Broceliande

I mentioned Broceliande - land of legends and enchantment - a few posts ago, and whilst there is much debate as to whether Arthur & his Knights or Merlin actually existed, here in Brittany there is certainly a feeling that they may well have !

The forest of Paimpont covers many hundreds of hectares and a very large part of it is either privately owned or used as a training area by the French Army. In fact convoys of troops travelling along the dual carriageway from Ploermel to Rennes are quite a common sight and sometimes might you even catch glimpses of camouflaged figures scurrying through the the undergrowth !!

However, the publicly owned 10% has much to offer in support of the Round Table connection! We have claims to the Fountain of Eternal Youth, Merlin's Tomb as well as that of La Fee Morgane. Add to this the castle of La Fee Viviane (the Lady of the Lake) , oak trees 1,000 years old, manoirs & chateaux dotted all over the forest and some of the prettiest villages in the area and you have Broceliande!!

Now, whether you believe in these legends or not (!) there is no denying the absolute beauty of the area and taking advantage of the Indian summer we've been having, off we went to explore the Val sans Retour ! Local legend differs slightly from the official version as it is claimed that if you are a faithless lover, then you will not return from the valley but be turned into stone! Whichever version you choose to believe it is well worth the visit - if you dare!!

I have been trying for AGES to upload photos and am just about ready to scream!!I think there is a problem with my ISP at the moment as we seem to be on a 'go slow' as well as some other strange happenings (!!), so until things settled down and I can show you some of my own, just have a browse here