 |
Right in the middle of a residential neighborhood of Plouharnel, still northwest of Carnac, is a pretty much intact tumulus containing three parallel passage graves; the Rondassec tumulus |
 |
Special parking for visitors to dolmens, menhirs, etc. |
 |
One of the covered alleys |
 |
Another |
 |
Me, exploring |
 |
Interior view |
 |
As a parapente drifts by... |
 |
Near a village called Erdeven, some miles northwest of Carnac, there are the remnants of what would have been the largest of all the alignments, the Kerzeho. It extended some two miles, changing course about midway along the route. But now, much of it is degraded or missing. Again, no one has the foggiest of what all this was about except that it was very important to someone. All of it high neolithic for these parts, 2,500- 3,500BC. |
 |
The highway goes right through the alignment... |
 |
View of the alignment |
 |
Vicki by the Geant Menhir, part of what was perhaps the alignment's cromlech; the fallen menhir is pretty big too |
 |
Another really huge one, lightning-struck |
 |
Part of the cromlech/alignment/whatever |
 |
What the locals refer to as the "slaughter stone" |
 |
Some 20th century construction, not comparing well... |
 |
More of the alignment |
 |
And, at the foot of the Geant, another "zero" stone |
 |
We returned to the Kermario alignment for dinner and a full-
moon stroll among the stones and spent the night there too. Above,
poached salmon with my patented mustard cream caper sauce
flanked by a couple langoustines, with Muscadet wine; Vicki had
frozen pizza and was happy...
|
 |
Night on the alignment
|
 |
The Kermario dolmen by flash
|
 |
More flash...
|
 |
We next visited Menec Village, something we had not seen
before in our several visits to Carnac. At the head of the
Menec alignment is a cromlech, a quadrilateral arrangement
of larger stone, closer together, reckoned by some to have
been some sort of gathering place. Menec Village is a
modern (19th-20th century) village that was built right in the
cromlech, but much of the old structure remains...used now
to designate parking spaces, fences, walls, etc.
|
 |
Note close spacing of stones
|
 |
More of the village
|
 |
More
|
 |
Parking
|
 |
My favorite...the clothes-line gives it such a domestic touch
|
 |
A huge line of stones
|
 |
There are three great alignments at Carnac, all in a row (with a couple smaller ones mixed in). The middle, and perhaps largest, is Kermario. No one has the slightest idea what they are all about, but it must have meant a great deal to put these monuments up.... |
 |
Big rocks, all in row...all in rows... |
 |
Vicki, trying to push another escapee back inside the fence |
 |
The Kermario dolmen, one of the oldest structures around (4,000BC) |
 |
Another view |
 |
More big ones |
 |
About half way down the alignment |
 |
From the end, looking back up the hill |
 |
Lightning-struck |
 |
We drove back to Carnac and its Grand Plage, where we had lunch and a long walk along the beach, Vicki in search of green beach glass, me in search of a polished neolithic jadeite ceremonial axe. She found some glass. I managed to catch two oysters, which went some way toward erasing my Norwegian fishing humiliations. On the way back, we stopped also at the Carnac Museum of Prehistory, a major site for all this stuff, and walked about town a bit. |
 |
Ditto |
 |
The day's catch |
 |
Lann Roz, on the way back from the beach, a restaurant where we have had several memorable meals (including the one where the proprietress had fallen asleep and I finally had to go wake her up for l'addition) |
 |
At the Carnac Museum of Prehistory, where they have quite a collection |
 |
These jadeite axes were actually found on the beach at Quiberon in 2007; I'll keep looking |
 |
| Crucuno is a small village a few miles from Carnac; the Crucuno dolmen has been used as a hen house, as storage for German army motorcycles (their giant submarine base was at L'Orient, just a few miles away), and, in the 19th century, as an apartment for the village idiot |
 |
| The structure adjoining is for sale, but it was unclear whether the dolmen is included |
 |
| Village idiot pose |
 |
| Our friend at Roadtrek keeps asking us to take pictures with the Grey Wanderer in them |
 |
| Half a mile away is the Crucuno cromlech, a large quadrilateral of unknown meaning or significance |
 |
| Some large stones in the quadrilateral |
 |
| More of the cromlech |
 |
After Plougastel, we drove back east, to the south side, as it were, and to that Mecca of Megalithia, Carnac, getting there just as dusk was approaching. The gift shop was closing, the parking lot was empty and unsigned, so we just stopped for the night, a short stone's throw from the largest and most famous of all neolithic alignments. In the off-season, the usually-fenced alignments are open, so we enjoyed a stroll among these mysterious old friends. The next dozen or so posts are going to be from the Carnac/Plouharnel/ Locmariaquer realm, so brace yourselves! |
 |
Menec alignment, 10 or 11 rows, a thousand or more stones, generally decreasing in size; about half-way down the alignment, looking back |
 |
Two "escapees" (the locals, some of them, very much object to the fencing-in, there being a large "free the menhirs" movement years ago) |
 |
Clouds at dusk |
