Brittany questions

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Moth M
Moth May 24, 2007 00:19:40
Replying to CianMcLiam

Ayup

What a shame TMA's not gone European yet!!!

In the meantime, Spaceship Mark's yer man really, but not always around. Shame he's not based out there anymore! Here's what I can think of in case he doesn't turn up!

Three days should just be enough to fit those in I reckon if you have long days & wanna whizz about a bit. A hotel in L'Orient shouldn't be TOO bad. Or could you camp? (Too late?)

We did Locmariaquer & Gavrinis & a few others in one (long) day. Another day around Carnac with Mark. Jane did a few weblogs that might give you a bit of help:

In & around Carnac (with Mark) - we saw a huge amount that may not be realistic without a guide who knows exactly where the more obscure stuff is! http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/36663/weblog/ More around Carnac in http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/37318/weblog/ I'd strongly recommend (possibly over some of the stuff in that blog) the Kerherzo alignments, Crucuno dolmen & rectangle (or quadrilateral) & the Mane Groh dolmen, just up the road. If you go to Kerherzo, don't miss Les Geants - see one of my last weblogs http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/37386/weblog/

Gavrinis + Locmariquer http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/36627/weblog/ Yes, you can take pics in Gavrinis, but you don't get long in there & don't get the chance to be in there on yer own (we didn't anyway - as you'll see if you check J's weblog).

La Roche-aux-Fées (sometimes known as Esse - with an acute accent over the 2nd 'e') we didn't actually get to see owt else that day. http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/36903/weblog/ but there are a few other things vaguely in the same direction that we didn't get to see - Les Desmoiselles (stone rows) near Langon, and Perrons des Grees (acute over 1st 'e') near Messac (a 3.8m menhir & possible stone row).

Or better, if you could really push it, the St Just complex http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/36904/weblog/

TME's pretty good on Brittany & I'd really recommend getting hold of Burl's 'Megalithic Brittany' (Thames & Hudson ISBN 0-500-27460-6) - it's not usually that hard to find or too expensive. We didn't have it at the time, but were ok coz we had Spaceship Mark for around Carnac. (He had a copy, but just knew where everything was anyway!)

No, you can't wander around the 'big rows', at least in theory, but it wouldn't be difficult to sneak in. Might be more difficult to sneak out if you got caught, but I don't know how strictly they police it.... Other than that, I'm not sure what you mean by restrictions.

Oh, having said that, you may mean stuff like, for example, you need to turn up & pay to see Le Grand Menhir Brise, Table des Marchants & Er Grah. Opening hours are pretty good tho & if the worse comes to the worst, you can see Le Menhir close to the fence.... I can't actually think of any others, offhand.

Megalithic Walks has some good stuff http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/celynog/Brittany/brittany.htm but we didn't do much web research other than for the north, away from where you'll be.

If anything else occurs to me, I'll post it here. :^)

Feel free to mail me.

love

Moth

S Spaceship mark
Spaceship mark May 24, 2007 14:15:25
Replying to Moth

I'd second most of that, Kerzerho is a must and, if you have the time, doing the big circular walk to pick up some of the lost sections behind the surviving alignments.
In terms of sneaking in, if you go in the evening you probably can at worst you'd probaby get shouted at. Kerlescan is easier as a bit less exposed. The alternative is to save your trip till winter when quite a few sections are open or go on one of the guided walks that run a few times a day.
To be truthful, if you go to Kerzerho and St Pierre Quiberon, it's not tooooo dissapointing to not get into the alignements.
You also HAVE to go to Kercado, one time holder of the oldest megalithic structure in Europe title, as it's great and if you get there before about 11:00 you'll have the place pretty much to yourself.
Jane's excellent blogs cover the trip I took them on and would be relatively easy to replicate with the blue 1:25000 IGN maps and a good guide book.
BTW Gavrinis can sometimes be a bit off about photography inside. They said I couldn;t use a flash and I've heard stories of people not being allowed to photograph at all.
If you're after a cheap clean basic place to stay you can to a lot worse than the Formula 1 hotel in Vannes. They're a real bed in a room affair full of an odd mix of families, businessmen and builders, but the Vannes one is within walking distance of the town centre. It's where Julian and I stayed on the TME trip.
Any more advice required, just ask!