Brittany, France is known for a couple of specific things – it is where Crepes originally come from (Yay!!!), as well as the famous ‘sel de Guerande’- which is salt that is harvested in the marshes and added to all the butter in the region. I am sure there are other important things (more important than crepes and salty butter though, I don’t know), but as I am a bit obsessed with food lately, those are the main things that come to mind.
So, knowing that a weekend filled with delicious food lay ahead, I was thrilled when we were invited to Emeline (Pacsal’s cousin) and Michael’s wedding in La Baule, the tiny, charming city where the Petit family likes to go on vacation.
We took a 6 am train from Paris, and showed up bright and early at 9am. Pascal’s sister, Laurence , and her boyfriend Maxime, were already there, and she picked us up and took us to the hotel where we were all staying together. Actually, Laurence and Maxime had a bit of an adventure the night before – they got back to the hotel late at night, only to discover that their key to the front door did not work, and there was no one around to let them in! They had to find another hotel at 2 in the morning! SO, when we showed up at the hotel, the management was so sorry they gave us all a big complimentary breakfast 🙂
Next on the list was a boat tour of the Briere – a marshy nature park that makes up a large percentage of the area. We all hopped onto one of these boats with Yves (I think that was his name…) the guide, who has been giving tours for the last 27 years and is quite the expert.
The tour was all in French, and I think I understood for the most part… who knows if the facts that I learned are correct though!
Until recently, this type of boat was the main kind of transportation that people in this region used – each house has a narrow canal leading from the main waterway onto their property. Yves stood on the back of the boat, and pushed us slowly through all the canals with the big stick he is holding.
Next up was a trip to a crepe restaurant. I was hungry after all that sitting on the boat 🙂 This was no ordinary creperie though – this is apparently the preferred crepe of Nicolas Sarkozy. I had a galette (a savory crepe) with smoked salmon, creme fraiche, and chives, and then Pascal and I split a crepe with roasted apples, fangipane and salty caramel.
Here is a picture of the pretty hotel where we stayed – look at all the birds that are wandering around the courtyard!
These chickens were so funny – the white one is super fluffy.
The end to Friday….
The next day was wedding day! Here are the bride and groom exiting the church. This is the church where Pascal’s grandparents went, and they are buried in a pretty little cemetary next door. The church was very charming – tiny and stone, with a pretty stained glass window above the altar.
After the ceremony, everyone drove for about ten minutes to the Chateau de Careil, where there was a cocktail and dinner. I snuck a picture before everyone got there. For the cocktail, we had oysters with a vinegar / shallot sauce (actually, really yummy) and champagne. Lots of champagne.
Here are all of the Petit cousins. I found out at the wedding, that one, Olivier, is going to Texas A&M next semester!
The next day, we all went to Manou’s house for a day of relaxing and enjoying the nice weather. Here is a picture of the house. It used to belong to Pascal’s grandparents.
It is walking distance from the beach, so we took advantage and went for a nice long walk in the sun.
Now back in Paris, getting ready to go into the office. Dad is arriving onWednesday, so that will be the next post I think!
La Petit Brant 