Steampunk, Carnac, and crepes - 3 November 19

First stop this morning was Les Machines de I'lle. Basically, it's Jules Verne's notebooks and ideas, come to life. This includes a 3 story tall steampunk elephant that carries up to 50 people for a stroll around the shipping yards. It's a weird combination of engineering and puppetry. Most the exhibit/show is in French so we didn't understand a ton, but it's still worth a visit.

Around the corner we stopped off for a coffee and the local Breton pastry, kouign amann a sort of sugary, buttery, laminated bread/croissant thing. This one was pretty pale but very tasty. My understanding is that they are supposed to be fairly dark - almost burnt looking.

Breakfast complete, we started on our trip to Carnac and ultimately on to Quimper. We picked our way to the seaside and drove through Porchinet. This sea side resort reminded me of a very cold looking Miami Beach from the 40s and 50s. We saw many kite and sail boarders taking advantage of the winds left over from the tropical storm that apparently blew through just south of us.

We arrived in Carnac just in time for the sprinkles to start again. We headed into the monolith visitors center to learn more about this area. Carnac is the largest monolithic collection in the world and pre-dates the pyramids. It's an amazing collection of stones and experts still aren't sure why it was built.

We spent the rest of the afternoon traipsing through the country side, taking in the amazing number and precision of these stone markers. We headed back to the car and were less than 800M from safety when the heavens opened and winds started howling. The winds were strong enough that at one point, Kris fully leaned into it and was almost blown over backwards. Amazingly, although the storm was intense, it had abated by the time we closed the distance to our car.

Breton sheep

A bit worse for wear, we piled into our trusty Pugeot and headed to Quimper. We checked into our hotel just outside the city limits and we're pretty sure we're the only ones here (Which is only a tiny bit creepy.) On the plus side, we did score the upgrade to the Junior Suite which is huge, so assuming we aren't murdered in our sleep, it's a steal!

We headed into the city for dinner at Creperie An Diskuiz. Breton is known for their buckwheat crepes and cider and we enjoyed both tonight. A humble little restaurant, but everything was amazing. Especially that they were able to turn out everything from this tiny little kitchen!

A galley style kitchen

Tomorrow we explore the seaside in all it's autumnal glory.

Market/Travel day - 2 November 19

We're headed to Nantes today. We packed up our room last night so we could get an early start. Our intermediate destination is the Marche des Capuchins in Bordeaux. I had planned this stop for today well before we left for France, but when we accidentally ended up here last weekend I was determined to come back for the seafood and the caneles.

Incidentally, I finally decided to pick up a set of canele tins in Saint Emilion last night. We walked past many stores in Bordeaux and St. Emilion selling the copper tins needed to make this pastry, but a macaron store, of all places, had the best prices I've seen anywhere (including online.) Macarons Ferlion makes macarons (the almond pastry, not the coconut haystacks) using a recipe that dates to the 1600s. The Grand Barrail puts a packet of two of these cookies on your bed every night and they are divine. Anyway, six of these tins are coming home with me and as soon as I can source the beeswax, well, the office should prepare for pastry overload.

Back back to the Bordeaux Market. We decided that since today would be a bit of a haul, we'd grab stuff for a picnic of sorts in our room in Nantes. Fresh fruits, baguettes, a couple of cheeses, and a saucisson. Really, all of this was just killing time until Chez Jean Mi started serving seafood. For a real introduction to the seaside, we got the Admiral's plate and feasted on crab, whelks, shrimp, and oysters. Washed down with a glass of house white, all I can say is YUM!

Having checked all of the market experience boxes, we sadly bid adieu to Bordeaux and started for Nantes. Fortunately, the drive was uneventful. Unfortunately, it rained, sometimes lightly, sometimes very heavily, almost the whole way. We managed to pick our way to the center of town and found a parking spot just in the nick of time. Apparently, there's a HUGE sci fi convention going on tonight, so downtown is bananas. We're going to settle in for a quiet picnic in our room and prepare for our trip to Carnac and beyond tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to exploring the wilder, woolier side of France on this leg, but I have a feeling we're going to spend much of our time in the rain from now on. Finger crossed for a break in the weather!