18 May, Saturday

Breakfast: I skipped it. My pathetic effort at intermittent fasting.

While Nicolas and Guylaine were downstairs filling themselves with crepes and croissants, I was upstairs, in our room, doing my exercises and repacking for the nth time.

Yes, I am back to following this:

Except that instead of a one-minute downward dog, I did a one-minute plank.

It’s the perfect workout when traveling. It’s probably the equivalent of a CrossFit warm-up but it’s better than nothing.

We’re back on the road again. And… ummm… in the car, I may have had a cookie that I swiped from Lan Caradec. Doh!

First stop was Morlaix.

Morlaix’s impressive viaduct.

There was a street market going on and we stopped to smell the asparagus.

White asparageese. Asparagooses? 😉

Beautiful town. But lunch was calling.

Lunch: We’ve moved on to the two-starred restaurants! (Brittany doesn’t have any three-starred restaurants.) While I’ve been to some three-stars in Paris, I had never tried a two-star before, Restaurant Patrick Jeffroy at L’Hotel de Carantec was my first. And what a gorgeous experience it was.

From the view…

… to the service…

Check out these detachable wooden rests for ladies to put their handbags.

Yeah, okay, they wanted to take my coat but I insisted on keeping it.

… to everything about the food (presentation, taste, portions).

Nicolas’ oysters, served on a bed of seaweed. “9 huîtres creuses « Perles Noires » Cadoret froides ou tièdes, au vinaigre balsamique de cidre.”

Guylaine and I chose the langoustines. “Queues de langoustines au parfum de citronnelle, asperge blanche & morilles.”

For our main course, Nicolas shared my need to take a break from fish and we both had the lamb:

“Carré d’agneau du quercy en croûte de pistache, légumes de printemps glacés au jus de volaille.”

Check out the desserts:

“Ananas mousseux au citron de Nice, fraise gariguette, tuile craquante au sapin, sorbet tropical.”

“Tarte Kouing Amann « Jacques Cartier », confit de rhubarbe, gariguette de Plougastel & sorbet fraise.”

After lunch, we checked out the churches at Saint-Thégonnec and Guimiliau.

At Saint-Thégonnec, I walked into a tiny convenience store to look for some shampoo and, while I couldn’t find the shampoo I wanted, I did find these:

Funny how I can find these almost anywhere in France but not anywhere else. Not in the U.S., although I can’t say that I really looked, but I certainly couldn’t find them in Australia.

Dinner: We spent the night at Crozon, at the only hotel recommended by the guidebooks (Hôtel de la Presquîle) and ate at their restaurant, Le Mutin Gourmand, another excellent surprise. The menu du terroir at €29 surprised us with one-star flavors, but with generous portions.

Nicolas and Guylaine’s starter. “Tarte feuilletée à la fourme d’Ambert rôtie aux poires, salade aux fines herbes et jambon crû Ibérico.”

This was mine. I normally don’t like salmon, but this was absolutely exquisite. That salmon crepe alone was to die for. “Saumon fumé du Mutin, rouleau de printemps, sauce thaï soja-sésame.”

While this looks messy, I can assure you it looked much better on the plate. It probably looks messy because there was so much happening on the plate, but this was just as outstanding as the one we had in the afternoon. _"Agneau des Monts d’Arrée de Gilles Morvan rôti,_pleurotes et pommes de terre au romarin."

19 May, Sunday

I’m totally exhausted. I keep sleeping in the car, even if I’m getting at least six hours of sleep at night. I wonder if it’s all the food. Or the weather. Or just being in a car.

This morning, I did the exercises and then went for a 20-minute run. I resolved not to have breakfast. And then of course, I walked into the breakfast room and all resolve dissolved.

Breakfast: Bread with butter. Bread with butter and jam. Bread with nutella. Bread with ham and cheese. Kouign amanns.

Help.

For added exercise, I am now helping lug the bags up and down the stairs.

I was so tired today that, when we to check out the view of the Pointe des Espagnols, I took one look then headed back to the car.

Lots of trekkers and cyclists out in these parts.

At Camaret, there was a flea market and Nicolas found some funky, black-and-red Spanish boots for me that he said used to be all the rage. I wasn’t interested because the heels were too low. He insisted. They were the perfect fit and he bought them for me, together with a cowboy leather jacket. I didn’t think I’d ever wear the boots (and I’m still not sure about the jacket) but, this afternoon, one of the heels on my Doc Martens came off, and I certainly don’t want to wear my suede No Name shoes in the rain, so I guess those Spanish boots will have to do. Or I could just wear my Reebok trainers…

We drove on and, on the way to Pointe de Pen-Hir found Obelix’s menhirs!

Brittany’s Stonehenge.

Lunch: L’Auberge des Glazicks at Plomodiern. Another restaurant with two Michelin stars. Unfortunately, our experience here didn’t start off too well with the mis-en-bouche.

They looked good but they were savory-sweet. While gimmicky, they failed to deliver in taste.

They quickly picked themselves up after that though. Starting with this strange little cauliflower appetizer that was both and hot cold and was delightful to the senses.

But it was this scampi ravioli wowed us:

The chef tried to pair the duck with anchovies, because it’s what the ducks eat, but it’s a good thing he didn’t have to many anchovies on it as the pairing didn’t exactly work. The duck on its own, however, was beautiful.

The dessert was highly unusual and incorporated the taste of red bell peppers. That was a strangely pleasant surprise, especially since Nicolas and I don’t like bell peppers.

Stops after lunch were Quimper and Concarneau. Everything was closed at Quimper, given that it is a Sunday and everything closes in France on Sundays, so that at Concarneau, noting the darkening skies, I just wanted to stay put in a bar while Nicolas and his mom wandered about. Guyaliane wouldn’t have it and it’s a good thing she insisted because Concarneau’s Ville Close was celebrating Fête de la Bretagne and all the shops were open. (Or maybe they’re just open everyday, including Sundays, since Ville Close is a tourist town?)

Anyway, we finally found those personalized Brittany breakfast bowls for Guylaine and myself (- Nicolas bought his at Guimiliau yesterday).

And Nicolas finally got his striped fisherman’s sweater and bonnet (- he already bought me a typical Brittany windbreaker before we got on the ferry to Île-de-Brehat).

When in Brittany, right?

We also bought some ridiculously expensive piece of art, but the shop worth looking for here is Li La Li Lou. They carry a brand called E-zen that carries French designs fabricated in Thailand. It’s their only shop for now. I would have bought more clothes had I not left my wallet in the car.

We are now at Hotel les Ajoncs D’Or in Pont Aven. Its claim to fame is that Paul Gaugin once stayed here. If our hotel room in Saint-Malo was huge, this one is extremely small. And the town looks unremarkable but I think we’re just here for the night before we head off to some island.

If my posts about France, thus far, seem to be haphazardly put together, that’s because they are. Right now, I’m just wanting to publish this so I can get to sleep. I haven’t read or edited any of the posts so I’m not even sure if they’re fit for public consumption but if I don’t write things down now, I’ll forget, or worse, I won’t write at all.

Oh yeah…

Dinner: I skipped it. 🙂