One of many revelations from my time at Proctor in France is the influence of ancient Celtic culture on this remote, western corner of coastal Europe. Every road sign in Brittany is written both in French and
Bretagne, a distinct language with more commonality to Welch, Gaelic and Cornish (the defunct language of southwestern England) than to French. The fact that Brittany was peopled by Bretons fleeing Cornwall in front of advancing Angles and Saxons in the 5th and 6th Centuries only reinforces the Celtic feel of the landscape.
In Bretagne, the word Douarnenez means "northern soil," and is the name of a city that prospered over centuries as a fishing center. Gallo-Romans built fish processing works here, and the city exploded with the sardine industry in the 19th Century.
We spent a day walking the self-guided "sardine trail" through the narrow streets of the old harbor.
Exhausted, we paused for a leisurely dinner at a fine restaurant, celebrating Leah's (above, orienting her map) 18th birthday, enjoying plates heaped with mussels, fried steak, pig cheeks and--of course--French fries.
Strolling just below the restaurant, we explored a recreated village sited on a clean spring-fed stream.
This attraction features an extensive working farm, featuring the privately owned livestock of locals.
I was happy to have already enjoyed my joues de porc before meeting this handsome, very friendly pig!
Next, we drove to the village of Locronan, the site of several movie scenes set in the Middle Ages.
Narrow streets, which swarm with tourists in the summer, are vacant today. Immense wisteria vines crawl horizontally across the fronts of homes and shops.
Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a regiment of cadets appears and assembles on the front steps of the church of Saint Ronan for a group photo.
We delay our departure long enough to watch and shoot our own photos.
Now, I travel to Segovia to spend a week at Proctor in Spain. I'll post a page on Wednesday, before we travel north on a five-day excursion to Basque country. Many thanks to Stacey, Eric and the students of Proctor in France for making this such a memorable and educational experience!!
