How We Spent Our Summer Vacation, Part 1: Vannes

The Ramparts of the city of Vannes, seen from the hill-side park just below our apartment.

We're on vacation! We've spent the last two weeks in the city of Vannes in Brittany. It's an endlessly cute town, full of half-timbered buildings, with massive 14th century stone ramparts. We were here before--first in 2016, then again two years ago, with Paula's brother Mark. (Read about that visit here.)

 A street in Vannes.

And that's why we came back! There is much to explore. Aside from the engaging downtown area, there's a fabulous market twice a week, and an indoor market open every day. But the real draw for us is the Golfe du Morbihan. 

Paula enjoying the Saturday market in Vannes.

Yes, two enormous piles of cherries! There's fewer cherries now, later in the season, but this is still our favorite fruit and vegetable place at the market (note the vendor, in black, handing out samples to passers by).

One of the main squares of Vannes, with its mix of buildings, old and older.

Love those half-timbered houses!

 This large bay (the gulf), which connects to the Atlantic Ocean, is endlessly fascinating. It has an extensive coastline, all of it interesting and worthy of exploration, and the bay itself is dotted with islands small and large. 

Many marinas, lots of boats in the Gulf of Morbihan. The red-sailed boat is a misainier, a traditional Breton craft. 

One of our walks along the shore of the bay took us through this delightful pastoral scene.

Another walk took us to this beach...

...and passed by here. The stone walkway is needed when the tide is up (there are 15-foot tides here!)

 Oh, and then there are the megalithic sites, prehistoric stone structures whose purpose can only be guessed at. We'll have more to say about the jaw-dropping alignments of standing stones in another posting, but for now, here's a simple one:

A dolmen, assumed to be a burial site, from about 6000 years ago, in someone's front yard!

The end of our second week here marks the halfway point of our allotted time. What have we done, and what will we doing? 

 Well, our stay here began with rain. But that was OK, we were just getting settled in. Rain is certainly not unknown here in Brittany; it is famous for its cool, wet weather... another reason we chose to come here. Temperatures are in the 90s in Montpellier, and humid. We're happy to be in the cool (and occasionally wet!) weather of Brittany.

Another lovely, gray day in Brittany! The entrance to the Golf of Morbihan, looking out into
the Atlantic Ocean.

And, there's music in the air. France is full of music festivals in the summer, and Brittany is no exception. Two or three nights a week there is "street music" in Vannes: a street is blocked off for a musical group, enjoyed by patrons at the near-by cafes, and by passers-by. The other night we listened to some pretty good French folk (accordion and guitar) before moving on to another neighborhood that was hosting a group of old rockers, where we were treated to 80s American pop music. (And well done it was, too!)

Modern blues in the streets of old Vannes.

One big, big disappointment: no Bastille Day celebrations! The 14th of July, know here as the Fête nationale française (or, officially, le 14 juillet), is French independence day, typically celebrated with parades and fireworks, music and picnics in the park. Two years ago Vannes had a wonderful celebration with costumed characters wandering the city and 16th-century plays on makeshift stages.

This year, nothing. Que dalle! Not even fireworks! We were SO disappointed...

But, at least, there was a major jazz festival the next weekend.

Stage and crowds for the Echo Jazz Festival, set against the city ramparts.

The venue was well chosen, with a stage set up in front of the city ramparts. The tall stone walls made an effective backdrop for the stage, and provided a great screen for the accompanying light show. There was plenty of space for the crowds of people, and facing the ramparts was a wooded hill, a city park. Its terraced slopes gave a perfect view of the whole event. It worked out particularly well for us, since our apartment is located at the top of the hill. In a few minutes we could be out the door and among the trees with a fine view of the whole scene.

And it only got better as the sun went down!

The musicians on stage.

Looking back up the hill; great views of the festival from there!

Our American friends Kate and Debra visited for a few days, escaping from the heat down south and enjoying Vannes and the Gulf. We spent a day visiting some of the charming towns in the area, one of which has the coveted Les Plus Beaux Villages de France award (most beautiful villages of France). We also had time to visit the locally famous market in Vannes, and sample some of its truly fine restaurants.

The four of us in one of those Plus Beaux Villages (Rochefort-en-Terre).

Debra, Paula, and Kate gather around the location map at the tip of the Quiberon peninsula, with the Atlantic Ocean behind them (and the wind blasting hard!).

So what's next? We've still got a couple of weeks in Vannes, plus more time around the gulf, then a few days in the Loire valley for my birthday! And, we have more (much more) to say about the astounding megalithic sites here in Brittany.

The Vannes marina with the city behind it; the canal on which the marina is located connects through the bay to the Atlantic Ocean, about 10 miles to the southwest.