20 May, Monday

Breakfast: I worked out and skipped breakfast.

While I really didn’t eat anything last night (- Nicolas and Guylaine went out for crepes), I may have finished the white-chocolate covered Oreos in the car this morning. And the banana chips I bought from Manila. And half a Twix on the ferry… Eek!

We took the ferry from Quiberon to Belle Île (€30 return) and signed up for a coach tour of the island.

This was Claude Monet’s rendition of Port Coton in Belle Île.

Les Pyramides de Port Coton by Claude Monet. (Internet file photo.)

This was one of the photos I took of it today:

Lunch: The tour company also owned the restaurant where we stopped, setting off the tourist-trap alarm bells in our heads but, thankfully, the food turned out to be good, prompting Nicolas to say, “It’s impossible to have bad food in France.” (I guess he had forgotten that just a few days ago, on another island in Brittany, he had had some very bad mussels.)

This time around, he finally had some mussels __ that he really enjoyed. I had soupe de poisson , which I had been wanting to try in France. We used to serve this at our resort and the only other time I had tried it outside of our place was in Hong Kong the first time I visited with Nicolas. Cafe Bleu had a very tasty and generous serving of the soup and it was exactly what I needed on this chilly day.

For dessert, I got to try far breton , a traditional pastry from the region that tastes pretty much like clafoutis but, instead of cherries, the Bretons use prunes.

After lunch, the tour continued and, later, in the half hour free time we were given to roam, I managed to have two of Magnum’s 5 Kisses.

I had #s 1 and 2. I could have had #4 too but Nicolas was already not amused. FYI, the Meringue et Fruits Rouges is the bomb. (Internet file photo.)

I also had one crepes au caramel au beurre salé.

Slathering on the caramel. Christian made my crepes and asked me to email him the pictures I took of him this afternoon.

The ferry ride back was rough and, at first, there was a lot of loud nervous, almost hysterical, laughter whenever a wave would roll the boat. After a while, there was silence as more and more people asked for motion sickness bags. I, typically, fell asleep. Only to awaken to someone in the next row puking into a bag.

Guylaine wasn’t feeling well herself and I think she was surprised when I got off the boat and ordered a pudding from a tavern where we were wanting to use the toilets.

Our only other stops today were to see more menhirs. Before Belle Île, we saw the ones at Carnac. And after Belle Île, we stopped at another one where they were fenced in. Will fill in the name of the town here at another time.

Dinner: Our last night in Brittany. We’re spending it in a lovely town called Vannes, in a more upscale hotel called La Marebaudiere.

While I didn’t have to have dinner, I also didn’t want to miss out on one last dinner in Brittany. We went to a nearby creperie called St. Patern. I ordered the Marie France, one of their special galettes with potatoes, and it was delicious.

Tomorrow, we’re heading to Moulin Lasnier, to the house Guylaine grew up in. It’s in the center of France, which Nicolas calls “The Michelin Star Black Hole”. The area is devoid of any Michelin-starred restaurant. I don’t mind. Right now, I’m craving a simple, home-cooked meal and I do love Guylaine’s cooking.

PS – My apologies to Port Aven. According to Nicolas, had I gone walking around, I would have seen that it was quite charming. It’s also the home of those famous galette biscuits.