Landevennec (4 June)

We found a nice little beach, too rocky to take off your shoes; but a great place to find “lost things.” The children are on a hunt to see who can get the most sea glass. At least Chayton’s determination to find the sea glass has stopped him from picking up every stick he passes that could be a wand, sword or bow and arrow. 

The challenge right now is having them find sea glass that’s been in the sea long enough. I really don’t relish them picking up pieces from the bottle of wine that was left on the rocks. I’d rather they get a piece of the wine bottle left by pirates from long ago that has been worn smooth by the water and wind. Outside of that, this beach did give us a great place to pick up some sea glass, sea shells and rocks.

Next up was a visit to the first abbey – Abbaye de St-Guénolé. This is the smaller of the two chruches that are in town and is the one that is still used today. 

After wandering there for a few minutes we walked up the streets to the ruins of the larger abbey – Ruines de l’Acienne Abbaye. As we walked though town Courtney and I were struck with how quiet and empty it was. Unfortunatley, you see a lot of for sale signs in the smaller villages around us and this one was not an exception.

At the Ancient Abbey it was very interesting to walk around the old foundations and the museum. The abbey originated as a Celtic Monestary and has had many revisions to it – destroyed and rebuilt at least three times. The fourth time it was destroyed was during WWII, and unfortunatly it was left in ruins after that. In the museum there are quite a few books that the monks made during the time it was an active monestary. They are so beautiful – full of colors and drawings. It seems that when Catholicism was banned in Ireland those many years ago, the place that the relegious went to was Brittany. They could practice and teach freely here as well as create the books that they needed without being imprisoned. So not only is there a strong tie to Ireland in this part of France, but you will find a lot of the old religious texts were created in this area as well.