Endless history

In the courtyard of a bite-sized castle in Vitré, former Breton stronghold on the now nonexistant boarder between Brittany and France

Climbing into a fortified city, bite-sized castle appearing larger in the background

The hope of spring

Dinan/St Malo

Hamilton, Johannes, & Lawrence
Buying some fish in Dinan
Hazy morning in Dinan. This street smelled like firewood - a favorite scent of mine :)

Dinan - these unfortunate people live ... "outside the wall"

Rampart picnic in St Malo

St Malo - like Dinan it is enlosed by a wall; unlike Dinan it also has the ocean

Magic Scarves and Ramparts

Dear the four people who read this blog,

Thank you for your continued interest in this free source of entertainment. I had a great day and would love to tell you about the funny things that happened during it. My list of blog faithful might lessen if I get too wordy, so I'll save some stories for when I see you and in the words of Galadriel, diminish the quanitity of vocabulary. (Yay, one of you is smiling.)

So the French school system has an exhorbitant amount of vacation which leaves me with the burdensome obligation of more days off work. Alas and Alack. Still having not had enough of Bretagne, I took my favorite modes of transport (bike, train, and my beloved Tibus - my daily school-transport) to a walled city called Dinan and then the renowned and later devastated by war, St Malo. Joining me on this day-long discovery were the infamous Johannes and Hamilton (not the president).

The walled city was actually very welcoming. That whole wall gig could give a bad rap to a place like Dinan. Too bad. We arrived freakishly early and after having eaten a nice pastry with the chocolate chips still melty and all, helped a lady set up her stand at the market. This is where the magic scarves come into play. If I could just take an extra second, I'll recount a joke that I made. The stand-lady had mannequin heads in her trunk to display the magic scarves and one fell out. Larry said, "Ma'm, you've lost your head." In French this expression also means something like, "You've gone a little psycho" or even "You're being a little OCD." She laughed, I laughed, and now I'm asking you to relive the joy with us. The magic scarves were our bounty for having set up the stand. If a certain Bethany B. or even Becca P. read this blog, they'll probably recall the magic scarves quite well. Sorry, they don't give actual powers, they're those weird things that turn into head coverings or shoulder coverings, or a host of other things.

Well, I said I'd try to keep your attention, so the ramparts are coming right up. You know, I continue to see that I am very easily amused and find that just about any normal activity becomes a good memory with a good friend. Johannes, the "slave" of the local youth hostel, was able to procure some goods and along with some stuff I had, we made a nice picnic for the three of us and ate it on the ramparts of St Malo. Below us 4 French preteens played soccer in the sand, a seagull with a weird orange beak mark hoped to get some crumbs, and old Mesdames and Messieurs took leisurely-paced walks to the end of the peer. Some lady even had a dog in a basket. Ahhh.

So, here's to you opportunities to talk to strangers, merit magic vestments, and eat on massive medieval boulders.

Take care friends. And PS - when I got home this evening a package from Hong Kong was waiting on me. Inside I found... the cord to make my computer work again. Lazarus lives! (He's the comp. for those in the dark on that one.) Peace.

To the end of the world ... and back

The department in Brittany known as Finistère wins the prize for coolest department name in France I think. Finistère is Latin and means "end of the world" or "edge of the earth" - it's also the part of Brittany that boldy juts out into the cold waters of the English Channel. Ok, Eyewitness Travel Guide said something like that before me, so I need to give a little credit.

Anyway, I was really happy to spend part of my weekend on the edge of the earth, notably in Brest and Morlaix. Brest was rebuilt à l'américaine after being destroyed by the allies in World War II. Even Brestois consider their city to be, well, ugly. But it does have a nice aquarium...

Morlaix, which experienced a different history than Brest, is an old town packed with half-timbered houses, an omnipresent aquaduct, and several bakeries. We didn't find one in Brest. Sad day for those people.

Later on this weekend, I saw yet another awe-inspiring site, Cap Fréhel. When you have a bike like me going to some place like Cap Fréhel is like going from Lexington to Cincinnati in a horse and buggy. When my roommate (Nicolas) decided he wanted to go there yesterday, we hit up several sites like Cap Fréhel in one afternoon. “Hitting up” is really what it felt like too. Racing around in your car to all the "must sees" is like email versus letters but with transportation - it's quick but a little less satisfying. I’m also someone who likes to do things S...L...O...W...L...Y, so, if I haven’t had that interior “you’ve made your peace with this plant” at any given sight, I’ll probably feel hurried. In any case, I'll let you know when I make it back to Cap Fréhel on my bike...

Watching a man feed some cute penguins and watching these little kids watching the event in awe.

I learned that certain types of seals come from the North Pole to the coast of Brittany which sounded odd to me. The next day I saw one at Cap Fréhel. After watching this one here play with a rock and then getting to see the other one in the wild, I forgive the seals for eating the penguins in "March of the Penguins."

Me and my good pote, Johannes, in Brest

Charming Morlaix complete with a little man on a ladder reparing the wall (left of blue doors).

Not sure what we're going for here, but this means, "If they bite you, bite them back."
I'm still enjoying spending Friday nights with a growing group of students, etc. It's a time to hang out, eat some nice desserts, sing, study the Bible, or play homemade games like this one. Way to go, Vincent.

The blob in the center is the lighthouse at Cap Fréhel and the blob on the right is my roommate (I think).