Vannes

From Carnac we continued south along the coast and made our way to the Presqu'île de Quiberon and the town of Quiberon at its southern tip. The place was mostly closed up - remember, this is January - but we managed to find a hotel for the night. It was a modern place, plain, nondescript. There were other guests, mostly truck drivers we supposed.

A view of Vannes from outside the old ramparts with the Cathédrale St.-Pierre in the background.

Quiberon is where the ferry leaves for Belle-Ile, the inspiration for one of Laurent Voulzy's signature songs, "Belle-Ile en Mer."

A street scene in central Vannes.

I think we ate in the hotel, but really can't remember, and headed out early the next morning. We stopped in Vannes, larger city (about 50,000 Vannetais) on the Golfe du Morbihan. It was a quick stop, but enough to pick up the fixin's for a picnic lunch, and to wander around a bit and see the 13th century ramparts and the historic lavoirs, the place on the river where women would go to do their washing. These old buildings can be found all over France, but they're particularly elaborate and well-preserved in Vannes.

The historic lavoirs in Vannes.

Next, we were off to find a place to have our picnic.