Bretagne

Like many a traveller, I'm having some trouble getting the blog thing together. It doesn't help that computer access is limited en plein compagne. Today I'm at a public library that is only open for one hour! That aside, this is a very beautiful part of the world. We passed the first week at Cherrieux near the northern coast of Brittany near Mont Saint Michel. The weather has been mostly horrible and we heard that there was a mini- tornado west from here. Rain, crazy windy, power outages, we,ve had them all. But we remain optimistic. The attempt to speak French continually leads to some interesting group dynamics - occasionally nobody seems to be in agreement about what is happening next. But it certainly gives a radical boost to vocabulary and verbal skills. For me, the most interesting thing so far is learning about French customs around food and social activity. Lots of pitfalls there. As for the gite experience, it's amazing. The accommodations are pristine, modern if not downright luxurious. They fairly isolated as things go with a bit of a hike to the nearest village, but splendidly tranquil and picturesque. Lots of dairy farming here and in the stores and restaurants there are lots of Breton specialties. The group favorite is the Breton galette, like a huge crepe with cheese or sausage or mushrooms or eggs or various combinations of the above. Seafood is available on the coast and its fresh and wonderful. In fact just about everything is like that in the food department - food as religion almost - so French.

The first week we visited Mt. St. Michel and the weather was almost warm that day. After that was St. Malo where we saw the spot where Jacques Cartier received his marching orders to find the New World. It isn't hard to believe that many of the early settlers came from this part of the world since the buildings are all in the same style.

Tomorrow we visit the Foret de Paimpont, Merlin's hangout where Arthur received his sword from the Lady of the Lake. Legends abound as one can imagine.