Postcards From Susan: Arriving in Brittany

On August 9 we left the Vendee for Brittany, the land of cheese, butter and King Arthur. We are staying in the charming home of Mark Greenside, who wrote "I'll Never Be French." We are cozy and comfortable in our village of 500. The weather is a bit disconcerting -- heavy clouds and overcast, but fairly warm temperatures; an unusual combination.

The house itself is delightful -- larger than we had expected, two bedrooms and two baths, with a library/parlor and a large back room, with six fireplaces. This room was once a cafe, when the river across the street was a going commercial concern. Outside is a large lawn on either side, with a potager (kitchen garden) on one side.

The potager features leeks, onions, squash, beets, potatoes, several kinds of lettuce, and a few things I can't identify.

So far we have only gotten settled -- we've been to an antique marche and the weekly food and household marche that features all manner of local foods from vegetables to fruits, cheeses to sausages, meats to fish, ladies unmentionables to shoes and handbags. There was even a mobile nursery, complete with seeds, tools, flowers and full grown trees.

We found a rotisserie chicken and roast potatoes at one stand, and two fragrant melons at another (one for tonight, the other for tomorrow night, said the man). And of course, bread and cake from the boulangerie. I tried one of the local specialties, "far breton", a kind of pudding cake, with cherries. It is quite popular around here, and people swoon over it, but I found it a little bland and uninteresting. No doubt more research is required.

Yes, this is where to buy our undies!

Shoes

Hats and bags

A nursery in the foreground, a tablecloth store in the background

The market across the river

A small "far breton" with cherries

Last night we went off to Locronan, a medieval village, which we had been told would have an artisan's crafts fair. The local literature said it would begin at 8 PM. we arrived a bit after, the sun still well up in the sky, and the parkinglots all but full. The town was awash in people; at some points it was easier to drift along with the throng rather than try to make for a specific destination. There were some artisans around, but mostly it was the art of retailing. We came away with a large meringue ("nature" meaning with no flavoring) and a packet of colored meringues -- I've never seen any like them before. Each one appears to have a bit of food coloring swirled in it, and a drop of one essence or another. As a certified meringue fan, I will sacrifice myself in the name of research.

The church above (closed); a type of hurdy-gurdy machine below; the box of books actually contains the music for the hurdy-gurdy, which plays the stiff pages like a player piano plays a tape.

A very busy lady making crepes; not shown: the hoard awaiting service.

Below, a harp student playing a borrowed Irish harp, for contributions towards her own.

An interesting accordion instrument. Some of the crowd were moved to start a folk dance around the musicians.

Every kind of sausage imaginable, including curly ones.

The colored and "nature" meringues

The prize: a kouign amann cake. Made with butter, flour (twice as much butter as flour) and sugar. Yum.

Today it was off to Quimper. Our real reason for the trip was to get a printer so that we can print out some business papers requiring signature, and then scan and email them back to the US. One might have thought that faxing would be the way to go, or even faxing and then overnight mail. But one would be wrong. Incoming faxes cost about $6 a page; outgoing about $13. An overnight envelope from here to there -- $100. For about the same we got the printer/scanner/copier, paper and accessories. France, ya gotta love it.

So Quimper, the closest small city. We went first to the printer store, Darty, and pondered our purchase. As we were getting the last few items together, the salesmen came up to remind us that it was time to close the store for lunch. Now. At least this meant that speed records would be set in ringing us up and sending us out the door.

The off to Quimper proper, which we have visited before. This time our objective was lunch, a trip through the church which had been undergoing renovations when we visited last, and then the faience museum. Lunch turned out to be good but unremarkable steak frites in the center square of old town, positively crawling with tourists. The church was open, but preparing for a concert. The museum, requiring a drive down the river, was inexplicably closed. But we browsed the neighboring faience stores anyway, where a simple mug with a breton figure on it would cost 29 euros, about $40. We did find the lovely Locamarie church next door however, which was worth the trip.