A drive through north-west France

[TheRealTMA]

Cancale this morning for huitres . Then into St Malo for moules for lunch.

Washed down with a good Sancerre I hope!

 

[Quickstatus]

detect actual agriculture

Typically it would be botanical remains - say storage of seed, evidence of irrigation, maybe cave or stone art about those activities, farming tools.

Have you visited Gobekli Tepe - another Neolithic site with lots of megaliths?
Apparently safe despite the juxtaposition with Syria

 

[RooFlyer]

Have you visited Gobekli Tepe - another Neolithic site with lots of megaliths?

Definitely on the list. I think it’s the very earliest evidence of any sort of building or construction.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Definitely on the list. I think it’s the very earliest evidence of any sort of building or construction.

Not sure about that. There are a few old buildings in our suburb.

 

[RooFlyer]

Cancale this morning for huitres . Then into St Malo for moules for lunch.

Correction - moules out of season. Had a Galette saucisse instead.

 

[RooFlyer]

Then onto the Sofitel at Quiberon. One night, tried for it to be two, but couldn't and so glad of that.



Bad start when I followed the signs on the street to the wrong entrance. There are three - old wing (where I was at then), the 'Insititue' (a health spa) and the 'new wing' where my reservation was. I actually had to drive across to the other reception.

Check-in, continued bad start; my room key didn't work (and it was a long way back to reception) and they also told me then that they gave me the wrong boom gate access card. But then things brightened, with the room







But went backwards again when I discovered there was no aircon and this is what a Sofitel could manage as a welcome to a Plat - a 'Cher Member' typed card and a Sofitel luggage tag!

As I said, the hotel was built in 2 or 3 stages. My wing, 'Ocean' was built later and is only open in Summer. All the restaurants and barrs are located at the far end of the original wing - 250m from reception and 300m+ from my room!! And not straightforward - you have to navigate up and down stairs, twisting corridors through the health spa part to get there. Whoever thought that was a good idea shouldn't be in hotels.



I went into town for some supplies. Quiberon is a sea-side holiday place, bit it didn't hold much attraction for me.



Snacks on my terrace. No saucers for cups that I could use for a plate nor any glasses other than some tumblers.



I planned to go to nice place in town for dinner and even started perusing the menu



Ordered Uber, ut it never found a driver. Uber here hooks into the local taxis, but no-one accepted the 2 attempts I tried. So I went to the bar for the snack menu but even that was depressing, so I ended up having more snacks in my room.



Indoor pool



The hotel from the sea-side. My room far right; restaurants and bars far left. Obstacle course in the middle.



SO this Sofitel was the worst I have ever been in. So relieved I didn't go the second night!

 

[RooFlyer]

Next day's destination was Josselin, another scenic medieval town. I had planned for a late departure from the Sofitel, but couldn't wait to leave, so I went exploring for some more dolmens.




First stop the dolmen de Crucuno. Easy to find, and there it is - just up against a cottage.





Then, the dolmen de Mane Kerioned. Just sitting by the side of the road, unsigned, unfenced with parking 50m away. I think its bizarre you have such a significant neolithic site with no protections, couldn't-care-less. I guess just show how many sites there are.

Actually 3 dolmens and formerly buried within a tumulus. In recent time, just the capstones were exposed. From Wikipedia



Showing 1 and 3



Number 2 (or B) ... looks interesting!



At this point I was wondering what I should do. Could be anything in there. Are there wolves in France? Homeless person?



I edged in, using my phone torch - really wished I brought a torch on my trip - I usually do. Iphone brings things up lighter than in reality - it was very gloomy.



But then - noticed the carvings on the stone on the right.



Further in and my eyes were getting used to the dimness and I could make out further carvings at the end. Using a flash.





Flash:



I didn't go in any further - it was still very dim and my mining heritage still makes me wary of unknown underground spaces. But I really regret it now. There are more carvings in there - this from the Wikipedia article.


Par L’auteur n’a pas pu être identifié automatiquement. Il est supposé qu'il s'agit de : Alreen~commonswiki (étant donné la revendication de droit d’auteur). — La source n’a pas pu être reconnue automatiquement. « Travail personnel » supposé (étant donné la revendication de droit d’auteur)., CC BY-SA 3.0, File:Gravure.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

The archaeological material found in dolmen B included bone fragments, two terracotta beads (one perforated and reddish in color, one polished and blackish in color), and a red quartz nodule. Dolmen C yielded only a few pottery fragments and a flint knife

The other dolmens

 

[RooFlyer]

Josselin - loved it. Little medieval town, laid back, with chateau etc.

I stayed 2 nights at a B&B - Le 14 St Michel

https://www.le14stmichel.com/language/en/home/

I was a little concerned in the lead-up, as the hostess, Vivienne only ever replied in French (I write in English, with a version in French from Google translate). But I needent have worried. She was a lovely host - in fact judged my French proficiency well, spoke French a bit slowly etc and even gently corrected my French, very kindly.



My room was at the back on the 1st floor, overlooking the garden











View from the bathroom.



No aircon as expected but no fridge in the room, which was a disappointment. And I must say the house was rather - sometimes very - noisy. Now with a B&B you share the house of your host so you have to take it as it comes, but in this case I suspect the hosts were having their 3 grandkids - aged say 4 to 8 - for the weekend, and they were indulged, of course. But really noisy - like playing and squealing up and down the stairs, even in the evening. They were in the room above me, so running back and forth on the wooden floors.

Also, there is a park just through the trees at the back, which seemed to be a location for school events - again, noisy schoolkids until it started to get dark at 10pm.

Parking was on the street - very close except I had to move the first night as there was the market on the next morning, but I could park within 10 mins.

Brekkie - not as elaborate as some places, but very nice. Pastries, a crepe, juices, coffee and yoghurt or fruit.



Overlooking the garden

 

[RooFlyer]

The market Saturday morning, scattered around the central part of the town.













I bought two punnets of strawberries - perfectly, naturally ripe, and got a small punnet of ripe raspberries thrown in. They were very ripe and I suspect on their last commercial legs, but still delicious.



Josselin, population 2,500 has 2 post offices and a fleet of mail trucks?

 

[RooFlyer]

Winding back - I had a walk around the town on arrival - check-in is 4pm but I asked and was OKed to drop my bags off at 1pm as I didn't want them in my car while parked on the street. This approved and then I found my room ready at that time.

Lots of maisons à colombages but unfortunately most of the town was decked out with this bunting. Some I've tried to remove with iPhone 'clean-up'. May be commemorating '1,000 years of history'.







I walked down the slope to the River Oust, or rather the Nantes-Brest Canal. The canal was built between 1820 and 1850 but ceased being able to be used commercially in the 1930s. On the shore of the canal is Josselin Castle, which I visited the next day.





A bridge



An old mill



One of the chateau entrances





Hotel de Ville - or rather, the 'mairie' in this case.

 

[RooFlyer]

I went looking for this place and found it 20 steps from the B&B. It was built in 1538 - almost 30 years before Shakespeare was born. Reputed to be the oldest house in the town.



Two greyhounds



Dog chasing a fox



Dragons

 

[RooFlyer]

On the recommendation of my B&B host, I had dinner at Chez Simon, not far away.

Restaurant Chez Simon | Josselin

Restaurant Chez Simon, Josselin. 1,480 likes · 11 talking about this · 141 were here. Restaurant bistronomique, produits frais, de saison, et locaux

www.facebook.com

Good choice - I had a table at the courtyard at the back; it was a warm evening.







Foie gras (again)



Bravette Angus

 

[RooFlyer]

Some laps of the neighbourhood after dinner.





The house of porches or Morice House - first mentioned in 1584 and restored 2011-15. On rue Olivier-de-Clisson, again, within steps of the B&B.

Restauration de la Maison des Porches - Josselin (56)

En 2015, la Maison des Porches a retrouvé les éléments caractéristiques d'un des derniers exemplaires de maison à porche dans le Morbihan

www.josselin.com

 

[ellen10]

What a beautiful little town. I love a French food market and ripe strawberries!
And the food at the restaurant, yum!! and my favourite foie gras.

 

[FlyingFiona]

Josselin looks like it's trapped in a beautiful time warp

 

[RooFlyer]

A trip to the SE next morning, after the markets, to see the menhirs of Monteneuf and the little town of Malestroit.



The menhirs of Monteneuf are a collection of 500, but not all erected in prehistoric times. Set in a forest, with a winding walk around the various sites.

The vegetation hides most of the menhirs, but there are clearings





What it may have looked like



At another site, they have some displays illustrating how the stones were transported, and erected.

 

[SYD]

View attachment 510826

That looks like a tank trap! A couple of thousand years too early.

But seriously, quite different to the typical clock/calendar stone circles.

 

[RooFlyer]

Then onto Malestroit - another pretty town with medieval buildings.



Overall, not up to the standard of Josselin. There was a market on, but pretty poor. This was the best building, 'La Truie qui file' or 'The spinning sow', with some marvellous wooden carvings. Recently restored.



A hare playing the bagpipes.



The said spinninf sow






Its also on the River Ouest / the Nantes-Brest canal with a lock and many barges/houseboats upstream. Did you go here @Jacques Vert ?

 

[RooFlyer]

The church also with some interesting carvings, surviving from a previous version of the church



Man riding a lion, and an acrobat



Mills on the river. Formerly in the hands of noble families, from the 12th century, now only one active mill, in private hands.

 

[RooFlyer]

Back to Josselin and I was intending to take a tour or the Chateau, but found out it was only in French, until the summer. Their web site doesn't mention that. The tours go to upstairs areas not accessible by general entry, but I found the areas I wanted to see are on the ground floor, so no worries.

Josselin chateau

Josselin Castle is a medieval castle at Josselin, in the Morbihan department of Brittany, France, first built in 1008 by Guéthénoc, viscount of Porhoët. The town and castle were named after Guéthénoc's son, Goscelinus, and rebuilt at various times since. The current castle was built by Olivier V de Clisson after 1370. He had acquired the land as part of the dowry on his marriage to Margaret of Rohan.

The Rohan family still live here, although there have been interruptions.

The site chosen for the castle was excellent from both military and commercial points of view. Since the 9th century, there had also existed an annual pilgrimage in September to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Bramble, which added greatly to the wealth of the lords and people of Josselin.

In 1154, Odo II, Viscount of Porhoët, step-father, guardian and regent of the young Conan IV, Duke of Brittany, collected the Breton lords to deprive Conan of his inheritance, but was defeated by Henry II of England, who was also Count of Anjou, whose protection Conan had sought. Henry married his fourth son, Geoffrey, to Conan's only child, Constance, Duchess of Brittany, and Henry and his son pulled Josselin Castle down in 1168 and 1175. Henry II himself led the demolition and sowed salt into the ruins.

During the Breton War of Succession (1341–1364), the garrison of Josselin fought the defenders of the nearby Castle of Ploërmel without any clear outcome. To break the impasse, the Battle of the Thirty was arranged, contested by thirty knights from each side, and took place on 26 March 1351 halfway between the two places. The men of Josselin defeated the champions of Ploërmel, who were four Bretons, six Germans and twenty Englishmen.

In 1370 the Breton soldier Olivier V de Clisson (1336–1407), later Constable of France, acquired the lordship of Josselin and built an imposing new fortress with eight towers and a keep one hundred yards across. He married his daughter Beatrice to Alain VIII of Rohan, heir to the viscounts of Rohan, whose own castle was not far away.

This chateau has some serious heritage.

In the 18th century, the castle was no longer occupied as a seat of power, and during the years of the French Revolution and the First French Empire it became a prison and a warehouse. In 1822, Caroline, Duchess of Berry, persuaded the then Duke of Rohan, Louis-François de Rohan-Chabot to restore it.

The castle remains a residence of Josselin de Rohan, fourteenth Duke of Rohan, who was President of the region of Brittany from 1998 to 2004. A marble bust of the 13th Duke, Alain Louis Auguste de Rohan-Chabot, sculpted in 1910 by Auguste Rodin, is displayed in the antechamber, and there is also an equestrian statue of Olivier de Clisson.

Drawing room. 16th century fireplace. with Rohan motto 'A plus' above it.





Clock presented by Louis XV to Rohan ancestors.





The library - over 3,000 vols, mostly 19th century, but some much older.



A 'step table' - table converts into a ladder.



Gotta cram those portraits in somehow ..