From Mane Rutual I walked up the road to the gate where you can look over it at the three marvels here, Er Grah, Table Des Marchands and Le Grand Menhir Brise. From the gate the big broken stone is tantalisingly close, there was no one around, so, like a very bad boy I jumped over the gate in a trice and had the trio to myself.
If I’d paid to go in I wouldn’t have been able to walk on the grass, touch the stone, or even have a good look around it. But as it’s after closing time there would be no getting into the Marchants table.
It’s all about give and take, ive given Brittany over a thousand pounds, I wanna see the stones and no little gate is gonna stop me. Am I a bad ass or just determined?
Le Grand Menhir Brise was the biggest standing stone in France, possibly in Europe, only Egyptian obelisks are taller, but I don’t really class them as standing stones. If you know of a bigger one please let me know. It may have stood 14 meters high, if it ever stood at all. Some parts of the broken stone have been removed to be capstones for nearby and not so nearby dolmens.
The four remaining pieces are most impressive, and no matter where you are in the complex your eye keeps being drawn back to the great broken stone.
Three pieces are still in such a position that you can see they still lie where they fell, but the fourth and biggest piece has somehow twisted around and away from the other three. It is difficult to imagine where the parts that were removed came from as the four parts seem to fit together.
It is a most perplexing and mysterious thing. Oh, and it’s very very big.
Sounds like you had a great holiday Postie.
Carnac in general and Le Grand Menhir in particular is something I would love to see. Perhaps one day?
It was great, thanks Carl.
It is no further away than Orkney, 110 pound ferry crossing, 337 pounds for the apartment, just about affordable for most of us.
It is a stupendous place, if you like stones and I know that you do, this is the place. Still lots of places on my list I didn't get round to.