The Eighth Chapter: December 2015

The sea near Saint Gildas

You can see the long stretches of the shore here which are a mix of beach and bluffs. It was a grey day.

More Saint Gildas de Rhuys, France

I did not see the beach here but I think it's pretty close. I would love to be in the town in the summer. It must be beautiful.

This is a really nice restaurant. It was very busy when I first got there as it was market day and it's right on the market. Inside are long communal tables. I have tagliatelle with clams...and it was topped with prawns.

When I went to pay, I had a 20 and wanted to leave a tip...I asked the bartender ( I think the owner) if he could "break" the 20...he said yes, and ripped the 20 in 2....I gasped. and he laughed...odd.

Saint Gildas de Rhuys

Another lovely town this one by the sea.

Sadly, this castle and every other one that I would have liked to have seen was closed. I will go back someday.

not my photo

at least I was able to see the bunnies the guard the entrance.

Un Cafe SVP

I stopped in for a quick standing espresso. The bar was in the center, to the left was the OTB, busy, to the right was the cafe where all men were sitting, talking, laughing, drinking.

It was 10 am, drinks were being poured left and right..( green drinks, beer, shite wine, drinks to be mixed with water) .It was a busy place.

I often feel uncomfortable going up to a bar like this to get a coffee....It's more of a male thing to do. Men look at me funny, but I too just want to down a quick espresso and leave. Must I go through the charade of sitting at a table and waiting for a waitress?

At the cafe in La Colle, I order my cafe from the bar and sit on a little chair off to the side. I always bring the empty cup back up to the bar....they never seem to get used to me doing this although they know me. n waitress always tried to get me to sit at a table.

Elven, Morbihan

I came across this town while I was looking for a certain chateau. There was something charming about this little town. Read how it's described in Wikipedia.

The village of Elven is located about 15 km from the Vannes-Rennes junction on route nationale 166 and is the capital of the canton of Elven which also includes Saint-Nolff, Monterblanc, Sulniac, Trédion and La Vraie-Croix. Elven is near the Lanvaux moor, surrounded by several woodlands: Helfaut wood, Coeby wood, Kerfily, and la Boissière.

The Kerbiler stream leaves the land of the Château de Largoët and crosses la Boissière where it encounters the ruins of the Bragou mill (where it is still possible to see the mill wheel) and then flows down to the village via another old mill (the Elven mill) before emptying into the river Arz a few kilometres later. The terrain is mostly granite which is quarried in several places, one of which is the Parc quarry near the chateau Largoët.

The town centre spreads around the imposing church of St. Alban.

The church of St Alban is dedicated to Alban of Verulamium, patron saint of Elven, this ddication refers to the martyrdom suffered by Alban in Britain in AD303. The Normans burned the first wooden church. In 1121, a Romanesque church was built, but was destroyed by fire again in 1525. A Gothic church was subsequently built, of which only the choir now remains. In 1536 a neo-Gothic nave was built and a bell tower in 1642. In the nineteenth century, the time-damaged structure was restored and the nave and transept were rebuilt. The bell tower was completed in 1877 and the church was consecrated in 1879.