26 July
After cleaning the gite
we were just leaving when Olivier arrived to say farewell. When we
returned after going to Montresor for dinner last night ( another
gastronomic delight)we found they had left us a bottle of red wine as
a parting gift on the outside window sill. I was able to extend to
him our grateful thanks for the wine and our lovely rustic stay. I
finally learnt my canine friend's name – Garouf .
We went for the last
time down the gorgeous narrow tree lined route and headed off to
Langeais, a chateau on our route to Brittany which is said to be the
most “mediaeval” of the Loire chateaux. The visit started with
an entry over a rickety drawbridge which would be of little use to
traffic as it is 20 feet above street level. The town side of the
building is well defended with high ramparts with plenty of
opportunities for the defenders to be nasty to any attackers.
However once through the gate we found the other side of the main
building with little protection and lots of doors. The main building
was erected in the 15th century with 4 floors above the
courtyard and arranged in an L plan. The rooms, as they are arranged
now, are all of an impressive size and even the spiral staircases are
wide enough for easy passage, unlike many we have visited. Generally
the furnishings date from the 15th and 16th
centuries and consist of tapestries and variations of chests.
Interestingly there were no tables at that time, even the banquet
room used planks on trestles that could easily be stored when the
room was used for other purposes.Seeing the changes in the mediaeval
furniture and construction is the evolution in increasing skills and
technology is clearly apparent. Having said that we fell in love with
the extraordinary tapisteries.
One incident makes me
smile. I had just moved into one of the last rooms where there was a
display of some sort ( not sure what now) when I dropped my walking
stick. I take this only when I know I will need to climb ancient
uneven steps and descend same. Within seconds a man whom we had seen
as we did the rounds of the castle lept forward. Rescuing my errant
stick he passed it to me, one leg extended and bent at the knee,
bowing from the waist as he said' Madame” . Stunned I think I
replied 'Merci beaucoup' omitting the 'Monsieur' that should
accompany such an exchange! The gentle man in question was tall,
rangy in build , dressed in what we think of typical French peasant
style; cream coloured baggy, shapeless canvas type trousers, equally
shapeless canvas looking tunic top, closely cropped beard and cunning
French cap with peak at the front.
Moving on we discovered
that the French motorway system cannot cope with a Saturday afternoon
traffic in the school holidays. We lost over an hour sitting in
virtually stationary traffic, particularly at toll booths.( thanks
God for a patient husband and my kindle!) As we moved into Brittany
the landscape became more rugged and the road was largely fringed
with a band of trees so that we did not get a good look at the
countryside. In general the fields are often irregular with stands
of trees.
Our GPS did not
recognise our destination, so we headed for the nearest town and by
luck saw a sign that mentioned St Brendan. A dive down a narrow
track past settlements each consisting of 1 or 2 houses brought us to
our destination – a one room cottage with a mezzanine bedroom in a
hamlet of 6 houses and a 15th century chapel.This gite is
gorgeous. An old cottage which in was built in the 16th
century and has stood on the land in much the same form as now. In
the 1930s and 40s a family of six lived in the one roomed cottage 4 m
x 4 meters. Small out houses are attached and housed the animals.
There is a stone beside the front door with 1948 carved into it –
the year the door was widened so the family cow could enter! Imagine
having the animals you own in out houses that are reached via your
cottage!
The couple ( Brits) who
own the cottage now have extensively renovated it and it is a
modern dwelling now , with all mod cons and very light and airy. The
stairs ( not a staircase I swear) to the mezzanine floor are
interesting , especially as you come down groggy with sleep in the
night – pitch back - to visit the loo! I now leave a light on in
the small bathroom to ensure I don't tumble down the stairs and break
my neck or worse my legs! The small kitchen has an induction hob –
very amusing to watch as a birds eyes view ( or rather in our case a
fly's eye view, they are here to make us welcome in their droves –
still not too keen on death fly fly spray) as we work out how to use
it. We might finally have got it now. It all depends of the flick of
a finger and the pressure of the finger tip on the designated spot of
the cook top. It also 'burrs' on and off as the element works – I
guess you would get used to that in time. However the speed of the
heat is amazing.
27 July
We decided to tour the
local area, so headed off to l'Abbeye de Langonnet which proved to be
very close. An impressive block of buildings and a range of
educational institutions.The abbey is in use The site now is accommodation and home to 40 retired missionaries. I (GB) inferred that
the missionary work may have been in Africa as we saw several African
nuns preparing the abbey for its next service and amongst the folk
gathering outside there were a number of African people mingling with
other French guests.There was obviously a local event in progress
with marquees erected and many smartly dressed people in view, so we
looked around the church, poked our noses into the cloisters and
moved on to Gourin, a local town.
On the outskirts of
Gourin we saw a sign advertising the Festival de la Crepe at the
local chateau. First we stopped in the centre of town, which had a
more modern look than many with several buildings brightly painted
and had a town square containing a war memorial and a copy of the
Statue of Liberty to mark the towns links with New York.
Heading to the chateau
we heard the sound of bagpipes and found the festival underway.
There were a few stalls selling products from jam to jewellery, a tent
with a crepe making competition which seemed to be based around
making a very large crepe (900mm) perfectly, a tent with a perspiring
man making sausage and onion crepes on 2 wood fired stoves (one for
the crepes and one for the sausages and onions), a large food marquee
and a stage with a large dance floor in front of it. We found the
food tent was lined with 40 or so crepe makers flat out. 2/3 were
savoury crepes of 2 types with the filling options ham, cheese and
egg, and the other 1/3 were sweet crepe. All crepes were made on gas
fired flat round plates and would take only a minute to make before
being coated with the chosen filling and folded into a neat square.
The various crepe makers seemed to vary in the matter recipe and
thickness, but we didn't make much sense of the differences.
Once we had loaded up
with crepes and a bottle of cidre we sat on steps in front of the
stage and watched a display of dancing by a very polished troupe who
appeared to mix the traditional breton dancing with more modern
styles. Their choreography was precise and the stage management was
unobtrusive and very effective. With some dances in traditional
costume and others in styles ranging over the last 50 years, the
dances varied from line, circle and couple forms and used small
screens to cleverly hide dancers or change styles. At times the
dance floor would only contain 1 or 2 dancers and then the rest of
the troupe would appear from nowhere to fill the floor. The use of
simple props to add to the dance was impressive, particularly when 2
strings of pennant showing upper and lower clothing items were held
across the floor and the dancers coordinated with effective
variations in costume. In fact the clothing was obviously an
important part of the act with traditional clothing mixed with modern
styles. The music was provided by a band with 2 pipers, a saxophone
and a wind instrument with a high and strident sound that we couldn't
identify as well as a guitar, bass and drums.
Later a band with 2
women singers took the stage and a large number of the audience
danced on the stage, mainly in a simple circle dance with rapid
stepping then a side step moving the dancers slowly round the floor.
In another dance the arms were swung back and forth. It was good to
see audience participation like this with small children amongst the
dancers.Every so often the music and 2 women singers stopped and the
dancers continued their dance – the sound of their feet moving in
unison was quite eerie. In fact, seeing really elderly folk
participating aided by relatives of all ages, seeing middle aged
couples, young families ( not too many 20year olds on the dance
floor!) and children and even toddlers participating made me feel
quite envious. These folk have preserved their traditions through all
they have lived through – war, occupation by enemy forces, poverty, diaspora of their young to cities and America in search of quality of
living. Despite all this they have a sense of shared culture and
belonging. In Gourin the daughter of one of the residents in our
village teaches Breton.The road signs are in Breton and French.
Although the first unification of Brittany with France occurred
around 1492 this is an area which seems to have its own identity
still. GB noted the similarities to Irish dancing and in some of the
music. Also noted was the style of Breton singing that accompanied the
people's dancing. The first vocalist sings a verse this is picked up
and echoed by the second, more alto singer – and so it goes through
out the song. We heard the same thing performed on Tuesday by men
performing Breton music in Concarneau. There is a Celtic festival
underway all across Brittany currently where the Irish, Scots,
Guernsey Isles and Bretons participate.
We moved on to Le
Fauoet, the largest town in the area, stopped to look at a large
covered market of some age and, some way out in the country a 15th
century chapel dedicated to St Barbe, the patron saint of firemen,
soldiers and artillerymen, who was apparently beheaded by her father
in 238AD in Turkey after converting to christianity, her father then
was struck dead immediately by lightning. The chapel is set in the
bottom of a steep valley where the local lord survived a severe
thunder storm while hunting in the forest and consequently built the
chapel in gratitude. The chapel itself is a high gothic building
with the altar in the middle of one wall with big stained glass
windows above and to each side. Since it is set low against a cliff
you cannot see it until you are immediately above it and it is
approached by 2 fancy stone staircases..
After a quick look at
the lake at Priziac which is a local water sport attraction with
weedy shores and brownish, brackish water and an artificial beach
full of happy campers we headed home to St Brendan.
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