Golfe du Morbihan

Jean-Pierre gave us some good advice on places to visit the next day and routes to follow. We of course got lost but did find our way to the edge of the Golfe du Morbihan. It was just about to start raining so we did not stay long, and headed off for home just as the thunder storms rolled in nearby. You could see that it was very beautiful and on a sunny day could have been anywhere on the Hauraki Gulf with lots of islands and bays.

There was a strike on the local refinery and Jeanne-Pierre was worried that he would not be able to get gas for his rally on the weekend. His wife arrived back from her walking weekend and we

spent a wonderful evening listening to their adventures and plans for the future. They owned a boat as well which was moored close to Le Bono on the other side of the Golfe and they suggested a camping ground at a nearby town which we might like.

We departed the next morning and headed for Vannes, the port at the head of the Golfe. The visitors centre was right beside the port so we had a wonderful lunchtime, in the warm sun admiring the local boaties and tourists. After lunch we headed off to find our campground for the night and eventually ended at at Le Bono by accident. We put up our tent for a 2 night stay and went to bed early.

The next day we explored Le Bono and the first thing we found was a luthier in the main street. He spoke very good English so we chatted away for an hour or so and Sally got to play a $7000 guitar for the first time in her life ( for all of 30 seconds). We discovered that the

main industry in town used to be oysters. They used old roof tiles ( ceramic) and left them to soak in the local estuaries while the oysters were spawning. After capturing the spat they sold them to other oyster farmers who grew them fo full size. The industry collapsed in the 1970s when a malady invaded the oysters and killed them all off. A fascinating titbit of French history yet again There was a walk along side the inlet and there were piles of discarded roof tiles alongside the banks.

I spent an hour or so gathering up loose straw and packing it under the tent in an effort to get a more comfortable sleep that night. It worked. But the free WIFI did not!

The next morning we set off for Carnac where there are vast quantities of Menhir (Asterix style), via Auray. This time we found ourselves at la gare where you can get 20 minutes of free WIFI which

we used to check and send emails. A delightful young mother stopped to talk to us. She was English but lived just down the road and clearly enjoyed the chance to speak a bit of English.

We got lost yet again on the way to Carnac and did a massive circle which cost us about an hour of extra riding. I was not popular with Sally for that mistake.

At Carnac we got to view the alignments where thousands of Menhir are lined up in rows for no apparent reason. Personally I think they were just clearing the fields and someone with a sense of humour put them upright in rows.

We dried the tent over lunch and set off for Hennebont. Along the way we stopped at Erdeven where the was another alignment, but this time they were seriously big AND you could walk freely in amongst them and touch them without fear of retribution. Our tour was accompanied by an air force jet practicing his low flying skills. Slightly annoying and slightly awe-inspiring.

Our last stop for the day was at a local Tabac where we had WIFI which did work and we looked for accommodation for the night at a camping ground.