Gavrinis

Thursday we drove further into Brittany, to Larmor-Baden, near Carnac. Rebecca's top priority was the boat trip and visit to Gavrinis, the Isle of Goats, in the Gulf of Morbihan. We had done this in 1989. Gavinis is the home of a large tumulus and covered passage grave, large enough to walk into, lined by twenty-some beautifully carved monster-sized stones, the best in all of the Atlantic megalithic area, all neolithic, 3,000 BC or so.

The boat trip itself from Larmor-Baden was interesting. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the Gulf was genuinely crowded with boats of every description. The whole affair has been upgraded touristically. There is signage, a visitor center, and a guided tour, mostly French, but a few minutes for the English-type personnes. We pique-niqued on the island, just to add to the atmosphere.

Then we drove on to Carnac. We stopped at the Menec alignments and never got much further than them and the visitor center/gift store. Somehow, the alignments per se have never sent us—they are so inscutable—and we drove on to the artsy-fartsy town of Pont-Scorff, where we modestly simulated the local artisan economy.

Rebecca's next priority was Pointe du Raz, the Finisterre of Brittany (and France, I guess), so we drove there, at length, and camped at the RV parking lot. I love these familiar places, Carnac, Quiberon, Gulf of Morbihan, Vannes, Lorient, all the villages, etc.

Heavy traffic in the Gulf of Morbihan

Pique-niqueing on the Isle of Goats

Entrance to Gavinis

 

Plan of the interior

 

Interior, big stone on right at end, #15

The "Christianizing" of ancient monuments never ends

 

With the rising of the seas, many of Brittany's monuments are sinking or already
beneath the waves