapel of neolithic art. I haven't seen NewGrange in Ireland (but it looks spectacular in photos) to compare art but I know of few other places that offer such outstanding examples of art from this era. The roof slabs which rest on the vertical wall slabs also have some engraving. The largest roof slab covers the chamber and weighs about 17 tons.

During excavations it was discovered that the top of this large roof slab had engravings which corresponded to similar engraved stones found a few kilometers away in Locmariaquer. From this it was determined that this roof slab was once part of a large menhir from Locmariaquer which had been intentionally broken and reused to construct the dolmen. From this and other studies archaeologists have been able to determine that menhirs were likely the first structures built by ancient peoples and that later many were taken down and reused to build dolmens. But enough babbling. You want to see some of this fantastic artwork. Unfortunately photos are not allowed inside the chamber so I've had to use some photos I found on the web.







The only drawback to visiting Gavrinis is fitting everyone inside the chamber and allowing for each to have a view while the guide explains things. There were 15 or 20 people on my trip and while most had a reasonable view in the chamber the corridor is another matter. I was already familiar with what the guide was explaining so I just hung out in the chamber while everyone else crowded into the corridor. This was fine with me as I got to stay alone in the chamber and just admire all the engravings by myself. I don't know how they manage things if there are larger groups. Perhaps they break the group into two. The other drawback for you English speakers is that there are no tours offered in English. There are illustrative panels around the cairn with English translation and there is a brochure in English but that is it.

The designs and motifs at Gavrinis and other sites have been studied for 150 years. As for what all the designs and motifs engraved on the stones mean, well, there are good theories for some things but for others the theories can be considered speculation at best.

Time to leave Gavrinis behind.

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The ferry I took also made a visit to the nearby island of Er Lannic to view some semi-circular arrangements of menhirs. Most of the stones are submerged when the tide comes in, an indication that this was once dry land. You don't visit the island but just view it from a distance.





After the ferry ride on our way back home we stopped in the town of Baden for a few minutes to poke around.









And a few random scenic photos along the way, taken from the D101. I think the town in this photo is Bono but I'm not certain.

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I could live here.



I'm taking a little diversion now to give you some background as to just why I am so into megaliths. Years ago I lived in Italy for a while on my sister and brother in-laws farm in the mountains just off the Italian Riviera where they grew their own food, raised animals and lived off the land in a location with Hallmark postcard views. Sounds awful, doesn't it? The house needed foundation work and some of the terraced stone walls in the yard needed rebuilding. My brother in-law is a stone mason and with some basic training I began to earn my keep (I had no money after 2 months of backpacking around Europe).

He and my sister moved to the U.S. for a few years and he started a masonry company and I joined him. This is when I started to have a deep appreciation of stone as well as acquiring some skill as a stone mason. Shortly thereafter I met MM and she took me to Brittany to see Carnac and some other megaliths. Big mistake on her part. I began to wonder if the Native Americans might have left such similar things in the area where I lived in New England. Just about every ancient culture on the planet left some form of ceremonial architecture on the landscape and I could think of none where I lived. Sure enough, I did some investigating and I learned about just such things and began to discover them in the woods.

Soon enough I became involved in archaeology and worked with some of the native tribes in my area in trying to locate and preserve Native American ceremonial sites. I belonged to 2 archaeological organizations, one of which was sanctioned by the state and the other which was a volunteer organization involved in what I would term non-mainstream archaeology. I was the research director for the latter organization for several years. This group was made up of all kinds, from those engaged in legitimate research and with legitimate ideas to others who were quite clearly nutjobs. Often I would receive e-mails and photos from people who believed they had stumbled upon some incredible hidden site. Generally what I got were pictures of rocks in which the sender saw fantastic images, most of which were supposedly penis's and vaginas. A lot of fertility minded people in that organization.

One time a guy sent me a lengthy e-mail about another one of these fantastic sites. He knew of a secret place (right outside a major city) with all kinds of incredible earthworks and stone constructions, including a chamber like structure which ran several hundred feet into a large pile of stones. He told me his father had shown him the site in his youth and they had developed a very elaborate interpretation within the family about what this site represented. They would have contests to see who could spend the most number of days (yes days, not just hours) inside the secret chamber (there's no real winner in that kind of contest). The e-mail was accompanied with a photo of him sitting in the meditative Om position in the entrance of the chamber, which was clearly a late 19th or early 20th century drainage culvert. I didn't have the heart to tell him he had wasted most of his life inside a drainage culvert.

I should mention that I did also receive, from time to time, correspondence from people who had indeed found unique and fascinating things.

My pastime hobby was to take hikes through the woods in search of native ceremonial sites, which were characterized by various types of stone piles and large boulders. MM would often look at me as I was leaving the house and roll her eyes and say ''Going to look for more stupid rocks again?'' Now when I want to megalith hunt she asks if I'd like to go look at stupid rocks. That's enough about my rock background for now.

OK folks, something you'll have to get used to is lots of pictures of megaliths. I told you I am part caveman. MM enjoys megalith hunting as well but not as much as me. Continuing on the way back home we (I) decided to look for some stupid rocks in Carnac. Besides the well known alignments at Carnac, the towns and places nearby are loaded with other megalithic sites. The tourist office at Carnac and nearby Locmariaquer have maps that show the location of megaliths in the area. The majority of megalithic sites are not shown on the Michelin maps. Even with the tourist office maps, however, often there are no signs on the ground indicating the presence of anything and sometimes they are on private property. The map will not tell you these things. Sometimes you'll see a trail going into the woods and the rest is up to you. Other times there are indeed signs. No rhyme or reason to this.

Here's the Tumulus and Menhir of Crucuny.





Here's the Dolmen er Roc'h-Feutet.







Random menhirs.

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Now we're going to see some of the stones for which Carnac is so famous. The Alignments at Carnac consist of roughly 4,000 aligned menhirs in several groups that stretch for a distance of nearly 4 kilometers. It is probably the most unique and incredible site of its type on the planet. It appears to have been originally built starting around 5,000B.C. and was in use up until around 2,000B.C. No one really knows precisely what the site represents other than that it was a ceremonial and sacred area. Geez, I could have come up with that!

The first set of alignments are the smallest group and are known as Les Alignements de Petit-Ménec.



This group are Les Alignements de Kerlescan.







These are Les Alignements de Kermario.







In the summer months it is forbidden to walk among the alignments without a guide. I have been here in winter months when one can wander freely among the menhirs and you will practically have the place to yourself. There is a museum next to the alignments and in the summer months this is where you purchase tickets and meet your guide. For those of you with young ones there are all kinds of activities here for the kids such as workshops to make pottery and jewelery, lighting fires, doing archaeological digs and a variety of other programs.

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Finally arrived back home and went to the beach to watch the full moon rise.





The next day we decided to head for the peninsula on the southern part of the gulf known as Presqu'Île de Rhuys. Here I am crossing a bridge looking into the harbor of La Trinité sur Mer.





In the photo above you can see oyster beds on the left side of the channel.

There was no real plan for the day other than to just drive through the villages on the peninsula with only a few scheduled stops.

The first town we went to was Sarzeau.

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At the ATM's you have a language choice of French, English or Breton. I bet that bottom button has never been pressed but I bet everyone in town made sure the bank put that button on the machine.







Sarzeau, as you can see, is a rather nice town and seemed to have the most to offer on the peninsula in terms of services and amenities.

Next we went to Saint Gildas de Rhuys, hoping to eat lunch here.





There were substantially fewer dining options here than in Sarzeau. Like two crêperies and a pizza/restauant joint which both looked equipped to handle tourists. We picked the touristy looking pizza/restaurant joint for a change over crêpes and galettes. And once again the food surprisingly exceeded our expectations. I had a 3 course menu for 16.50 euros consisting of seafood dishes and it was excellent. I forget what MM had but hers was good too.

Our next destination was one of the main attractions of the peninsula and that was The Château of Suscinio, a château whose origins begin in the 13th century with the usual modifications made by successive owners. By the end of the 15th century it acheived its present fortresslike appearance with a courtyard enclosed by two buildings and two curtain walls. Its heyday was from the 13th to 15th century and it was at that time one of the favorite residences of the Dukes of Brittany.

It has an unusual location being situated between the ocean and a marsh, both of which supply the moat with water. Apparently it was used as a hunting lodge by the Dukes who hunted deer in the nearby woods. Enough of the boring history, let's see some pictures of a pretty cool looking castle.





During archaeological excavations outside the castle in 1975 the ceramic tile floor of a burned
down 14th century chapel was discovered, and in good condition. It measured almost 300 square meters and portions of it are displayed throughout the castle.

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They had fun things to do in the castle that kids and adults can enjoy. The banquet room is set up with quizzes at different seats that were all about banquet etiquette and closing you eyes and sniffing spices and herbs to guess what they were. You know, games about the actual dining experience in the castle during the middle ages.



Then there was the really fun wardrobe room. It had medieval wardrobes set up and you were free to try on the clothes and take pictures and neat stuff like that. The kids were having a blast, and so weren't the grown-ups.



Mee fair lady.



Various artwork is displayed throughout the castle.



Of the two existing buildings only one has been renovated inside and out. The other has a renovated exterior but the interior is hollow. This is the renovated building seen from the courtyard.



A couple more pics of the outside and we'll be done.

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Time for more stupid rocks. This was another scheduled stop at what I knew was going to be a spectacular cairn similar in size to Gavrinis but with much less artwork. It is called The Cairn du Petit Mont and it is situated on a hill next to the ocean in a location with panoramic views. It was built over several centuries with the earliest construction date being around 5,000B.C. It was also used by modern people in the 20th century, specifically, by the Germans in WWII who took advantage of its strategic location and constructed a concrete bunker in a portion of the cairn, which still remains and which you can visit. Ancient and modern history all in one site that also possesses a beautiful natural loation. Definitely worth a visit.





Here's the entrance to the bunker.





Some history.

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From the bunker you enter one of the chambers, which the bunker bisects.



You can still see traces of the engraved artwork on the stones.





Caveman in his natural habitat.



There are stairs to the top of the cairn where there are just fantastic views.

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There are two chambers in this cairn and both have some pretty cool artwork.





Next we decided to head to the end of the peninsula. The map we picked up at a tourist office showed all the attractions on the peninsula and also showed walking trails. There appeared to be some nice walking trails along the coast at the tip of the peninsula in a place called Port Navalo and we needed to get some excerise and stretch our legs so that's where we went. It seemed to have a lot of tourists but not like a mob. One thing I noticed in visiting this region is that even when a place had a lot of tourists it was never mobbed. And very few places I visited in this area really had what I would consider to be crowds of tourists. Here's a look at the small beach at Port Navalo.



The upcoming photos are from the trail along the coast.

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The rest of our time on the peninsula was going to be devoted to random driving and sort of intertwined with seeing the various stupid rocks that were shown on the map. Here's a last look at Port Navalo.



There was a dolmen shown on the map at a place called Pointe de Bilgroix. Here's the view.



And here's the dolmen.



Next we decided to stop in and have a look at the town of Arzon.

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Here's a dolmen called the Allée Couverte du Grah-Niol. It has a menhir in front of it.



This one appeared to have some engravings. Possible some of this could be from graffiti artists of recent centuries.







Feeling we needed some relaxation we decided to get a little beach time in before the end of the day. There are some wonderful, long sandy stretches of beach on the peninsula that you can have nearly to yourself because they lack the requisite beachside amenities to bring in the crowds. We headed to a beach called The Plage du Kerver.



MM decided to sunbathe so I took a little beach walk.



Horseback riding on the beach is an option if you are interested.

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This looks like a little hill but it is actually a tumulus known as Butte de César. The entrance is sealed but there are stairs to the top where you can get a fantastic view. I don't think you need the historical details since you get the idea by now. The people who built these could make some pretty big piles of rocks and dirt. This was the most massive of any of the ones I saw on this trip.



Here are a couple of photos from the top.





Here's a menhir in a hamlet called Kermaillard.



It has some engravings on it.



Some scenery along the drive.

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Here's a dolmen in the village of Brillac.



There are a number of châteaux on the peninsula, most of which seemed to be private. This is Le Néret Château.



End of the day.



The next day was our do nothing day. It is a vacation after all. We took a 4-5km walk to go look at the only set of alignments at Carnac we hadn't yet visited. These are Les Alignements du Ménec.







Then we walked a few more kilometers to the old village at Carnac, which is inland from the coast.

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By time we walked back to the apartment we had walked about 12km so we decided to hit the beach and relax for the rest of the day.







We slept late the next day and didn't hit the road until almost 1:00 in the afternoon. Our destination was inland to the old town of Josselin. We were going to hit some other small towns today but due to our late start we just headed for Josselin, stopping at a couple of megalith sites and small towns along the way.

Here's the Dolmen de Mein Goreac on the road D778. There was a sign on the road pointing to its location.







A few kilometers further along was a menhir. There was no sign and only MM's sharp eyes caught it off to our left while driving by.

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While driving through the town of Guéhenno we noticed a triangular symbol on our map showing something called a Calvaire. A Calvaire (as I later learned) is a representation of Jesus's crucifixion on Mount Calvary. They are surrounded by sculptures of Mary/apostles/saints. They can be very simple or extremely elaborate, such as the one we saw, which dates from the 16th century. Hence, the reason it was shown on the map.









Here are a few photos of Guéhenno.

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The château is the first thing we glimpsed on our approach to Josselin.



Josselin has roots that go further back than medieval times but it is about this time when it first becomes noteworthy. It was long a residence of the Dukes of Rohan, an important family of nobles in the area. The château was constructed of wood around 1000A.D. and Henry II destroyed it in 1168. It was almost completely destroyed again by Cardinal Richelieu in 1629 who famously said to the château owner Henri de Rohan ''Sir, I have scattered your skittles.'' Restoration of the châtau was started around 1860 by a student Viollet le Duc, who re-did it in a neo-gothic style. Much of the decor inside is of this style and from this period with older more authentic furnishings as well. Today it is a private château still owned by the Rohan family.

Josselin is classified as a ''Petite Cité de Caractère'' (small city of character) and a 3 star ''Ville Fleuri'' (flowered town) and is certainly worthy of these designations. It has lots of half timbered housing going back to the 16th century and an upper and lower town (across the river from the château). Both the upper and lower towns are charming and I recommend it as a place worth visiting.

We walked around for a few minutes before visiting the château.

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This is the view from the outdoor table at our restaurant, where we had yet another tasty galette from a tourisy looking restaurant.



We also had a pretty good view of the tourists, including this couple who were clearly in the running for the title of ''Best Tourist Outfit''.



You may not be able to notice it but the orange hair bands holding the gentleman's pigtails in place were obviously carefully selected to match his elegant foot attire.



I don't know why he is typing his pigtails together in this picture. Perhaps he is going to a fancy restaurant and wants to look a little more presentable.

Off to go visit the château.





The castle can only be visited if you take a tour. Our tour was in French but I believe at least once a day they have an English tour.

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After visiting the château we continued our tour around town.











Finished up in Josselin and headed home, with the usual stop at a megalithic site on the way.

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The next day we went to explore the nearby peninsula of Locmariaquer. I've been here several times before so I didn't go back to some previously visited sites. One site that is worth visiting is called ''Le site des megalithes de Locamariaquer'' (The site of the megaliths of Locmariaquer). There are some remarkable features here including a restored cairn with some fantastic artwork and what was one of the world's tallest menhirs, which now lies broken in pieces on the ground. When standing it measured 25 meters in height and weighed between 280 and 300 tons. Some theories suggest it was knocked down intentionally after its construction. I imagine the architect lying underneath it whose last words were ''Hold it right there, that's perfect!'' There are excellent tours here and a museum as well.

I started with a visit to the Dolmen du Mané Réthual.





What is most remarkable about this dolmen is the size and weight of the capstone, which is now broken in three pieces. It has a volume of 27 cubic meters and weighs a whopping 72.5 tons. Just how did those people move these things? What was the motivation? I must admit I am really fascinated by these people that we know very little about.

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Next we headed to the town of Locmariaquer, which I have visted before but which I still enjoy. It is quite cute.

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Random dolmen.



Some unusual ornamentation on a garage.



Next we went to visit a famous dolmen called Pierres Plates, which has a menhir near its entrance. This dolmen sits about 50 or 60 feet from a public beach. It has some renowned engraved artwork inside. I find it remarkable that this monument is open 24/7 365 days a year and suffers no vandalism. Most of the dolmens I visited did not have graffiti or other signs of modern destruction, other than beer bottles and trash.

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There were acres of beach to picnic on but this family decided to picnic on the most photographed object in the vicinity. It would have been one thing if they looked happy but they were the most miserable looking family I have ever seen. They couldn't have tried any harder to ruin pictures for everyone.



We went back into town to have lunch. Today we decided to have lunch at a place that looked a bit more upscale as opposed to the usual touristy looking places we had been eating at. Well, the food was just OK. The moral of the story (which I already knew) is don't judge a book by its cover. Here's our lunch time view. Notice the gulf in the background, where it is low tide and the lack of water is evident.



Decided to visit a few more dolmens after lunch.







We could have done more sightseeing today but as I have mentioned already, we were on vacation and wanted to relax. I know if you come from a long distance to visit France you want to see as much as possible. The French, however, like to go on vacation to do nothing since they live here already. Off to the beach we went.

View to the right.



View straight ahead.



View to the left.



The above photo would have been perfect if it hadn't been spoiled by that girl in the purple bikini. Yuck! She's ugly!

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The next day we decided to visit the nearby peninsula of Quiberon. Driving onto the peninsula the landscape reminded me of Cape Cod scenery, as I am from Massachusetts. Here is what you see to the right driving down the peninsula.



This picture proves, once again, that not every bit of touristy coastline in France is necessarily jam packed with tourists. Pick a spot with no beach services and it's relatively people free.



More scenery seen from the car.



There is one road leading down the peninsula. If you don't arrive early enough you will be stuck in a long line of trafic. We got stuck for about 10 or 15 minutes. I suspect a good deal of the traffic has to do with the fact that the ferry for the nearby island of Belle Île leaves from Quiberon. We didn't get here on this trip but plan to in the future. MM has been here before and assures me that it is quite beautiful (as the name suggests) and worthy of a visit if you just want to relax for a day on a beautiful island.

Here is the Fort de Penthièvre. It was constructed in 1747 in response to an English raid. In 1795 it was raided and captured by the English who were expelled a short time later by the French. In 1917 it was used as a prison for German soldiers. During WWII the Germans incorporated it into the Atlantic wall of defense. In July 1944 several members of the resistance were tortured and buried alive here. It now serves as a training base for the army.



Our next destination was Saint Pierre Quiberon, a cute little town.