Travelling around Brittany, France

in #travel8 years ago

Arriving at the sleepy village of Tréhorenteuc, we made our way through a magical forest to a pond, called "mirror of fairies" where we came across a golden tree!

After a little research we found this under the heading of "Go if you dare! ....."
"Near Tréhorenteuc is the ominously named Val Sans Retour (valley of no return). It is here that the sorceress Morgan le Fay, half-sister of King Arthur, is said to have imprisoned unfaithful youths. High above the valley, the Rocher des Faux Amants (rock of false lovers) is the spot where she enticed her prisoners. As well as several megalithic sites, visitors should note the golden tree at the entrance to the valley".

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FullSizeRender.jpg Rock of false lovers

On our return from our walk and a brief return to "Merlin" (our campervan) a French woman cried out with glee at its name. She had just been researching the villages legendary history.

We continued with our walk through the village, where the Arthurian legend theme continued with an ancient looking pub called Lancelot, and even an adjacent house covered in graffiti that had a magical tree, along with mythical characters, such as Merlin, emblazoned on it.

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We again returned to Merlin for some refreshments and noted how sleepy this village really was, with a vehicle passing maybe once an hour; the population is approximately 110.

Suddenly, thirteen cars turned up in a convoy, men and women got out, donned white robes, headbands and carried staffs!
One produced a flute and gave it a go and they all headed off into the woods towards the stones and golden tree, just in time for the sunset.
We pondered if it was related to the solstice.
Later, at midnight we heard the banging of staffs on the rocks, and the wind occasionally carried the notes from the flute.

Tréhorenteuc, doesn't have street lights to speak of. The only light source was from across the village, from a roof covered picnic area.

On a clear night I would expect to be able to see the starry night in its glory, due to there being no light pollution

We looked towards the area of the Golden Tree and Rock of False Lovers, expecting to see some kind of light source, but saw nothing.

However, to the south, we saw a light in the sky.
It looked like a white torch light reflecting off the clouds, and that's what I assumed it was.

Light repetitively arced; I started to count them to see if it was a distress signal.
Light started to shoot across the sky; much further than I would expect a torch light to reach.
Then there were two lights that came from different directions, met, then went off in opposite trajectories.

These were random patterns, but it was if they were sets, because they kept repeating.

We learnt the next day that the robed people were Belgian Druids; an elderly local man had stopped to ask where we were from, told us.
He himself was distinctive looking with long grey hair in a bun, with a pin through it. His beard was long and plaited on both sides of his chin.
He also came from Wales and told us that Welsh was his first language.
He gave us some advice on other megalithic sites to visit nearby, and then said he had to go home to feed his cats.

This is the weirdest experience on this trip, including seeing a bearded man in a tutu at the Hellfest festival, which I suppose is normal, for a Festival.

Talking of which. I learnt a new skill at Hellfest... firebreathing.

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Nice photo, i've visited paris and reims once...truly beautiful photos, i love everything about your country :)))

Hi and thanks for the comments. I myself am just a visitor. I do a lot of travel and I do love France.

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