Carnac and Locmariaquer

July 18

We left camp mid-morning to explore the world renowned megaliths in Carnac and Locmariaquer. As we drove into Carnac we drove right between two huge fields of standing stones -- it was pretty impressive. And there are several more fields in Carnac alone. We stopped into the prehistory museum for some basic information and then got a quick lunch at a creperie in the center of Carnac. We had to sit outside because they were so crowded, and we did get a bit rained on at one point but the staff put up big umbrellas so we were fine and didn't get wet. We all had moules and frites (mussels and french fries), which were much better than the previous mussels I had had, with cider of course. Jim and I had crepes for dessert -- he had chocolate and I had the traditional honey and lemon, just to try it, and it was okay but I much prefer the caramel.

From lunch we drove out to get a closer look at the standing stones. Without a (paid) guide it's not possible to walk amongst the stones, but you can walk unguided around the edges of the fields and go up in a turret to look down on them. The stones are placed in straight lines and considering how old they are it's remarkable how in line they still are.

We went back to the museum which had an excellent group of displays, including a display about a couple in the 1930s who discovered many of the megalithes and the few number of Neanderthal-era human remains that have been found in Brittany (the soil is generally too acidic to allow for preservation, but a few remains were buried with shells which counteracted the acidity). We also saw a really interesting live display of present-day archeologists trying to replicate very ancient salt production techniques. As an aside, some very interesting Neanderthal-related news broke recently -- see article here from Discovery News.

On the way out of Carnac, we stopped in to a boulangerie for lemon tarts. We walked in and saw no lemon tarts, which are pretty standard in any boulangerie. Jim and I both were thinking: "Where the heck are they?" Then we saw it: a huge lemon tart pizza! And oh my goodness was it fantastic, probably the best we've had. We also stopped at an organic grocery for strawberries.

Mid-afternoon we set off for Locmariaquer, which isn't very far away. The town has an excellent megalith historic site managed by the national government -- the site contains one huge standing stone that has toppled and split into four huge pieces, as well as two tombs. The museum had a really good film explaining the rehabilitation of the site by the government -- previously the site was used as a parking lot (!!!) and has been painstakingly unearthed and rehabilitated. It is by far one of the best historic sites I've seen. One very interesting point that was new to us: archeologists are fairly certain that these types of burial sites were created for the super-rich as income stratification occurred following the transition from hunter/gatherer society to a more fixed society centered around agriculture production. These sites are around the same age as the pyramids in Egypt and were designed to celebrate the same strata of society, just in a different way. Only the super-rich could have afforded the huge amount of money needed to transport stones of such weight in boats over water and over significant stretches of land.

From the museum, we drove around town stopping at a number of other different types of ancient burial sites that are scattered in among neighborhoods, houses, and schools. It was definitely a unique experience to be viewing historical sites by walking through little alleyways that felt like extensions of peoples' backyards at times. We saw several burial sites that are constructed as a doorway and hallway into a round tomb area, all of which is covered by huge granite stones. Another site was a round burial tomb covered by a huge hill of smaller stones; archeologists over the years dug through the stones to see what was underneath.

Since we were so near the ocean, we drove down to the beach to see the view as well as the monument to lost sailors. Thankfully the weather was pretty nice today.

We had a simple dinner back at camp – various cheeses with bread, vegetables, wine, and the last of the strawberry shortcake. The rain came in as we were getting ready to sleep. We spent a good 15-20 minutes gleefully slaughtering mosquitos in the caravan on a grand scale – they are relentless here and we’re all covered in bites.

Photos here.