Blogs from Finistère, Brittany , France, Europe

Locronan is rated the most beautiful villages of France, and it is very pretty indeed! The village's name means the "hermitage of Ronan", possibly after the eponymous founder Saint Ronan who came to the region to teach the people around the 6th century. Since the 15th century, hemp has naturally grown in the area. It was cultivated and processed in a hemp industry in the town at the time, and it was widely used. The town was quite prosperous. but the village went quiet slowly once the industry withered. Eventually in the last few decades it attracted many film maker came to shoot their movie, the village itself also began to holding up some local handcrafts, together with the lovely surrounding, tiny Locronan now survive gracefully in tourism. But the main attraction in Locronan is the ... read more

The name Quimper comes from the Breton kemper "confluent" because the city was built on the confluence of the Steir, Odet and Jet rivers. The city is famous for its Quimper faience pottery, many old products are cast as collector item in the antique market. one could visit the Quimper faience museum in Locmaria. The Quimper old town are full of many pretty half-timbered houses and shops, and the huge two towers Cathedral of Saint-Corentin dominated the skyline of the city. I came through Quimper just for other festival event in further destination, so I didn't see that much of the city.... read more

Saturday, 26th April 2014 A windy and wet day greeted us this morning but by 1100 it eased a little and we set off for the markets in the town of Quimper just over 20kms away. This town is based around its cathedral as well as the Odet river with its charming bridges and gardens. The cobbled streets are lined with buildings made with timber frames and stone and cement filling them. Many are showing their age, with buildings askew or leaning over. After parking the car we made our way through the market, some stalls already closing as it was a morning market only. Rags became interested in some scallops as the price/kilogram seemed quite reasonable. Wrong! The price included the shell and after they were shucked by the friendly fishmonger he ended up ... read more

Plovan Tuesday 15th April 2014 This morning we woke quite early and Rags noticed that the kitchen windows were wide open. Imagine our shock when Elna, who had gone out to see Notre Dame in the evening, found the apartment full of gas when she returned at about midnight last night. We were all asleep and the stove had obviously not been turned off properly after cooking. She smelt it as soon as she walked in, turned it off and opened up the unit to air. Could have put an early end to our trip! Elna did comment wryly that if the worst had happened she at least would have had an extra couple of days in Paris. We lugged our gear to the nearest Metro station and made our way to the Budget car ... read more