2– Bretagne —Food and a Castle

Saturday, May 25 —Bretagne continued…

On Saturday, we went to the weekly street market where we saw all kinds of food booths. Our goal was to get huîtres (oysters) and other traditional Bretagne food. Take a look at this market…

Fluffy Chickens

On the way back from the market, we went to a 2nd hand store which was kind of interesting. There were individual stands inside the store and people rented a stand for their stuff. It was like mini yard sales at each of the stands. There was a lot of good stuff there too.

We also stopped by a traditional kind of tourist shop with lots of local and not-so-local goodies. Here’s a pic of a tin of caramels with a traditional cover.

…and here’s a pic of a non-traditional, traditional cover of another tin of caramels.

Translation: I am your mother.

Ok, time for lunch. We had huîtres which Sylvie opened with a special knife (eaten raw with a bit of lemon), big shrimp (cooked but with their eyes all agog), and moule (mussels cooked in butter and herbs and wine). We had rice on the side and a delicious nut cake with coffee. The nut cake was made by Fabienne. All of it was YUM! And of course, j’ai trop mangé.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to Josselin, a medieval town with a castle. We entered through the traditional entrance and walked UP to the town center. 

The entrance to the old town looks tiny but it’s really down hill so it looks small.

This is a form of rhubarb but it’s humongous. Fabi remarked that in times past, some people believed babies were grown in cabbage patches. Maybe in medieval times, they are grown in these faux-rhubarb patches. Ha! What do you think?

As we approached a square with an outdoor restaurant, we heard people at the restaurant clapping in unison. WHAAAAT? As we arrived at the square, we noticed a bride at the church about to enter and the diners at the restaurant were giving their congratulations. It was a lovely surprise.

We walked on…. Notice the colorful houses. I think that originally, they were painted different bright colors just like these.

A spice shop

Here’s the oldest house in the village, I think. It was built in 1538. (But, of course, you can read that.)

At one point, we saw a man wearing horns…here he is. I took a photo as we approached but as we passed him, I could only get a photo from afar and had to zoom in so I’m not sure how well you can see him. He’s very….medieval….in a modern sort of way. Maybe he’s a bridegroom since they are known to do bizarre stuff just before getting married.

Josselin has a real castle with absolutely stunning gardens. Here’s a quick look through the tourist part of the castle and the grounds.

This table setting was disappointing since they didn’t eat with cutlery during the Middle Ages.

This is a ladder that pulls out of a drawer. I want one.

In the evening, we brought out the cards and played the same Rummy game that we played in Corsica. Here’s what I had…..

Yay, me! Lowest score wins!