3 days in St.Brieuc, Bretagne

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We spent 3 days at St.Brieuc, Marion's maternal grandparents' place, right on the coast of Brittany. Getting there was quite simple using Frances tolled highways part of the time. Driving along the North-western regions along the coast with a bit of atlantic breeze proved to be a blessing. It was about 10 degrees cooler then the rest of France, which was going through a heatwave.

Apparently France takes the heatwave so seriously that all working people are required by law to donate all their earnings from one work day of the year towards the costs of easing and remedying heatwave conditions, which causes the death of 10s of victims every year, usually older people living in bad conditions, etc.

Marion's sister Pascal, her husband Patrick and their daughter Briana were also at Marion's grandparents', so we got to spend a bit of time with them at the beach. It was Zak's birthday on Sunday, and we had some cake and a nice dinner. Actually, they were all nice dinners! The french have a way of eating so much without putting on the weight that Americans generally do. It probably has a lot to do with how the food is being eaten - with lots of conversation, in parts over a period of time, with wine.

Marion's grandfather is almost 90 years old, and looks fit and healthy for his age, with a full head of hair. His secret must be his routine of combing his hair before dinner.

Marion's grandparents have a well-tended garden full of flowers, herbs, veggies and fruits! We ate daily from their garden: courgettes (squash), carrots, beans, potatoes, marmalade from their raspberries, etc. They were Parisians to start with, but retired to St.Brieuc more than 30 years ago, and are really happy living a life in the country-side.

St.Brieuc was mostly rest and relaxation for us. The Les Rosaires beach was close by. We weren't going to try to hard to do any touristing... besides, Zak really needed to rest his hands which were acting up due to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. He had been diagnosed with having CTS in late January, while on tour, performing in the Swiss alps with Joyce Hurley. CTS is caused by repetitive-movement stress, and a nerve which goes through the inside of the wrist to fingers gets choked and damaged. There is a strange combination of numbness and extreme pain, and swelling at night. Basically, if it ever gets to a point you have CTS, massage makes it worse, and stretching will imobilize you for a few days. There is nothing to do but leave it alone and rest. Unfortunately, Zak hadn't taken the advice of several doctors and rested, because the CTS came at a time when he was having a very intense period of concerts and gigs. In fact, we had started this tour the day after Zak completed this period of intense playing. So driving for hours, holding the arms and wrists in a static position was the worst thing to do, and began to exacerbate his condition.

Rest was needed.

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Photos

Marion with grandparents
Gramps (not Zak) trying out the motorcycle