From the forested heart of Brittany, we headed back to the coast – the south this time and the famous sea-side town of Carnac. Along the way we saw some beautiful standing stones (our first!) in Monteneuf and visited the castle-town of Josselin.

Our lovely Paimpont host, Lady Catherine,  recommended we check out the menhirs at Monteneuf on our way out of Paimpont and it was a wonderful recommendation. The historical site is free to visit, full of interesting information and just a beautiful place.

  

  

  

  

  

The stones are fascinating and we really enjoyed the place. We also left at just the right time – as a very loud and obnoxious group with a dog and a liquid lunch were arriving…

Our next stop was Josselin. One of the bigger small towns we visited, it is famous for its castle. We intended to see it but as the prices were exorbitant (it’s privately owned)  and our time limited we opted instead to explore the streets and the church.

It was lunchtime and in the square infront of the church was a surprising site: a bunch of table-top sporting games being enjoyed by the locals.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

We had lunch on a shady bench on the side of the road, and watched a bunch of learner drivers going to and from the adjacent driving school, which was entertaining.

Back on the road and I pulled over at this random oak tree (essentially in someone’s front yard, but with space for parking which was cool) which turned out to be very old.

I did not enjoy the drive to Carnac. We’d pulled over somewhere on a tiny backroad and when I pulled off again it was right into the path of a massive truck. I’d missjudged his distance or speed, or both, and I was out of space to pull over so just flattened the accelerator as he let out the loudest and angriest hoot I’ve ever heard. We avoided any kind of accident but I was rattled for the rest of the drive and was convinced that part of the car was dragging behind us – it was horrifying!

Added to that, the traffic started to intensify heavily as we neared Carnac. My mom fondly remembered the place as a sleepy hollow where she’d lived and worked, as a tour guide at the Saint-Michel tumulus and alignments. Neither she nor I were prepared for how touristy it had become.

When we finally made it to our bnb (and confirmed that the car was okay) we collapsed in exhaustion. Our host was a little odd but the place was nice and we had it mostly to ourselves which was great.

In the evening we took a walk to the tumulus and the Menec Alignments, both of which were beautiful and calming after a pretty intense day of driving.

  

  

  

– – –

BZH 2017: Intro  |  Pt 1  |  Pt 2  |  Pt 3  |  Pt 4  |  Paimpol 2017 – Festival du Chant de Marin 
Pt 5  |  Pt 6  |  Pt 7  |  Pt 8  |  Pt 9 |  Pt 10  | Pt 11  |  Pt 12  |  Saint-Malo: La Route du Rock Festival
Pt 13  |  Pt 14  |  Pt 15  |  pt 16  |  Pt 17  |  Pt 18

If you travel and you don’t use Booking.com you really should it’s the best! I’m not 100% sure how the referral codes work but try mine if you haven’t used one before for a discount after your first trip: https://www.booking.com/s/35_6/rattsi32