Morlaix!

I've gotten a bit behind on my blog entries. I don't really have an excuse either because, let's face it, it's not like I'm swamped down at the office or something. Last Monday, Chantal, Clare and I visited a really cute town in the département of Finistère (the westernmost département in Brittany) called Morlaix. According to legend, this town got its name because when the English tried to attack the villagers screamed "S'ils te mordent, mords-les!" ("If they bite you, bite them back!" pretty vicious!). To understand this legend, it must be explained that "mords-les" and "Morlaix" are, inexplicably, both pronounced "morlay."

We tried to do what was called the Circuit des Venelles, which is a tour of the town's historic sights, but we ended up only making it to half of them. The entire tour is supposed to take one hour and fifteen minutes and it took us about three hours to do half. I like to think it was because we stopped to smell the roses but I think it had more to do with my less than stellar sense of direction coupled with a hand drawn map from c. 1976. In any event, the town was really cute and really breton!

Famous Morlaix Viaduct:


Chantal and Clare and a historically important fountain (dry):


Graffiti translation: "Ticked off High School students." Someone probably tried to get them to learn English and so they went on grève.


Breton Venice:


Cute houses:


Anne de Bretagne's house (she had many):


Well-earned hot chocolate in a café after climbing up and down venelles all day.


All together a successful trip! More about Paul's return trip, Mont St. Michel, St. Malo and la Tour de Cesson soon! Now I'm off to Berlin!!