Cancale for an oyster lunch was first on the to-do list, so we jumped in the cars for the half hour ramble through the countryside to the coast. Nita packed a long a basket of cidre, wine and other essentials to make our seaside lunch more pleasant. Swooping the stalls, we all sat down on the sea wall to entertain France with our very best raccoon impersonations. We got a thumbs up from the nice lady I like to buy oysters from when she saw us opening bottles of cidre and wine so I guess we are doing it right.
 |
| Whats left of a dozen oysters. Damn raccoons... |
 |
| Doing it right with cidre and wine! |
 |
| My personal oyster pro. |
After a stroll down the boardwalk, we trooped back to the cars and split up for the rest of the day. Michael, Donna, Kim and Ryan headed off for Mont-Saint-Michel while Nita and I explored Cancale city center.
It didn't take long.
Cancale proper is quaint as hell with an adorable little town square at the foot of the church. We threw the Peugeot into the church parking lot and took a stroll about the town. Second lunch was quick but tasty bar sammiches and Breton Cola. Tasty stuff.
 |
| Baguette sammich and a Breton Cola. |
 |
| Cathedral in Cancale |
 |
| The Oyster Women of Cancale |
On the way home from Cancale we got all adventurous and detoured to the tiny village of Lehon. From looking at the map, it seems that Lehon is just a short distance from Dinan. Well it is. Its about 10 feet from Dinan but took us a while of wandering down random roads to find it.
Lehon is the site of a fort dating back to a mott and bailey structure in the 10th cent. Over the centuries, the fortifications were improved to full stone fortifications. At some point, the Duke of Brittany gave the fort to the Abbot of Lehon who gleefully started pulling it down to use the stones for repairing and enlarging the Abbey of Lehon in the river valley below.
 |
| Fortress of Lehon |
The Abbey of Lehon is a beautiful cluster of stone and slate huddled along the river Rance. Closed for the season we could not tour the abbey buildings proper, but the cloister gardens and small cathedral were open for a stroll. The gardens were still in flower and the sound of the bees on the mint was noticeable from 10 feet away. We walked about the gardens, ancient stone buttresses above our heads, the sun and clouds playing tricks with shadows. It is a very beautiful and somber place.
In the small cathedral, 10th century artifacts are still used for daily mass. Tombs of local knights line each wall, their effigies carved from local granite while a gold and mica panel reliquary holding the bones of a couple unnamed saints.
We had the abbey and cathedral all to ourselves. No other tourists, workers, locals. Just us. It was a very special time.
Walking down to the river from the abbey we found the river Rance mooching along the valley bottom. Along the way we found a house with the oddest, copper scallop shell roofing over its porch. I have been ordered to recreate that effect on our house in Shawnee. (Fine, but its gonna wear the numbers right off the American Express)
 |
| Copper shellfish roofing. We want this... |
Lehon is the location of one of the small locks that control access up and down the Rance. As we watched, a small boat sailed into the lock to begin the transfer to Dinan. Time was pressing so we left them to their work and make our way back to the car.
 |
| Private boat heading for the lock. |
Donna was tucked into bed and the rest of us went to the port for dinner. 2 bottles of wine and a lazy dinner later we made it back home to bed.
Another magical freaking day!
No comments:
Post a Comment