More Coast and a Visit to Brest

I am back at the Tourist Office in Plougasnou (10 minute drive) for another two-day blog update.  All is well. 

All you really need to know to survive in France is “bonjour”, “merci”, “d’accord”, and “un baguette, s’il vous plait”.

Tuesday

More of the Cote de Garnit Rose

Tuesday broke beautiful and I was up at 5:00 am to write that long post for the the blog.  It doesn’t really get light here until almost 8:00 am.  Then I went out to get un grand siècle, our baguette for today’s picnic lunch.  I also picked up six macarons (macaroons) —  three citron (lemon) and three fraise (strawberry).  Can’t wait for lunch!

And we headed out early back to la Cote de la Granit Rose.  First stop was in Plousganou (where I now use the internet at the Tourist Office).  We hadn’t planned to stop there, but it was market day.  Market day in France is sensory overload for foodies.  You want to buy everything!  We bought some cheese.

Then it was off to nearby St Jean du Doigt, home to a parish close (more about them in a couple of days).  St Jean du Doigt is St John of the Finger.  The first joint of St John the Baptist’s finger is actually here in the church treasury (which wasn’t open – now I’ll never see his finger).

Then we drove along the coast, stopping at overlooks and beaches along the way.  For lunch we picnicked at St-Michel-en-Greve overlooking the sea:  our great bread, terrines left over from last night’s dinner, cheese, and some of those macarons (en français) which turned out to be indescribably melt-in-your-mouth good.  France is all about food.

We visited a small local Aquarium in a semi-cave that was inhabited by troglodytes in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  It’ is hardly a world class aquarium, but it was fun and worth doing.  After that we headed home.  On the way we stopped to buy water, diet coke, and some vegetables for tonight’s home-cooked omelet dinner.

Some Random Pictures from the Day

Wednesday

A Day in Brest

Brest is the largest city in Brittany (I think), about an hour due west on an autoroute (speed limit 110 km/hr).  The original plan was to drive beyond Brest and then work our way back to Plouezoc’h along the slow coast road.  But it was cloudy and foggy, so we changed plans and decided to visit Océanopolis, what is reputed to be the best ocean center / aquarium in Europe.

We were at Océanopolis at 9:50, ten minutes before opening, and we had the place pretty much to ourselves.  There are three major viewing areas: polar, tropique, and temperate as well as a new European otter exhibit.

The otter exhibit has two viewing areas:  one has nothing to do otters but has two California sea lions; the other has two European otters.  They have a deep salt water pool, some shallow fresh water pools, and a plant/rock covered land area.  Interestingly, after swimming in salt water, they have to rinse off in fresh water to get the salt out of their fur to keep it protective and warm on dry land.  On land they are very elusive and like to keep hidden.  We caught a glimpse of them scurrying from one side of the land enclosure to another to hide and go to sleep under some vegetation.

The polar exhibit is brilliant.  There is a great Panoramic film of animals of the north and south poles starring the penguins.  The penguin enclosure itself is huge, and the inhabitants seem happy and content.  There is another huge tank for real arctic ice seals.  All the enclosures have both above water and under water viewing areas.  And there are king crabs and anemones from the polar regions.  It is all very well done. Below are some shots:

The tropic exhibit features a glass elevator in which you watch tropical fish and sharks as it descends from top to bottom.  There are endless tanks of all different kinds of fish.  There is a mangrove and a tropical reef.

We spent less time in the temperate zone which has jellyfish, seals of Brittany, a kelp forest, a deep fish viewing area, and burrowing Norwegian lobsters.  Who knew they burrowed?

Océanopolis lived up to its hype, and we greatly enjoyed three full hours there.  Even the gist shop was enjoyable, and Elaine bought a scarf.  Now I have to get a Breton scarf for me!  By the time we left the weather had cleared a bit and the sun was shining through, but it was still very hazy.  Rather than head for the shore, we had a picnic lunch (sandwiches and decadent dark chocolate & orange Breton biscuits sitting on a bench overlooking the harbor just at the Musée National de la Marine de Brest.

After lunch the command decision was to investigate the Maritime Museum rather than do a lot of driving along a hazy coast.  Good decision!  The museum is exceedingly well done, and the auto-guide headsets provided interesting information about Brest’s maritime heritage.  The museum itself is located in an old fortress, part of which is still a French military installation, that is enjoyable in its own right.  The ship models were brilliant.  I bought a French Navy hat in the small gift shop.

By the time we got out of the Maritime Museum, it was 4:00 pm, and it was raining lightly.  We hopped back on the autoroute and hightailed it back to Manoir de Keristin.  Time for a little rest and a little wine, and then we were off to dinner in Plougasnou (15 minutes away) at Restaurant Les Chaises.  We discovered it yesterday when we were in town on market day.  I had successfully called and made reservations while on the road yesterday – so nice to have a working phone!

Dinner was great (pictures tell it all further below):

Elaine:

Starter:  Smoked Salmon with Breton Chutney

Main:  Cassolette of Scallop and Shrimp

Desert:  Two Scoops of Sorbet (Passion Fruit and Lemon) with a Breton Biscuit

Joe:

Starter:  Nine Oysters on the Half Shell

Main:  Cassolette of Scallop and Shrimp

Desert:  Mi Cuit de Chocolat Maison (delicious hot chocolate mousse with vanilla bean ice cream)