St. Thegonnec

One of the things we like in Brittany is the old parish churches--enclosures they are called--with church, ossuary, and, most importantly, the "calvaire," an outdoor sculpture thing usually depicting scenes from the life of Christ, plus other local curiosities. It was pouring rain as we visited St. Thegonnec, November 28th, but still interesting and pleasant. Gloomy grey weather is almost best for Brittany. It's a very spiritual, spooky place, with "religious" monuments here going back at least 7,000 years.

St. Thegonnec

Beautiful interior altar paintings

The Ossuary, always a fun place, but

apparently closed in the off-season

St. Thegonnec's 16th century calvaire

Up closer

Filthy, rotten, disgusting pigeons

St. Thegonnec provides a free public campground right in

the centre ville

Dinan

As we drove west, we stopped a few hours

in the old Medieval town of Dinan and

walked around a bit; above, street scene

They have the leaning half-timbered houses

here too

Ditto; PS: Vicki asked me to note that in the

vicinity of St. Brieuc we saw many camping car

dealers and accessory stores; they appear to be

all over western France.

St. Malo

We drove on to St. Malo and spent the night at an aire by its

ferry port and marina; above, the old, walled St. Malo (well,

old since WWII)

Ferry port and marina

The aire

Frogmen (nyuk-nyuk-nyuk)

Camping France

I am writing on December 2 (from St. Nazaire), and we have

been in France two weeks now without yet visiting a

campground or caravan park. The reason is the "aires" all

over, towns that welcome camping-cars, and even
supermarkets that designate over-night space and provide

other facilities, sometimes free, sometimes for a very modest

price, a euro or two. Walmart should be so accommodating!

Above, the Super U in Cancale

Designated over-night parking for camping cars

Dumping facilities and fresh water

Even a laundromat!

Pt. Grouin

From Cancale, we drove along the coast we have walked

many times, out to Pt. Grouin. Sorry, Rachel, the hotel and

restaurant were closed! Above, an island off Pt. Grouin

Across the Bay, Mt. St. Michel

Pt. Grouin light house

Closer-up

Cancale and Le Narval

We stopped in old-favorite Cancale, oyster capital of the world,

and had lunch at Le Narval, still going strong, where we first

dined in 1979; I had raw oysters, mussels mariniere, frites, wine,

nice chocolate dessert cake and mousse; Vicki had frites and

cake; Cancale harbor, low tide

Main street, harbor; I am not sure I have ever seen the

centre ville

Le Narval

There has been a great deal of development around Cancale

in the last 30 years (and where hasn't there been?); on the

edge of a residential suburb on the way to Pt. Grouin, we

noticed this Neo-neolthique structure; we are noticing more

and more such things and must blog about them in due

course

Bay of St. Michel

We drove on leisurely around the Bay, noting old windmills

turned into residences (I want one!), oyster and mussel

farming, etc.; in Brittany now, looking toward Cancale and

Pt. Grouin

This is all reclaimed land, hence dozens of old windmills,

now gentrified

And dozens of moule and huitre farms along the edge

Bay of St. Alligator

Sunset

Next morning

And just a couple kilometers from the Abbey...the Alligator Bay complex

Also turtles, reptiles, etc; closed, unfortunately, for the season; alligators wintering 
on the Cote d'Azur; Orlando has nothing on Mt. St. Michel!

Mt. St. Michel

We spent a pleasant morning at the French Mt. St. Michel,

pretty much deserted, at least until the Japanese tour busses

started arriving for lunch; we skipped the abbey, having seen

it a couple times before; a fine day, the views were great

"OK, then let's park here!" Actually, we spent the night too

Gate, portcullis...presumably, murder-holes,

too

Actually, the streets and shops reminded us

a bit of Namche Bazaar; a bit...

Tide's out

 

View from the abbey battlements (I thought you were

supposed to turn the other cheek...)

Looking toward toward the 14 euro abbey; no concession/

reduction for old age pensioners like us

Thanksgiving, 2009

Yes, the French do have turkey; it's called Dinde; as you

can see, it was a somewhat abbreviated turkey dinner,

although Vicki cooked heroically despite the lack of

yams, giblets, and, horrors, green jello for the green

slime (lime bavarian); we are gratified to know Rachel

carried on the tradition

It was all washed down with Normandy cider; Normandie

Gourmandie, the label says

Unfortunately, what I thought might be cranberry sauce

turned out to be something else, something wretched, I

fed to the sea-gulls

We ate at Mount St. Michel, at the foot of the mount, and indeed reflected on the many things for which we have to be thankful. And we thought of our many family and friends, wishing them a happy Thanksgiving as well.

Pointe du Hoc

For the 50th D-Day anniversary, this place came under

American control, or influence, finally. Previously, the

French account of the action, which we had read on

repeated visits, told of the American Rangers climbing

the cliffs on D-Day under withering machine-gun fire,

to knock out artillery batteries covering both Omaha and

Utah beaches. At the top, they discovered only telephone

 poles, disguised to look like guns. End of story. Heroic

American fools.

What actually happened, and is finally related in the

signage here, is that the Army Rangers then fought their

way a mile inland, found the suspected guns, spiked them,

and then fought their way back to the Pointe, holding off

repeated German attacks, until they were relieved two days

later. Of the 200+ men landed, 90 were still alive, although

not a single one was unwounded. Their leader, a former

Texas high school football coach named James Rudder,

went on to become president of Texas A&M.

All honor...

The cliffs at Pointe du Hoc

It's one of the few D-Day places left that not been cleared

over

Gun emplacement

More wreckage

The cliffs, from the west at Grandcamp Maisey

Arromanches

After the disastrous 1942 "raid" on the fortified harbor of

Dieppe, where only half the force of 7,000 returned to

England, the Allies resolved to bring their own harbor

the next time they invaded France. And so, off of

Arromanches, square in the middle of the British and

Canadian D-Day beaches, one can still seen remnants

of the "Mulberries," huge concrete structures towed

into place off the beach, then sunk, creating an artificial

but highly effective harbor. They are among the few still-

visible sites from D-Day. Above, looking in the direction

of Omaha beach, beyond the cliffs

 

On the beach

Remains of landing ramp

More mulberries

14 places for camping-cars, gratuit...we are learning new

respect for French camping