Breaking through the 'force field' that prevents us leaving our house, we have been able to find some great stuff... Time off for good 'renovating' behaviour allows us to explore great events & locations. You'll find your favourites too - but here's a few of ours

Services that you can trust... We do! Post Brexit if you have a Dog, Cat or Ferret... Travel Documentation must be up to date!

I know... even a Ferret! Has the world gone mad?! If you are living in or visiting Central Brittany and/or you need Veterinary services (those travelling back to UK will know all about the post Brexit nonsense of the AHC requirements etc.,) ... then you really can't do better than Veterinarians Vincent Goovaerts and Joëlle Debatty, on the outskirts of Pontivy. Since finding Vincent after Brexit our dog Rudy has been expertly cared for by them... He even had his teeth expertly descaled by Joëlle here with all anaesthetics, anti-inflamatory shot and standard recovery treatments at a fraction (just 150€) of our UK vet who quoted over yes... (wait for it - £1,000!! ffs) • If you're in the catchment area give them a call on 02 97 25 70 25 OR check out their website :- https://cabinetveterinairesainteanne.fr • ... You can simply make an appointment on-line.

For us it started with Springsteen just 45 minutes away at Vielles Charrues but so many top acts have performed at this, France's 2nd biggest festival...

Wow, what a surprise! We had no idea that this festival existed before we came across our place in Brittany. Believe me, as an event, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the diversity of music & performance art on show in Brittany...Vielle Charrues is almost always on the weekend following Glastonbury...And headliners often helicopter in to perform before 'returning home' or continuing European touring!... Bob Dylan, Elton John, Neil Young, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Black Keys, Joan Baez, The Cure, Lily Allen, Brian Ferry, Steve Cropper (Blues Brothers)...Patti Smith... What's not to like? 250,000 people can't be wrong! So, next year... July 11th Weekend Vielle Charrues - Headliner? Sam Smith!! Just now it's still at the planning stage.It's a fascinating experience and with Sam... Surrealism and snappy dressing on tap! Not to be missed!

La Gacilly... Always a superb day out. Thousands of World Class photographs and great alfresco dining!

La Gacilly is the birthplace of Parfumier Yves Rocher and there are regular fetes and festivals there throughout the year, the peak of which is an alfresco photographic exhibition with the main event running throughout the town and the 'fringe' event showing hundreds of billboard sized prints through a series of woodland spaces adjacent to the Yves Rocher foundation building with its museum, restaurant and, of course, the essential shopping experience...But you'll love it! I often joke that the UK equivalent to this would have to be Anita Roddick, The Body Shop, Littlehampton and Fred's Fish & Chip café (which is actually amazing)... a must!! Seriously though, the place to eat in La Gacilly, is definitely Au Bout du Pont... It's fabulous - It's at the bottom of the hill just before the bridge! See you there next year! There is a magnetism about the place and if we are in the area we just have to go there!

If you go down to the woods today... not only are you sure of a big surprise - but there's every chance of a great meal in a superb forest location!

Le Lac de Guerlédan is the largest lake in Brittany at around 12km long and 400 hectares... There are various access points - things to see and do - as viilages and hamlets occur on its shoreline. One is the village of Caurel where lanes from the main road (N164) converge on Beau Rivage... an area of camping grounds and sailing etc., One of our regular walks, is here as it runs past the Hotel Beau Rivage...you'll pass lakeside camping grounds and pontoons for tenders and boats and then, bordering the forest on your left and the lake on your right is a gap in the trees and a hundred metres further on a clearing reveal an Airstream road trailer...and its Chevy Truck towing vehicle... Emmeline the Chef/Patronne is not just a great cook she's an alchemist, serving 250 customers on one August day shift itself... Brilliant steaks in a magical location! (note:- there is a vehicle entrance on the left as you leave the village of Caurel - dodgy signage below the sharp left and incline before the turn off for the camping ground and beach- don't blink or you'll miss it!).

There's a river at the bottom of our lane near to Loudeac (on the N164) It's so narrow in places you could probably jump across it. We often spend a day out in Josselin 45 minutes away and the same river, runs through the town...

A great place to rootle around - Alfresco dining? You'll be spoilt for choice - especially in the town square around the base of the church and along the side of the river (where you've no chance of jumping across it here)...But I'm sure all of the diners at the restaurants which also line the riverside road would appreciate the entertainment element. It's here where, in the summer months, everyone seems to be eating out. The joys of Josselin with it's huge chateau overlooking the river dominates the townscape and its warren of streets with quirky antique shops, mediaeval and ornamental gardens and eateries is a delight. at any time of the year. It oozes history - all reflected in the architecture, galleries, brocant outlets, museums dominated by the chateau which is also a museum in itself. Josselin is another of our destinations when it's 'time off for good behaviour'. Check out Josselin on the Brittany Tourism website... It is one of the best tourism websites I've ever seen... Click the button for more...

Animals around the house

They think they own the place! And often spend longer around the house than we do. Some of them even make it inside and don't want to leave... I'm talking about animals at our place in Brittany... We've had most species come to stay... Obviously there are cats and dogs. That's a given. Several generations of feral cats have been born in the barns... When the kittens have ventured out for the first time I have seen birds of prey doing a reccy swoop through the courtyard so they have been ushered back to their mum's safe keeping. Too dumb to know - too young to die! And next door's dogs treat our place like an extension of their own 'manor'...but there are also Barn Owls, Pheasants, Buzzards, Sparrow Hawks...Regarding the sparrow hawks...at breakfast one morning, Graham, a guest and something of a twitcher, spluttered into his cereal when he saw one swoop in and settle on one of the roof bars of the truck... He rushed off to get his camera before the bird should fly away again and, by the time he got back - there were two! And, of course, there have been a host of the usual suspects covered by the term 'garden birds'... There's also that pigeon - the one from central casting that always seems to be in shot, right on cue and crosses just about every vista... Read more on this in our blogspot...

There I was glazing over in 'Action' (usually a brilliant shop for everything you need) looking for light bulbs!...

There was another customer rootling around in the 'tools' section nearby with an air of authority that marked him out as 'one who knows' ... "Savez-vous où sont les ampoules à baïonnette ?" I stumbled in my half remembered French..."Ahh"... he said in perfect English "...about 6 years they were phased out and now it's just ES (Edison Screw) that are available"... A few days later a friend, who came to lunch, tells me they still have them in Super-U. So, it's find your nearest Super-U OR bring a supply from Blighty!

Another of our destinations when renovation work's lustre wears off is Le Lac de Guerledan... At 12km long it's Brittany's largest lake. It takes years to trace all of the lake's twists and turns...

Just a 10 minute drive from our house in Brittany is Lac de Guerledan (nearest town Mur de Bretagne... As you travel west on the N164 Look out for the road signs for Beau Rivage & Caurel. It's a great attraction at any time of the year. A magnet for those who love water sports, leisure boating, wind surfing, water skiing, swimming, scuba diving...kite surfing... alfresco dining of course and just about whatever you can do on the sea, you can do here. Walking around the shores of the lake along woodland walks is a given of course - and not something you can always do by the sea. Neither is it always possible to dine on board a huge pleasure craft... calm lake water can offer this... as well as a beach for sunbathing and swimming from... a hotel and lakeside restaurants even an American style Airstream Diner... Read On...

Tintagell, Snowdonia, Cadbury Camp, The Forest of Broceliande, Paimpont - So who really 'owns' King King Arthur & Merlin?

For a bloke who was restricted to travel on horseback or, at best, but probably a whole lot slower, by Palanquin (look it up... I had to) King Arthur and his retinue (Lancelot, Guinevere, The Lady Vivien, Sir Girwain, Merlin - et al)... well, they sure did get around. Although, if you believe the other places that legend would have us believe he made an appearance - as I mention in the title... Tintagel, Snowdonia, and Cadbury Camp, then he was probably good at levitation and teleportation too... He probably landed just up the road from here having been guided in by the standing stones at Carnac. And don't get me going on "was God an astronaut!?"
We're getting on with our exploration of Brittany (picking up again nicely thanks) in between renovating our modest money pit in the Cotes d'Armor... Well, we recently had a look at the forest of Broceliande... and the Brittany end of the Arthurian legend.... Check out the rest of this blog...