Carnac

I’m afraid ‘Megalith Day’ failed, though not unexpectedly, in its quest to make the kids think that that Megalithic sites might be in any way interesting. That said, we were not helped by the very dry French-language tour guide who we were saddled with as the only way that you are allowed onto the sites at Carnac these days in the summertime. Still a magical place though, to the extent that you were able to tune out the steady drone of the lecture and the yawns of your fellow tourists. Afterwards we drove over to the ‘Site de Megaliths’ at the nearby town of Locmariaquer, home of the tumbled-down but still impressive Grand Menhir Brise (20 metres tall when it was standing) and the Table des Marchands, a low tomb restored over a previously exposed dolmen. Judging by the photos, the latter was possibly more spectacular when the stones were still open to the elements but you can now walk into the atmospheric chamber of the tomb, the rear wall of which is a huge, carved plectrum-shaped stone, so that’s pretty cool. Later on we headed back into Carnac for a wander round the village, a poke into the Musee de Prehistoire (we were duped into believing it was free with our megalith-entry and were far too committed to withdraw by the time the charming ticket teller hit us with the ‘reduced tariff’) and an excellent galette and crepe dinner at the Chez Marie.