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France 2012 - Carnac

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le 2 novembre

 At around 7 a.m. this morning, Habibi and I set sail (sorry, I'll stop using nautical terms now) for the small, coastal town of Carnac, located in Bretagne (Brittany).  Upon arriving at the small, cozy Hôtel An Ti Gwenn (Breton for "white house"), we were warmly received and led to our calm little slice of heaven.  Remember, we had just left our tiny, disgusting fish bowl of a room, so the pleasant smells and fresh, clean bedding were welcome!


Exterior view of the Hôtel An Ti Gwenn
View of the back garden from one of our windows
Peeking through the main window into the side garden
Our clean, fresh salle de bains
Notre chambre
We stopped for a quick lunch at a local salon de thé before heading to the tourism office at the center of town.  The main square was adorned with a lovely old church (typical of just about every French community, regardless of the size), several small tourist shops, bars and crêperies.



A view of l'église de Carnac
A crêperie, similar to the one where we had dinner that night
A charming home in Carnac
One of Carnac's many scenic views
 After picking up a map, we headed to the site of the nearby megaliths.  Despite being a small community, Carnac is a popular tourist attraction as it contains the largest grouping of monumental menhirs and tumuli in the world.  Enormous stones dating back thousands of years to the Megalithic era (5000 - 2000 B.C.) arranged in mysterious rows and alignements pepper the landscape.  These are particularly remarkable at sunset.


Fields of grass and stone 


Casting shadows on the stones in the late afternoon 

 After playing druids, we headed to the local beaches to admire the vast Atlantic Ocean.  We snapped a number of photos before heading back to town to warm up in a little corner bar.
Continuation of our boat theme???
Beautiful skies, waters...and an adorable pooch enjoying it all :)
Off the shores of western France
After a beer and a few deliciously buttered crackers, we ended the day in the most breton way imaginable:  crêpes for dinner.  Renowned for its delightfully thin pancakes, Bretagne has mastered the art of making a meal of crêpes et cidre.

Tummies full, we headed back to our quaint hotel for a good night's sleep on our cloud of a bed.
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