We were somewhat surprised to see the whole of a Jewelers display window taken up with All Blacks watches and other paraphernalia. With the Rugby World Cup on in England, the French are firm AB supporters, bless them:)
With time running out on us, in Brittany, we had so many other places to go! aiee!!! even though we have been here 5 weeks, almost, we have seen so little, it seems.
We turned up in Pontivy, feeling as if we had been here before, but not. The town was barely awake as we parked in the middle of town, which actually used to be a parade ground for the Napoleonic troops, and took off towards the nearest café/tabac....it was time for coffee. This usually gives us time to sit quietly for a while and take in the scenes around us. This café was called the Grand café, and Grand it was indeed. Lots of brass therein.
We saw from the town map that there was a Chateau to be seen not too distant. With a good walk in mind, we set off towards the Historic Town (of course) in search of said Chateau. We had no idea what to expect, and were pleasantly surprised to find the Chateau du Rohan. The Dukes of Rohan were landholders of the very largest kind....hmm...not THEY were not large, but their land holdings were...did I get that right?:)
This Chateau is no longer open to the public for reasons that will become obvious as we go through the photos...bear with me, will you...
It must be the romantic in me, but I can see knights on their horses, wearing their armor, riding this road, cant you?:)
This is quite a story, and if my French is ok, I can tell you that these Falcon came BACK to the castle after a long time. They are now nesting inside the castle walls! fantastic! We see Falcon flying around over the newly cut maize fields, sometimes. Mice!
Well, the staircase at the entry to the castle was added in the 18th century. I wonder what they did before that?
Too bad, because we would love to have had a look inside! By this stage, we had gone right around the Chateau, and here we are on the original pathway to the front door.
Per usual, the place looks like it needs a bit of work! That is the Rohan Dukes Heraldic shield over the front door.
Yes, we always find water. Isnt this just the prettiest scene? Well, it gets better. This is such a lovely little town. Gorgeous clothes in the shops...lots of wool and natural fibres, and the shoes are to die for...if I had a shoe fetish, that is....
As with all the towns, there are flowers everywhere. This is rather story book beautiful, don't you think? It certainly set the mood for the rest of the long day. We almost decided to come and set up home here, straight away.
There has been a Hospital here, in Pontivy since the year 800 something. That round end to the building on the left is what is left of an 11th century hospital. The dukes of Rohan were progressive folks.
If you want your kids to have glasses, don't you think this would scare them away?? An Opticians window display, I was rather taken with....obviously!
Now, speaking of shoes....was I???.....Well, these boiled wool slippers caught my eye, only because our feet have been rather cold, but Waz told me in no uncertain terms I could NOT buy a pair at that price...buttttt! They are wool! and felted!! and soooo pretty!:) NOOOOO!
and so we left Pontivy, climbing up away from the river and into the hills above. We were making our way to Quimperle ( carm per lay), which was another river town. This one has some flooding very often, which is hardly surprising, given that the major part of town is built within the flood zone...eh?...and has been for hundreds of years!
What a pretty place! and the bridges were covered with flowers.
I have never seen such a fantastic display of Begonias. This photo is for my mother. We share a love of them!
This now being Lunch Time, and having worked very hard for our food, we chose a restaurant opposite the main parking lot. One good thing about driving such a small car....VW polo...is that it fits anywhere just about!:)....food....
We seated ourselves just inside the door, as it was still too cold outside, as you can see by Waz's blue vest. I had to take a photo of this fantastic burger (it really was!) before he attacked it! Beef Hache (ground beef, no seasoning...at all!!!) with cheese, bacon and onion marmalade on it. yum!!! and that salad thingy....and frites, of course. Some of the BEST frites ever!
I ordered the Salade saumon fume avec pain grille au chevre....translated...grilled bread with goats cheese on smoked salmon with sauce and green salad. WOW! I could have stayed for dinner, this food was wonderful!...oh! I forgot to mention the onion marmalade! wow! it was divine!
I had to take a photo of the restaurant called "Feet under the table " in French, of course.
Being so full of such wonderful food and enjoying the after effects...we went walking, as you do.
Of course, being the old town (read, Historic District), we found the half timbered houses, including this one which is now a fleuriste!
Looking at our watches, we decided to hit the road again. We had a long after noon ahead of us, and it was 1.30pm. Off across the high roads once again, well above the flood plains, and the gorgeous countryside. If I wasn't driving, you would see far more of that kind of thing...but....
On towards Quimper. (carm per) This is a large city, and wow....were we ever reminded of that coming into the Centre Ville. The Historic District is quite distinct, and you can see the lovely church and Catherdral spires in the middle.
We parked just outside the center and walked back towards those spires. There were British Flags everywhere, but none of the Brits we encountered (and there were a lot of them!) could tell us what the celebration was. We had put money in the parking meter, so we had an hour and 15 to do our thing.
Lovely little square just off the main catherdral square.
Cafes and restaurants everywhere, of course, and lovely to see so many out enjoying the sunshine, even though the wind was still cool.
...and a couple we ran into...Brits...did the hones of taking our mug shots outside the Cathedral.
You would think we would have had enough for one day...but.... There is always another place to visit, and we just had a little bit of energy left...soooo...onwards to Concarneau. Phew! by the time we got there, I think we had run out of steam. I parked very close to the old Fortified town (Ville Close) and we walked that way, and into the Village on the island.
On the way in the Port de Peche (Fishing port) were these Navy folks doing survival training. The wind was cold, so we didn't envy them their time in the water, although they have survival suits on.
Dinghies all in a row...low tide, unfortunately. We were amazed at how clear the water was, given the amount of trash in there, and the huge fish swimming around.
We climbed to the highest point on the Ramparts and looked out to the Atlantic.
I think I have mentioned the thickness of the old slate roofs before. They seem to last forever, and these ones certainly will. The new ones are so much thinner.
Walking along the Ramparts, and looking down into people's back yards, we wondered what it would be like to live in such a place with the hoards of tourist peering into your private lives.
Now I might be quite wrong, but this definitely looks like a NZ Cordeline, or Cabbage tree!
As you can see, a little water has come into the basin, as we leave the fort at Concarneau.
I don't think we had any energy left, after this. We have done yet another circuit, in our travels, and it is time to go home. It is now 5.30pm, and we will be encountering the after work traffic.
It took us an hour and a half on the motorway to get home. I don't normally like going on the highways, but this was a God send.
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