I'd never been to Carnac before and I have to say, I love the fact that I'm discovering Brittany the same way that Jason is most of the time. It's so refreshing to wake up on a Saturday morning and think 'Which part of Brittany should we explore this weekend?'. My parents have been there quite a few times so it was definitely on our list. And although that weekend was supposed to be super hot and humid, we had just the right weather to be walking around all afternoon. Hot but not so much that you sweat after walking 10 metres.
The first thing we did after eating our picnic was the
Carnac Alignments. It was such an impressive sight! The megaliths are all ordered by size and we loved the fact that even if they've been put there 6000 years ago, you can still see the lines that they form distinctly.
The main site is called Le Ménec, but there are 3000 stones in total along the same road. Intriguing isn't it? I was quite disappointed when I discovered that specialists still don't know exactly why they've been placed there (Yes, I like to know everything). But we will definitely go the
Prehistoric Museum another time to discover more about the history of this place.
After having a quick look at the map displayed on the site, we realised that there was the Saint-Michel tumulus not far away and we walked through the forest paths to get to it. The sun was hiding unfortunately but came back shortly after (you can see how much happier I was! Haha).
From what I understood, a tumulus was a very old manmade burial chamber that forms a small hill on the outside. We couldn't explore the chamber as it was closed to tourists in the 90s. However, we could climb at the top of the tumulus where a Chapel was built more recently. It makes a great view point from the top of it!
We then went on to explore the Kermario alignments as well as the Moulin de Kermaux where we had a great view of the standing stones. We even spotted a dolmen (photo above) which was a collective tomb in the Neolithic age.
My parents told me that before I was born, they could roam around the stones freely and things were a little more relaxed. It's quite a shame now to see them all fenced off, but I understand that with the amount of tourists that come every year, the site wouldn't have been preserved well and it would have been a disaster for such an iconic and ancient site.
After a cheeky drink and delicious cakes that we had at the town centre (If you're following me on
Instagram, you would have seen how tempting they were!), we headed towards the coast, only 15 mins away by foot.
The beaches were absolutely crammed, and we weren't surprised about that after having a look at the colour of the sea, but we found a little quiet patch where I was freely looking for beautiful shells. I used to collect washed up glass pieces and shells when I was a little girl and I find myself still doing it at almost 28 years old. I just find them so precious! And I found some perfect shells that day ;)
By the end of the day, when the light was changing, Jason pointed out how the sea looked almost black when seen at a certain angle. I just love how the texture of the sea looks different.
When we finally decided to head back to the car, we walked on the coastal path. Exactly at the same place as the photo above, Jason got absolutely drenched by a big wave that crashed on the wall and landed on him like a bucket of water! I'm so annoyed I didn't film it as I could have sent it to You've Been Framed haha. When I looked at him, I couldn't stop laughing as he just looked like he had a shower with his clothes on. Poor Jason! A girl was sitting on a bench nearby and she was trying so hard not to laugh.
Carnac, we'll be back!
