This is my first visit to Brittany. It’s Christophe’s second, and the first time is over 20 years ago. After a rainy Tuesday, today dawned dry and part sunny. Which was what the meteorologists had foreseen. They said it would rain in the afternoon, so we had decided yesterday that we would go site seeing this morning and work the afternoon. As usual, Christophe took many pictures…

Vannes

We did a shortened morning programme and left the house at 8:30. First stop was Vannes. Teresa had told us it has an interesting market on Wednesday morning, so that’s where we headed. We were in for a good surprise, because the center of Vannes turns out to be a beautiful medieval city. And the market is huge! It took us the better part of two hours to see all the stands, which contain a great mix of locally grown and produced food, artsy stuff, clothes and other commercial ware.

The menhirs of Carnac

From Vannes we drove in the direction of Carnac to see the menhirs, one of the most extensive Neolithic menhirs collections in the world. Erected 4000 till 6500 years ago, people placed over 3000 menhirs in more or less straight lines, distributed over several fields. It’s impressive to see. Why did they do it, and how did they accomplish it? Those stones are so heavy that even now, with our modern machines, it would be a challenge to move them.

We went into Carnac to have a look around. There are a great many very beautiful houses, most of them owned by people who only use them during the summer season. It’s a real pity to see all those beautiful houses closed up, with just the gardeners around, keeping the outdoors presentable. We found a tiny beach where people were enjoying the sun, but there were no waves, since it was in an inlet.

Quiberon

From Carnac we drove on to the peninsula of Quiberon. We strolled along the Atlantic beach, but there was a strong wind and no more sun, so we kept it short. However, by then it was almost 6 o’clock, and the weather was still dry with temperatures over 20 degrees. So our morning outing had developed into a full day!

We saw so many beautiful sites and really enjoyed ourselves.