Visit to Saint Herbot

Saint Herbot is a lovely little village just a few kilometres south of Huelgoat. Our friend Judith lives there and when we went to visit her she took us round the fine church.

 

On the way in, the carvings of the 12 apostles look down on you, six on each side

 

The church is very impressive although the village is small!

 

 

Saint Herbot was an immigrant from Britain. He settled in Berrien (Finistere) but the local women drove him away as they didn't like their husbands listening to his preaching. He moved to the south of the Monts d'Arrée and eventually found a lord of the manor who let him choose two beasts from his herd to help him transport materials to build a hermitage. The oxen worked very hard yet became wonderfully strong and healthy whilst toiling for Herbot. They were never to be found far from his side after that and they even remained near the hermitage after he died.  Herbot loved animals, it was said that he could converse with them and heal them, and according to the legend, this holy man asked to become the patron saint of cows and oxen when he got to heaven





Carantec - Ile Callot and Pointe de Pen al Lann



Another change in the weather - it was lovely and sunny so we went up to Carantec and had a picnic on the Ile Callot, which we hadn't visited for over a year. This visit was long overdue for I had forgotten how beautiful everything is. The chapel on Ile Callot is special to me. It is one of my favourite places and gives me a feeling of being right on the edge of all that is visible..  with a foot almost in the invisible place..

We then walked round the Pointe de Pen al Lann. This was our first walk here, and it was lovely.





We had a great view of the lighthouse, the Chateau du Taureau which is a Vaubin fort, and the Baie de Morlaix.

Next Day - Huelgoat Lake

 

 

The day after the snow it was showery with bright spells. The colours of the sun on the lake were striking - a very different scene from yesterday.

Winter Returns to Huelgoat!

 

We thought we had said goodbye to winter here in Finistere - how wrong we were... Here are a few photos taken by Paul in our garden and in the woods. Ally thought it was great!

Les Enclos Paroissiaux (Parish Closes)

Parish closes are typical of religious architecture found in villages in Finistere. We went to a two part heritage course run by Wendy Mewes (www.wendymewes.com) to learn more about them. The first session was finding out all the facts: when they were built, why, what a parish close consists of, what the cultural and religious context was, the different architectural styles and so on. We were a group of six people and it was easy to ask questions and have conversations about it all. We then met two days later and travelled to three parish closes where we could 'read' them and begin to identify the huge amount of symbolism they contained. Thanks once again to Wendy for her intellect, imagination and for making all this knowledge come alive.

 Each  'Enclos Paroissial'  contains a church, a calvary and an ossuary as well as a small amount of land within its walls.

First we visited Saint Thegonnec parish close. This dates from the 16th and 17th century, and it has a fantastic ceremonial entrance arch. On the ossuary is inscribed  'Hodie Mihi, Cras Tibi'  which means 'Today Me, Tomorrow You'.

 

  After this we visited St Guimiliau, again dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. This was amazing and I especially liked the calvary and the church organ.

 

 

 Our final visit was to Lampaul Guimiliau where among other marvels there is a wonderful Pieta and sculpture of Christ's entombment, 'La Mise au Tombeau'.

 There is so much to learn from the Parish closes. The centrality of the faith to the sixteenth and seventeenth century Bretons; their perspectives, priorities and witness - in the context of their everyday lives.

Walk in les Monts d'Arree

The Monts d'Arree are an ancient mountain range running through the centre of Finistere separating the north from the south, or Leon from Cornouaille. The lands are barren, the tops craggy and the views tremendous...

 

 

At the top of  Montagne St-Michel de Brasparts is a small chapel. The whole of this area is very atmospheric, and the changing lights due to weather, seasons and time of day add to the mystical feel. This truly is the land of legends.

 

 



Pointe de Primel and Tregastel

We had a lovely Sunday afternoon walk at the Pointe de Primel, one of our favourite places. The scenery is wonderful and we had brought some cakes and hot drinks along to have when we'd finished. Did they taste good!! After that we drove round to the beach at Tregastel and Ally had a paddle.

 

 





Pont Aven

 



We visited this pretty little town last week. It's an artists'town (Gauguin used to paint here) and there are lots of galleries with some fine works of art to be bought,

Trip to Nantes

Last weekend we spent a couple of days in Nantes. Nantes used to be the capital of Brittany until 30th June 1941, when it became part of the Pays de la Loire. It is a truly beautiful place.

 

We didn't have time to see as much of it as we wanted to so we shall certainly be going back for more"  We saw the magnificent cathedral and a number of other churches and found a great restaurant.  The thing that has made the most lasting impression on me though was the memorial to slavery, not for artistic reasons, but because the bleakness and the profound quotations spoke to my heart.  Do visit it if you get a chance.