Bread, however, is not the subject of this blog post! I figured I'd better post a bit about my Fall break! Sorcha (co-worker), Katie (co-worker), Rob (Katie's friend from the states), and I rented a car and went on a Road Trip (in true American fashion!) around Bretagne.
At the beginning of our break we took little day trips. Friday we weren't in the best of spirits - as a result of the rain I believe - but we made the most of it anyway. Bretagne is made up of a lot of small towns. Each town, more or less, has a small parish church (Enclos).
We went to Lampaul-guimilau first and saw the church there. It was so ornate that it looked more like a Greek Orthodox church than a simple country catholic parish. There was a big pipe organ in the back. And an ornate Baptistry to the left. Stations of the cross were carved and painted into a beam across the nave of the church. At each end of the beam were dragon mouths. On top of the beam was a crucifix and two women on either side of the cross. On the underside of the beam angels were carved - catching the blood of Jesus. The front alters had very detailed carvings as well - of course more bibical stories. We took our time to look carefully at all of this.
Then we went to Guimilau to see the Parish church there. We went through this one much more quickly - even though it was the larger of the two. Although some of the decorations were different this church was almost a carbon copy of the other one. Apparently if you see one you've seen them all.
We visited an old farm where I believe they harvested apples and made Cidre (famous in Brittany) back in the day. It was a neat place but since they are only open in the summer we didn't know exactly what we were looking at.
We also went to a bare 'mountain' (about 1800 feet altitude I think...they call it a mountain but it's just a big hill...) that had a single small church at the top. You can see a bit of an old stone foundation left over from other buildings. Again I don't know what these things were...I need to look it up. From the top of the 'mountain' was great views of 'one of the wildest parts of Brittany.' The landscape here was much different from the green wooden areas that we had been to earlier. The shift in landscape was very sudden and I'm not sure what causes it.Saturday we went to a small town the west of Brest, Le Conquet. We had a picnic on the beach and watched the surfers! La Conquet is a cute little town and if I had a car I would live there and commute to Brest. In the off-season there is a farm house that you can rent. We are thinking about celebrating Christmas together there before we all head our separate ways for the holidays.
Sunday we headed off for the rest of the week. On our way to the western most point in France (Pointe du Raz) we passed through two charming towns. Chateaulin had a river running through it lined with trees dropping their gorgeous fall leaves. It was so nice to see the effects of Fall! Living in grey, cement covered Brest I have really been missing my favorite season! We also went to Locronan where I found some great beers and cidres made in Brest as well as an amazing bookstore. There was a book filled with Breton Folksongs (unfortunately I didn't buy it...). 
Pointe du Van and Pointe du Raz where very impressive. It was very windy and misting which was quite only added to the strength of the waves crashing against the rocks. At Pointe du Raz it started raining and by the time we got back to the car we were drenched. The whole time out there I was thinking that this was the closest I can get to the US for a while...The rest of our trip included a visit to Quimper, Rennes (where we had the most delicious dinner of my life), Le Mont St Michel and St. Malo.
I'm really glad that we chose to travel within Brittany for this vacation. It was very interesting to see the Breton culture and learn more about the area where I am living. In Brest I feel pretty oblivious to the Breton spirit and cultural history. However, I am hoping to explore Brest more in the coming months and hopefully learn to appreciate this city more.
I'm already working on that... The day before we left for our trip I went for a morning run and stumbled into, what I'm going to call, "my magical world." To be a little nerdy, it was like I was in the Chronicles of Narnia and walked into a whole different world. Brest is all gray buildings, few trees, a few pretty gardens in the houses fortunate enough to have gardens. Brest is more industrial, commericialized and far from being quaint. I had found a road that was a little bit quieter to run down. Lots of trees with the leaves changing etc... In any case...while I was on the return route I noticed a little stone wall with a walk way around it. I thought "good place to stop and stretch quickly." While stretching I notice that this walkway turns into a path behind some apartment buildings.
Naturally, I abandon my planned route and follow this path. Perhaps it is just a sidewalk going down to the apartments. Looks a bit like a bike or walking trail and a potentially good place to run. Then a few meters later I'm in this old park! The paths diverge and wind around and go to little hidden staircases and ramps. There are a few playgrounds and of course benches all over the place. There are old fountains that I imagine haven't had water in them for a while. There is some graffiti but it only adds a bit of character :-) It's certainly a run down place but it is exactly what I've been looking for. I wonder if more people frequent this park on Sundays or in the afternoons.
The paths were covered in leaves and it is a bit slippery but I managed to stay on my feet... There were so many different paths that I'm not sure how I found my way out. I do know that I had come out at a different street i would have been completely lost. It was a bit creepy how deserted it was. I saw one lady walking her dog and she seemed to look at me a bit suspiciously. I thought for a moment that maybe it's a private park...but there were no signs indicating Private.
Hopefully the rain will stop long enough for me to go back there soon... ;-)
1 comment:
The park sounds lovely. Pictures soon? You know how I am about photographic proof. :)
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