August 7, 2018
Stones, mist, rain, and traffic.
Today was supposed to be short on cycling and long on sightseeing and it didn't disappoint. I woke early and got to the laundromat before the rush. An hour later, I was out the door to visit the famous alignments of Carnac. Just before I got there, the rains came nad they were with me all the time I was at the standing stones. The stones can be overwhelming by their sheer number. There are literally thousands of them stood on end in long rows. Every now and then a dolmen is thrown in for good measure. Who put them up and why will forever remain a mystery. Radiocarbon dating puts them about 4500 BCE, but they could be even older. That puts them in a time before the Celts invaded Europe, and two millennia older than the pyramids. The only clue we have about their origins are from Irish legends which tell of how the celts (Tu Atha de Danann) took the land from older tribes they called Firbolgs. But I'll let a couple of pictures show you what I mean.
Dolmens are tombs'that have lost their coverings due to time. When they are intact, they are called tumuli and a few of those survive, albeit without the original occupants.
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It's all a bit overwhelming. All those stones moved and put in place without the use of the wheel or metal tools and probably without draft animals either. And they are not found just in Brittany or even just Europe, either. The biggest concentration of dolmens is in Korea. And no evidence of the builders other than the stones themselves.
Mulling all this over, I made my way back to the city of Carnac and set my sights on Quiberon at the far end of a slender peninsula. Back in the traffic, and there is only one road that travels down the peninsula. It is so busy that a loaded cyclist riding on the shoulder is faster than any of the cars, moterhomes, buses, or trucks that creep down toward the tip. Part of the way is covered by a cycle path, but it's incomplete so I had to join the traffic from time to time. Near the end of the ride the traffic thinned out and I could feel safe. I got to Quiberon itself just at lunch time. A ferry was leaving for Belle Isle, but it cost 45€ round trip and needed to be booked at least a week in advance, so I thought I might as well end my ride here. I was way too early to check into a hotel, so I dropped my bags off at the Bellevue and went to find lunch. My first Breton galette of the tour followed by a crepe with crème de marrons soothed the inner man. I rode around looking at houses and boats before getting into my room at 3:00.
And there was fresh sea bass for supper, and it was good!
Today's ride: 48 km (30 miles)
Total: 323 km (201 miles)
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