Carnac and Gavrinis

Carnac is an area near Vannes on the Atlantic coast of Brittany.  It has many attractions, but the most significant one is the Carnac alignments, which was our next destination.  At this huge Neolithic site are located about 3000 menhirs, standing stones, arranged in rows covering an area of 200 square kilometers in 3 separate sections.  This is the largest field of standing stones in the world.  Impressive indeed! 

This day started out cloudy and somewhat misty.  Because of time constraints, we were only able to walk around the monuments of the section called Le Menec.  Our guide said that all 3 segments were pretty much the same.  If you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all, supposedly.  I would have liked to spend the whole day there and seen everything! 

The menhirs are made of local granite, and in fact, we saw plenty of granite outcroppings on the ground.

The alignments were constructed from about 4500 B. C. to 3300 B. C., which makes the whole site older than Stonehenge.  No one knows who built the Carnac alignments, and for what purpose.  It certainly is a magical place. 

The sheep were expected to keep the grass and weeds under control, but I saw that they were more interested in walking on the pathways!

After a nice lunch, we headed off to Lamor-Baden to take a boat to the island of Gavrinis to visit the very impressive tumulus that is there.  The weather had cleared up nicely.  It was a sort of wacky afternoon, as our guides got into a heated discussion with the boat company, and once we got to the island, it looked like all of the caretakers and guides on site were teenagers!  On top of that, the explanation that was given by one of the teenagers before we walked to the actual tumulus was all in French.

The Gavrinis tomb was built around 4200-4000 B. C., and is shaped like a squat step pyramid.  The remarkable thing about this site is the fabulous megalithic rock art that covers the inside surfaces.  There was even a rumor floating about that the French government was thinking about closing down the site for preservation purposes and constructing and exact replica elsewhere.

We were only allowed 5 people at a time inside for a quick visit.  That was a rush.  No matter, since the weather had become sunny and warm, and it was nice just to be outside.  We were given flashlights and instructed not to touch the walls.  I was lucky to get a few good shots of the magnificent ancient artwork.

Upon coming out of the tomb, I took time to admire the clouds streaming overhead.