signs of the times

"ghost signs" such as this old advertising sign for DUBONNET are not as easy to find anymore as buildings get repainted and renovated or demolished altogether...and even if they have been left on the walls, the elements will soon enough wear them away, fading them into oblivion...

an intriguing name on the side of a building in Vannes...

another "ghost sign" for an old scuba-diving gear company is now barely legible, but beautifully abstracting paint patches remain...

the name plate carved in stone for a house I covet facing the côte sauvage, somewhat protected under an overhang from the wild ocean sprays... [le courlis is a curlew, a wading bird with a long slender curved bill]

and in the dungeon-y depths of La Citadelle we find on a darkened wall these ancient depictions of two pose-y female saints - Sainte Anne being the patron saint of Brittany...

"to be a window..."*

"Doctrine and life, colours and light, in one
When they combine and mingle, bring
A strong regard and awe..."*

the vitrail above filters in holy light in the beautiful little stone church of "La Vraie-Croix", named for a tiny piece of the real Cross stolen by a magpie from a pilgrim and whose nest was on the tree where this church was eventually built upon...

windows... the eyes of houses to look out upon the world, and sometimes, to let us see the secret life within...
but other times remain firmly closed as in the above weather-worn wood shutter of an old stone "shed" in a farmer's field aging gracefully along with the primitive face carved in stone...

"He is a brittle crazy glass;
Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford
This glorious and transcendent place,
To be a window, through thy grace."*

a narrow wood-slatted window on the side of the most unusually elevated façade of the church of Sainte-Avoye...

in a courtyard in Nantes, we find these wood framed windows guarded by baby lion's heads[??]...

on a large guardhouse across from the most enchanting and undisturbed chappelle [I am not allowed to reveal the name in order to protect its location!] are these two medieval window styles - the above round one with a delicate cruciform grille and the square opening below covered with its cruder and sturdier keep-out iron grate...

and on another ancient barn, this upper-level window/door has its hinged-side opening stopped up with all manner of rags and debris...an indication of what is stuffed and stored inside, or more likely a desperate attempt to keep out pests, wind and even the slightest sliver of light...!

[*verses are from "The Windows" by George Herbert [1593-1633], appropriately written when most of these windows were first opened to let in the light...]

passion de la voile

sailing vessels are omnipresent on the waters of Brittany... they glide into view wherever and whenever one gazes out to sea... they stir the passion for steady winds and moderate waves and the freedom of boundless directions, wide open skies, and adventurous childhood dreams...

a partial glimpse of a colourful sail past towards the annual week-long sailboat festival in May around the Gulf of Morbihan, which is swamped with landlubbers and sailors alike and which we valiantly tried to view more of...

at dockside in La Trinité sur Mer, the contrast of a classic ketch with the latest in high-tech design at rest before racing off halfway around the world...

eager children rigging their boats for some lessons on the water before also racing off around the world!

from an island in the Golf we watch a sailboat glide past a row of beach cabanes...as we sit in the afternoon sun waiting for our bateau to come in...

the distinctive orangey-brown sails of a traditional sinagot waiting for the wind to pick up to move it through the islands of the Golf...

the windy waters around La Citadelle de Port-Louis usher sailboats of all sizes by the entrance to Lorient's harbour... this 16th century fortification was originally constructed by the Spaniards under Philippe II, then partially demolished at the end of the Spanish occupation and rebuilt again under Louis XIII... it now houses both the Musée national de la Marine and the Musée de la Compagnie des Indes [East India Company's museum], the only museum in France to depict the history of the great trading companies of the 17th and 18th centuries...

at anchor across from the massive German-built submarine bunker-base in Lorient, now disused, but still much too colossal to demolish...
nearby is the architecturally stylish Cité de la Voile dedicated to the legendary breton sailor Eric Tabarly and to the technology and adventure of sailing... "un lieu unique en Europe pour comprendre et partager le plaisir de naviguer"