The reason I added the “HELP” is that like everything else, I’ve waited until the last minute to post this thread.
My wife and I are flying into Paris next Thursday (get there Friday) and have a day to kill before checking in for a week in Benodet. My wife had a cousin who was killed at Normandy and she would like to see the area, so we thought we’d stay the first night in Caen. On the way back we would like to spend a night in Chartres to see the cathedral.
Around Benodet we want to see the forest where King Arthur/Merlin lived, go to Carnac to see the megiliths, possibly visit an island off the coast (suggestions please), visit ChateauBriant (possibly for Wed. morning market). Any other information would be appreciated. I’ve surfed and found information, but there is nothing like the information dopers can supply.
the Bayeux tapestry is one of the things I kick myself about not having seen yet. It’s a 230 feet long embroidery describing the Norman invasion of England in 1066, with images of the ships being built, the Channel crossing, a sighting of Halley’s comet (not called Halley’s at the time), gory battle scenes and Willaim being crowned as king. And it was made shortly after the battle, i.e., it’s 900something years old.
The Breton coast is lovely. My parents (and I, when I was younger) have gone to Névez (just near Concarneau) pretty much every year since 1982. We don’t tend to do a great deal of seasoning, preferring to hang out on our favourte beach at Raguenès, or take walks and generally chill out. In May you may be lucky and get good weather or it could piss down like a bastard, so you might want stuff to do.
There’s good seafood, good cider, fab pancakes (buckwheat for savoury, wheatflour for sweet) and some nice dessert specialties (far - a v v thick set egg custardy thing, sometimes with prunes in it, and kouign amann - a buttery sugary pastry thing)
Bretons being proud Celts, there are Celtic folk festivals and music nights in most towns from time to time.
Near Bénodet, Concarneau is a nice town with a walled old town (and a good large branch of the Leclerc supermarket on the outskirts). Pont l’Abbé is pretty, and boasts the tallest of the traditional Breton lace hats, iirc. The Pointe du Raz is spectacular, if you like rocky coastlines with waves breaking onto them (which I do).
Gauguin lived and painted in Pont-Aven, but these days it’s full of shitty untalented artists selling ugly pictures of boats for too much money. There’s a nice biscuit manufacturer there, and as far as I know there’s still a lovely interiors shop called Idées.
If you have ever seen the Jacques Tati movie " Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday" you may well want to visit the small town of St. Marc where the film was made. The whole place is now dedicated to M. Hulot with a statue of him looking out to sea , the beach now named after him and with the hotel that featured in the film still there. The town is located to the west of St-Nazire and is a wonderful old fashioned sea-side resort.
