Parish Closes

THURSDAY

Parish Closes

Brittany is famous for its Enclos Paroissiaux (Parish Closes).  These are architectural monuments dating from the 16^th and 17^th centuries.  The typical close includes a triumphal arch to mark the transition from the secular to the sacred world, an ossuary where bones of deal parishioners are displayed. And a calvary decorated with vividly sculpted figures representing various stages of Christ’s Passion.  The church interiors are colorful with brightly painted statues and altarpieces.  Each community, some very small, tried to outdo the others with the splendor and artistic invention of its close. [end of religion lesson]

We visited four Enclos Paroissiaux today:

1) St-Thegonnec

2) Guimiliau

3) Lampaul-Guimiliau

 

4) La Roche Maurice

Then it was on to the shore again for a picnic in a nice spot by Aber Wrac’h harbor.  There were high clouds but the sun shone through.  It was pleasant weather, and our bread from our local boulangerie and the cheese we had bought at the Plougasnou market on Monday made a nice lunch.  The cheese was smelly, but even Elaine enjoyed it greatly.  Would that we remembered what it was called.  We will revisit the cheese monger at Plougasnou market next Monday and buy some more good stuff.

Then we drove merely two kilometers down the road to view the sand dunes at Presqu’Ile de Ste Marguerite, and the fog became so thick you could hardly see the ocean even fifty meters away. And so we headed home with a brief stop for some supper stuff.  Once home, I headed out for the Plougasnou Tourist Office to post yesterday’s blog entry.

Home again after internet duty, it was for gimlets for me, wine for Elaine, and eventually home cooked chicken breast fillets with peppers and onions and a salad.  Of course, we had stopped at our local boulangerie for a loaf of bread, this time a boule de paysan (a wheat round) and two delicious looking tartes aux framboises (raspberry).

FRIDAY

A Boat Trip

In the Bay of Morlaix there is an old fortress visible from several of the overlooks that we have stopped at near our house.  On some days there are boat trips to visit the fortress, the Chåteau du Taureau, from Plougasnou.  Alas, today was not one of those days and the last trips for the season are this weekend with the only from Plougasnou being on Sunday.  Sunday is reserved for other things.

But all was not lost.  My friend at the Tourist Office in Plougasnou said there were trips today from Carantec, across the Bay from Plougasnou.  That’s only a few kilometers as the crow flies, but going by car involves going back into Morlaix and up the other side of the Bay.  We just had time to do it, and the TO lady booked the tour for us.  We arrived in plenty of time at KerlannBeach in Carantec and had time to spare to watch some young kids learning to sail and some intrepid woman going for a swim.  The swimming is not that surprising, actually, as the weather has been much warmer than we expected.  Temperatures have been in to 70’s and nearly 80 some days when the sun is out.  Very comfortable beach weather.

The Chåteau du Taureau is built on an island named Taureau (the bull).  It was built as a fortress to protect Morlaix from raids by the British back in the 16^th century.  It was designed by Marquis de Vauban, and the fortress used every available inch of the small island.  It worked very well as protection as invading ships headed for Morlaix had to pass close by.  Cannon fire could be directed into the hull of ships from the lower batteries of the fortress while fire could be projected from the upper sections into the masts and sails of the frigates.

The Château also became a prison for misbehaving royals and rich whose family wanted them interned.  There were twelve cells, and prisoners were only interned when the family requested it of the king..  The family was required to pay an annual stipend that was used to feed and take care of the prisoners during their internment.  If the family didn’t pay, then that prisoner was released.

It was eventually decommissioned and in 1917 the Château was named a national monument.  Oddly, it was then leased to Mélanie de Vilmorin in 1930, and she made it her principal residence for quite a number of years.  From 1960 until 1980 it served as the headquarters of the sailing school of the Bay or Morlaix Boating association.  After that restoration work began to make it the tourist attraction it is today.

It’s a pleasant 15 minute boat ride to the Château.  You then have an hour to walk around and read the bilingual interpretive signs and view the orientations tables.  All very well done.  Then it’s back on the boat to return to the beach, passing an interesting inhabited island (one house with a lighthouse) on the way.

There are several restaurants right at the beach.  We picked one and each had a bowl of fish soup.  Then we shared a raw seafood plate, washing it all down with nice chilled white wine.  We never get white wine, but the waitress brought it by mistake.  We kept it and enjoyed it.  Picture of the fish soup (with croutons, aioli, and Parmesan) is below, but I forgot to snap the fish plate of scallops, shrimp, clams, and three different seafood spreads on toast.  Yummy.

We then visited two churches (yup, more religion) in St-Pol-de-Leon: the Kreisker Chapel, noted for its fine belfry, and the Cathedral.  After that we filled the car up with gazole (diesel) and headed for home.

The plan for dinner was to eat at the Hotel de France in Plousganou, but when I called to make a reservation, there was no room at the inn.  So on the way home we stopped at a fairly nondescript place, Cafe du Port, just a few kilometers from our house, and booked a table for 7:00 pm.  After a rest and a drink, we went back to the restaurant and had dinner on the terrace on a beautiful night.  We started with Kir Petillant cocktails:  sparkling wine from Saumer with raspberry liquor.  Elaine had a goat cheese salad for an appetizer while I enjoyed nine local oysters.  We both had the special for our main course – a beautifully prepared cod with an assortment of fresh vegetables.  This place, unassuming as it looked, may warrant a return visit next week.

Sunday will be a day at the horse races in Morlaix . On the way home from tonight’s meal, we stopped at the creperie/restaurant right in our town and booked a table for Sunday night.  This place is close enough that we can walk to dinner.

Next time, a retrospective on the ins and outs of renting a house on the internet.  See you then.