Spring Flowers - Long Post!

I enjoy walking , as you will know by now, but its time to confess that not all our walks take place on canal banks or at the coast! We try to walk every day, weather permitting, and for the greater part these walks start at our own front door in the very rural countryside that surrounds us! Today , as we are still enjoying the most glorious weather, I thought I would take you on a typical 'ordinary' walk , but with the added bonus of seeing the countryside as it wakes up to Spring !


After leaving our hamlet, we have a walk of some 300 metres along quite a fast road before being able to access the absolute maze of small farm roads and 'chemins' (in this area the term normally refers to dirt tracks used by tractors to get from one field to another!) that criss cross the whole area! At the moment the main road is lined with Blackthorn & Hawthorn trees full of white and cream blossoms




A little later will see the wild plum trees burst into flower, and if we are lucky enough to have a mild April/May without too much wind to destroy the blossom, there will be kilos of fruit going begging later on which makes the most lovely jam!!

Through a small wood where the daffodils are huddled under trees

and along the edges of the field

into the next hamlet where the hedgerows are full of Forsythia

and Mimosa

A stop to chat to the nearly neighbours and admire (again) the little filly




'Look at me! Haven't I grown - and this is me and my Mum!'






Eventually we get away after promising to call on our way home and share a glass of Kir , white wine (or champagne!) mixed with blackcurrant liquer, a very popular before lunch 'apperitif' in Brittany, and very nice too !


We wind our way through a couple of hamlets, passing dwellings ancient (ish!)





and modern (ish!)

along narrow roads and lanes, with the banks and ditches filled with Spring flowers

Periwinkles ( I think!!)


Cushions of primroses

and I even spotted a few very early violets - see how dry the ground is though! Passed a small crab apple orchard

one of the many in the area that are the mainstay of the Breton cider industry.

A short stop to admire the views before attacking the 'chemin' back home - have we really got to walk all that way still ???

Thank you for keeping us company today, I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did !