Saturday 2 August 2014

Into Brittany

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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