Campsite chaos

 Yesterday, we bid a cheery 'au revoirs' to Carnac and its mysterious stones and pointed our snouts southwards, towards Cahors, some 650km away.

After an epic journey of almost eight hours involving many delays for 'roadworks' (we saw no work  being done, yet more evidence of the French tendency to be workshy) we arrived at our pre-booked campsite only to find that the reception had closed up for the day, some 10 minutes earlier. 

And the campsite bar had closed as well.

As I say, workshy.

We retreated to the modest comfort of the local Ibis hotel, from where I'm writing this post. We shall attempt another assault on the campsite later.

Incidentally, I read this morning that the French government has collapsed. Coincidence?

Tomb raiders

No, not Lara Croft...(well not unless she's chubbed up a fair bit....)

I'm afraid it's just me and JB as per usual. (You pays your money, you gets no choice)

Anyway, today's tombs. Although strictly speaking, they're tumuli.

The first one was located in a place called Le Bono, and it was with quite a sense of relief that the annoying Irish warbler/activist was nowhere to be seen.

The tomb was huge and had more than a passing resemblance to the Teletubbies Home Hill. See for yourself:

Uncanny.

After lunch, we made for the port of Larmor-Baden and a short boat trip over to the uninhabited Ile de Gavrinis.

Our target was the famed (by some anyway) Cairn Gavrinis,  the most decorated cairn in Europe. (Even more than Andy McNab and that's saying something)

Our tour guide rattled on in French mostly, so I'm sorry to say that I can tell you very little about it, except that it was HUGE. I mean seriously big, and as boasted, very well decorated.  

Here's a few pics:

Carnac

 Welcome to Carnac. Famous for its collection of Neolithic standing stones, and in fact the reason we're here, given that JB has a particular interest in this sort of thing.

I've visited quite  a few of these sites in my time (Stonehenge, Avebury etc) and, well aware of the tendency of the French to exaggeration, I expected very little.

However, I've been frankly astonished by what's on offer here, blogmates. Some 3000 stones, arranged mostly in straight lines. 

But why?

Keen to learn more, we booked a guided tour.

Our guide, (despite being French) certainly knew his way around the stones. Disappointingly though, he couldn't shed any light on why they're here.

I maintain that it was either a stone superstore ( a bit like B&Q ) or a landing strip for the alien crafts that flew the stones about. 

JB, on the other hand thought that they were probably part of a football training scheme involving dribbling between the stones. (Carnac FC undefeated champions 3000- 2000BC,  so he may have a point)

Anyway, heres a flavour of what's on offer, with a bonus tomb.

Caen

And so we arrived in Caen, where our hotel appears to have been constructed from plastic shipping containers and designed for the (very much) smaller traveller.

No matter, it gave us the added impetus to go out for a day's sightseeing.

The city of Caen, which proudly claims to be the birthplace of William the Conqueror is actually quite charming, even in the monsoon-type conditions we endured in the middle of the day.

There's a castle, a couple of abbeys, some great medieval architecture and lots of nice bars and restaurants. 

Sad to report then, that the bloated throne-thief was actually born some  38km away in Falaise.

Still, that's the French for you......

The thing is, you quickly realise that William the Conqueror is still something of a big cheese round here. Le grand fromage you might say.

There are streets, bars and restaurants named after him.

 And then there's the Castle.

Credit where it's due, its an impressive bit of defensive work.

He's also responsible for the founding of one of the abbeys,  (Abbaye aux Hommes) and in fact, it's the final resting place of one of his thigh bones. (Whether it's the left or right one wasn't made clear)

Given that his body exploded as they tried to force it into a too small coffin, it's surprising that there was even that much left.

Incidentally, Caen's other abbey

(Abbaye aux Dames) was founded by William's wife (and cousin!) Matilda, and she's buried there.

(As far as I know, she didn't explode).

At sea

 

Ahoy there! Shiver me timbers and other nautical type phrases.

You join me on board the ferry to Caen. A fine vessel (see above), although disappointingly named the Guillaume de Normandie .

As I'm sure you're aware, this Guillaume is the arrow-happy blighter that did for plucky King Harold in 1066. 

An unnecessary dig at us by the French, but not entirely unexpected. Nevertheless, I'm determined not to let it spoil my trip.

The key to successful foreign travel, I believe, is the ability to blend in seamlessly with the local population and with this in mind, I have packed my suitcase with the utmost care:

Criminal Entente....

Welcome back blogmates! I'm grateful for the perseverance/ improved medication that has enabled you to join me on this latest adventure. 

To quote the Duke of Wellington, (Napoleon basher and inventor of the frankly indispensable waterproof footwear):

" We have been, we are, and I trust we always will be, detested by the French" 

And so, with this in mind, we set sail tomorrow for France, never forgetting the words of wartime legend and cigar chomper,  Winston Churchill:

"If you're going through hell, keep going".

Bonne chance les amis du blog......

The Last chapter

 In 1967, tousle-haired Doors frontman and self proclaimed "Lizard King", Jim Morrison had a hit with a less-than-jolly singalong called "The End".

And in a freakish coincidence, this is the end of our trip, AND we saw a huge monitor lizard today.  (Cannot confirm if it was royalty, however it wasn't wearing a crown.....)

Far out man.......

Priced out of our favourite last stop, Ao Nang (curse of the high season), we've spent the last few days in its quieter, uglier neighbour, Aonam Mao.

In its favour is that it's cheaper than Ao Nang. On the downside, there's only one decent bar, on the beach, and home to eye-wateringly expensive beer.....

There's a longtail taxi service though, so you can at least escape during the day.....

Thanks for sticking with us on this trip. (I realise it hasn't been easy)

Rest assured, we'll be back soon...

(Unless there's a pie at the airport tomorrow!)