Carnac – Our last day trip

Of course it was a later start than we hoped, but we headed off on our last day trip. Our destination this time was Carnac. This area is known for it's stone megaliths and mysterious past. The relationship to the Celts is more evident here than other parts of France.

 
 

We stopped for lunch at a charming Creperie, called La Potion Magique, after the famed Asterix and Obelix series. After lunch we decided to go beach combing since the weather was quite changeable and windy and we thought it might be too cool if we waited till late in the day. The beach here was much more crowded than Gruissan. It reminded me of driving down Ocean Ave. in NJ during the height of the summer crush. Traffic crawled along, shops selling tacky plastic beach toys, boogie boards and umbrellas lined the beach front.

 
 

Of course there were definite differences. The architecture is so different here. Between the slate and red tile roofs there are occasional homes built of sand stone. None of the homes are sided in aluminum or vinyl. Basically stucco or plaster are the chief materials used for siding.

 
 

Another difference is that access to the beach was free! That was a nice surprise. We stopped in a wee antique store but most of the items were huge and didn't lend themselves to packing. Once at the beach we noticed some other differences. No changing rooms. Carol and I made a towel "tent" for the children to change in. They were a bit shy but the call of the waves helped them overcome their shyness. There were many more shells here than in the south. About 100 feet out into the ocean there was a platform erected with two different diving boards. One was about six feet from the water, the other was about twelve feet from the water. Alex and I swam out to the platform and did our impression of cliff divers. :-)

 
 

Before we knew it, it was six o'clock. We headed out to take our survey of the 6000 year old alignments of granite stone. Some of the stones are only two feet tall or so, but some are well over 15 feet tall and two people could not hold hands around the stones. The tourist center provided a detailed map but we were again frustrated by the lack of road signs posted and many of the sites were unmarked and we struggled to find them. Eventually we came upon a lovely site with three "dolmen" or stone tables. One of these was worn enough below that we could comfortably sit out of the elements and enjoy a picnic.

 
 

We made good time on the way home but as it was our last night we took a night time drive around Angers and took some night pictures of the castle, cathedral and fountain downtown. After carrying the kids in we began the process of packing and sorting. Around 3:30 we finally fell into bed. When I woke up at 7:30 I knew I hadn't slept long enough but the alarm would soon sound so I lay there until 8 then dragged myself out of bed.