The Little Black Shoe on the Sunny Side

Whoever told us that the southern part of Brittany is the sunny side must be selling real estate. It has rained some every day since we've arrived on the south coast, and today it poured all day long.

Refusing to let a little rain slow us down, we got up early and visited a medieval garden with Queen and Patrick. We learned which herbs cure what diseases and had a long walk around the gardens. A quick visit to Patrick's sisters house revealed the best garden we've seen in France! She has a field of wildflowers going nuts in her front yard. We were charmed.

Lunch back in Pont Croix at what is now our favorite crepe place: Crêperie L'Epoke. The crêpes are crispy, hot and delicious and the fillings are varied-from pork tongue to Grand Marnier to salmon and leek. All delicious.

A short drive took us to Pont L'Abbee for a visit to the Musee Bigouden to get a better understanding of the Breton people and their culture. We waded through the rain past people who were trying to present a classical piano concert outside. Very sloshy and it ended without a lot of notice. The museum was warm and dry, but not quite what we expected. We've been seeing all these photos of Breton women with things on their heads that look like a roll of paper towels with lace covers and ribbons. Something like that had to have long roots and some significant genesis-or so we thought. Simple, low crowned bonnets began to grow in the late 1800s until they reached the extreme height of 16 inches in the 1950s!

A few hours' drive took us to Locmariequer, a lovely town on the coast near Rennes with stones dating back to the Paleolithic age. We had to check that place out. It was raining too hard to see the stones tonight so we went a few blocks down the street for dinner. When we returned, our umbrellas left pools on the stone tile and Andria's feet in her sneakers were cold and wet. Mine in the Little Black Shoes were warm and dry. Really.