Sticks 'N Stones

On Monday morning, July 27, it was time to depart from Quimper and head to our next base, Vannes, which is the prefecture for the southernmost of Brittany's four departments, Morbihan. As was briefly mentioned in an earlier posting, we were shortening our stay in Vannes from three nights to two nights. Logistically, this meant that we would have one full day to explore Vannes and had to select any other "must see" sites in Morbihan from what could be done during our drive from Quimper to Vannes and from Vannes back to Rennes.

There were lots of things to choose from: well-preserved medieval villages; the Bay of Morbihan and its islands; castles, preserved and otherwise; coastal fishing ports and beaches. It was a menu with too many choices. Ultimately, we decided we'd already had the pleasure of seeing lots of castles and a variety of coastal features, and Vannes promised to deliver more "sticks" (half-timbered buildings) for us to appreciate. It made the most sense to head for something more unique, the very old "stones" to be found in Carnac and Monteneuf.

Morbihan is home to the world's largest concentration of megalithic sites in one place. Huge collections of standing stones, erected in the Neolithic Period over 6,000 years ago, still dot the landscape. The biggest and most famous of these megalithic sites is the "Carnac alignments", a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the coast near the town of Carnac, about 66 miles from Quimper and 20 miles from Vannes. Roughly 3,000 stones are erected in precise alignments within several distinct groups that overall span roughly four kilometers in length. The first formal protection of the Carnac alignments didn't come until 1889, as before that, the sites had been subject to quarrying, road building, and neglect. Even since 1889 restoration has been piecemeal, and more about documentation and preserving what is left, rather than full reconstruction of the Neolithic status of the site. The site currently has a Visitor Center and Museum. Walking the perimeter of the site was free; it was only guided tours that had a charge.

The meaning behind the stones and their arrangement is not yet known. There are no apparent links to astronomical entities such as the sun, moon, or stars. 

A panoramic view of one grouping known as "Le Menec", named for the adjacent village,
with over 1000 stones in a distance of 950 meters.

A closer look gives a better idea of how the standing stones (menhirs, which is Breton for 
"long stone") are aligned. 

The Kemario grouping.

A Dolmen, a collective tomb, which was a very common type of burial place in the Neolithic
age. It is missing the stone monument (cairn) that would typically cover such burial places.

The Saint-Michel tumulus is a Neolithic burial mound upon which a small chapel was
built in the mid-17th century. It is the largest grave mound in continental Europe.

Carnac is not just the location of Neolithic rocks. It is a resort town in its own right, with several beaches, marinas, and a long, waterfront promenade.

 

Top: when the tide is out, the boats rest on the mud.
Bottom left: the beach expands and exposes edible snails (periwinkles) should a beachgoer care to
to search. Bottom right: our first ever use of a tourist train, done in the name of expedience to
 get a general view of the surrounding area in the available time, and not a bow to geezerhood.

Despite it being a Monday, a day when many restaurants are closed, we were able to find an open bistro so that we could eat before continuing on to Vannes.

Vannes, like Quimper, was fortunate to escape significant damage in WWII. This means that the old city has much that is still authentically medieval. Of special note, Vannes still retains about 75% of its original ramparts, a section of which dates back to 3rd century Roman construction. 

Top: the section of the ramparts stretching from the 15th C. Connetable Tower (in the distance)
to the--also 15th C.--Joliette Tower. This section contains some Gallo-Roman elements.
Bottom left: Joliette Tower to the Prison Town Gate.
Bottom right: the "French gardens" create a large park between ramparts and water.

The Castle of Hermine was a small, fortified castle that had been integrated into the ramparts of
Vannes, and served as the main residence of the Dukes of Brittany in the late 14th and 15th
centuries. Although the building above is called by that name, it is in no way the same 14th building.
The original castle on the site was completely dismantled and demolished in the 17th and 18th C. 
The current building was constructed in 1785 and used as a hotel. Since 1976 it has been the property
of the city of Vannes and is obviously receiving a huge influx of renovation money.

We welcomed ourselves to Vannes with some refreshment at a cafe
in Place des Lices, a square created during the 14th C. It is now the
city's market square, but was formerly the site of tournaments.

Lon beckons from the window of our Airbnb apartment on the 3rd (and
top) floor of a 17th C. half-timbered building in Vannes. The building
was immediately adjacent to the 17th C. Saint Vincent town gate. The
view from the window on this side was toward the old town.

Left: the "other" side (front) of the Saint-Vincent Town Gate. The window of our apartment
is circled in blue at the upper right of the photo.
Right: our view of the city port from that blue-circled window. There were quite a few
restaurants in Place Gambetta, but the well-insulated windows kept the noises at bay.

The original Roman port in Vannes was slightly further inland. Due to silting issues, the port
shifted to this location in the Middle Ages. In 1697, King Louis XIV donated the stone of the
ruined Castle of Hermine for use in the redevelopment of the quays. Commercial shipping
ultimately declined, and the port was developed into a modern marina. Because the waters are
tidal, a lock system had to be installed downriver to ensure that boats would stay afloat at low tide.

Outside the ramparts, the medieval city disappears and the town planning ideas of the 18th
and 19th centuries are evident. That includes the late 19th century Town Hall, a smaller copy
of the Hotel de Ville in Paris.

There are lots of "sticks" in the plethora of half-timbered buildings in the medieval center. The
13th century belfry of the Cathedral Saint Pierre rises above it all.

To the left, the Town Gate Prison, of the 13th and 15th centuries, was one of the most important
components of the city fortifications. When it was built it was called "Porte St. Patern", opening
as it did into the St. Patern neighborhood (photo at right). The name of the tower changed when
it was used as a prison in the 18th century. The St. Patern neighborhood is in the location of the
original Roman settlements, and is now a popular restaurant and entertainment area.

Inhabitants of Vannes in the 19th century started calling these two figures "Vannes and his wife."
What they represented when they were first created no one seems to know.

The walk around central Vannes had only consumed Tuesday's morning hours. Although it was getting to be rather hot, we decided to walk down the port quay for about 30 minutes to see what could be seen and possibly opt for an afternoon cruise on the Gulf of Morbihan. We walked as far as a brewpub that overlooked the mouth of the Marle River before it empties into the Gulf. The tide was out and a fair amount of unattractive mud was the main impression. Over cold drinks and a snack in what looked like new development, we pondered whether we were up to being a captive audience for three hours exposed to the sun on the deck of a tour boat. Heading back to the apartment and taking it easy during the heat of the day won out.

Dinner on Tuesday night was at a restaurant in the old town where skewers
were the order of the day. The shrimp certainly looked impressive, but by 
the time heads and tails were removed there was disappointingly little to eat.
At lower right is ratatouille, the French ideal of a vegetable accompaniment,
and my idea of mush.

Our train from Rennes to Paris was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 29. The drive to the train station to return the car was only about 1.5 hours, so with a sufficiently early departure (although not TOO early) we were able to make one intermediate stop. Apparently, we hadn't had enough of rocks when we visited Carnac, because another crop of standing stones was available to visit just off our driving route.

The Menhirs de Monteneuf were discovered in 1986, with archeological excavations beginning in 1989. This all seems rather recent for something so significant as a collection of Neolithic age standing stones. They remained hidden for so long for a couple of reasons. First, around the 10th century, religious authorities viewed the stones as pagan symbols and ordered them to be torn down. After that, nature took over in the moorland and buried the fallen stones under dense vegetation. The several acre site contains over 400 stones, of which only three were still standing in the 1980s. When archeologists finally examined the site, their excavations revealed that the original packing stones and pits were intact underground. The subsequent research gave archeologists enough information to re-erect 42 of the main stones where they stood 6,500 years ago. Many more stones remain fallen and/or buried, waiting for additional funding and research.

A view of the site. An interpretive trail has been created on the archeological site and entry
was free of charge. As with Carnac, guided tours carried a fee, but as they were given in French
when we were there we didn't bother.

Top: Lon is included in the photo for size comparisons.
Bottom: some standing stones, but many more remain fallen.

Left: Mother Nature keeping a tight grip on a stone.
Upper right: a burial site.
Lower right: a reconstruction of how stones would have been moved and erected.

An hour after arrival we were back on the road and on our way to Rennes. Our train travel went seamlessly, and we were back on CARIB by 8 p.m. that evening. The next two days were busy with preparation to receive prospective buyers for CARIB who were flying in from Canada to look at her on August 1. As I am slightly superstitious that "it ain't over 'til it's over", I will only say that we now have an active "Memoradum of Agreement" to purchase in hand. If all goes as we hope and anticipate that it will, the sale should be completed and ownership transferred before we return to Florida on September 30.

Meanwhile, we are using the time to do some of the touch-ups that we would normally do at the end of a cruising season. We've also been socializing with other boaters who are also captives of the drought-related waterway closures.

Last Friday night (Aug. 7) a group of Aussies, Kiwis, and Yankees got together at "Angel's
Pizza" here at TSNI Marine.

On Saturday, we went into town to check out this year's sound and light show at several venues around Toul. We weren't quite as impressed as we were last year, but perhaps that's because it's not new to us this year. We also had to share it with a lot more people, as a Saturday night concert in the garden of the City Hall had brought in quite a crowd.

Upper: the Jardin des Poetes (Garden of Poets)
Lower Left: Front facade of the Cathedral.
Lower Right: center of the Cathedral cloisters.

Upper: Gallery of the Cathedral cloisters.
Lower Left: City Hall Garden.
Lower Right: Cloisters of Collegiale Saint-Gengoult.

We're off next week for a road trip to rural Luxembourg.