Our trip to Paimpol

So, we got back a few days ago from Paimpol, which is in Brittany, France, to visit Yann's parents. The weather in this area is always hit or miss this time of year, due to its' geography. It's the kind of place, much like Seattle or Portland, where when the sun is out and the weather is warm, it's the most beautiful place on earth. But if you go during bad weather you just resign yourself to staying on the couch all day with a good book. So, we got pretty lucky because we had more sun than rain, and it really was beautiful when the clouds cleared.

It's a very green area, due to all the water, so there are tons of farms in Brittany. It's actually the best artichoke growing area in France and they also raise lots of dairy cows. It's also the birth place of crepes, so we were eating lots and lots of those as snacks. Yann's mom runs the Museum of the Sea, which is directly opposite their front door; she has the shortest commute known to man. They were opening for the summer season when we were there and their exhibit this spring is vintage trans-atlantic cruise posters, which are so cool and too bad they wern't for sale! I went to check the lobster traps with Yann and his dad one day and they dressed me up like I was going fishing in Antarctica in an ice storm. You can have a laugh below at the pictures of me in the red suit. But I will say, I stayed warm and dry the whole time and once you're out on the water it can be very chilly. Of course, Yann and his dad were in t-shirts and shorts. So, we caught about 6 lobsters that day, so we had lobster for lunch AND dinner. These lobsters, called homar in French, are the best lobsters in the world. They are deep blue/black in color and have very large pinching claws. For my photo op, Yann had to tell me the correct way to handle them, so you don't lose a finger. And their meat is delish. We were making lobster salad, lobster tartare, and my fav: just cooked basic with melted butter for dipping. We also indulged in tons of fresh caught scallops. Talk about eating locally; I think you can't get any better than catching it yourself and cookin' it up.

My favorite day of the trip was the last day when we took a short ferry ride over to the Isle of Brehat, which is just offshore from Paimpol. The island is just beautiful. That is all I can seem to say about it! We just hit it on the perfect day: tons of sunshine, a slight sea breeze, and not a lot of tourists. I imagine during the summer, there are probably too many tourists to really have the place to yourself. But that is why we went in early April; we don't like tons of dorky tourists around us! So, the island was inhabited a long, long time ago. Not sure how old it is, but the chapel's cemetery had some grave stones from the early 1800's. I would say about 90% of the houses on the island are super old, from around the early 1700's, or more likely earlier. There are just a few newly constructed houses there, but the architecture of the new blends in well with the old. The really old houses are all made out of stone and have moss growing on their walls. Some of the residents are year round, but I think a lot of the owners of the homes just come for the spring and summer. It is probably pretty quiet and dead around there in the winter!

The best thing about the island is that there are no cars, only old foot paths. So, you either rent bikes or walk, which is what we did and the island is small enough so you can walk the entire thing in one day. I was so tired at the end of the day that Yann had to pull me to the ferry landing. We walked to some cliffs overlooking the ocean and had a picnic and then we just cruised around checking out the gardens and petting the cows in the fields. All the flowers are starting to bloom now so there was lots of colors everywhere and as you can see from the pics, the sky was an outrageous blue color.

So, we're back to Aix now and Yann is off to work. His dad sent us home with a giant suitcase of frozen lobsters and fish. I think they thought we were weird at the security check at the airport. Now our freezer is stuffed and waiting for our guests. First my great friend Stephanie and her guy and then my parents in mid-May. Until the next time...xo