Fabuleuse Brittany

Clams Marinier

Yesterday was my birthday and I spent the day in Loqueric Harbour with the family. Yes, IN the harbour! There was a long, low-tide and local people were down on the sea bed, walking about on the wet sand. Some were working on the hulls of high-and-dry boats, others digging in the sand for treasure. TREASURE: clams, razor clams, whelks and mussels, all there and easy pickings. We came home with a bulging bag of the sweetest clams in the entire world and made a large pot of Clams Mariner. We’re going back for more soon.

BBQed Cote de Boeuf

Today we gave seafood a rest day, and visited the local Boucher, we came out with a magnificent côte de boeuf, we barbequed it and served it with béarnaise sauce. It was simply delicious.

    

Today Ian BBQed a large crab and some sardines; I cooked tomato and caramelised onion Tarte Tatin. The seafood won the pic of the day…so here it is (recipe for the tarte, which was delicious, will follow soon – I’m on holiday!)

We spent this afternoon back on the little beach in Locqueric. It’s so gorgeous with boats floating on the water, men fishing from the pier, kids building sand castles…and all this is surrounded by a small but perfectly-curated selection of cafes and restaurants. Today the village celebrated with the annual Nuit de Marine, moules et frites were the order of the evening along with some wonderful dry cidre eaten on the sand and followed by a spot of traditional Bretagne dancing in the street!

In the village of Plougasnou, while browsing the morning market for supplies, I snapped this photo of a man in local garb selling rotisserie chicken and ham hocks. I like him.

Artichokes from Brittany on my kitchen window. Perfection.

Je suis en vacances en Bretagne. C'est magnifique. Coquilles Saint-Jacques, de cidre, crêpes et beaucoup d'autres merveilles culinaires attendez-moi.

Apricots for sale at the marche des legumes in Chartres.

Brittany is everything I imagined and more, I spent this morning wandering around the Sunday morning market in the village of Pestin, it was so perfect I wanted to cry.  There were fishmongers selling lobsters, languostine, mussels, and scallops; there were bearded men selling sausage, pate and rillettes; Cheesemongers with carts so smelly they almost sent you running, but then drew you closer with a curious awe; there were olives and tapenades, butchers and bakers and the artichokes…Don’t mention the artichokes…Dear God! They are perfection. I think I bought one of everything!

I’m, going to upload 1 picture a day while I’m ‘en vacances’. Just 1 image of whatever foody thing I fall most in love with that day. Today it’s the artichokes I bought from the market in Pestin. I’ve also uploaded my image from yesterday; the apricots from the market we stopped at in Chartres. Who cares about some Cathedral? If I was a religious person I think I’d find more of God’s glory in a perfect apricot than the finest stained glass in all the world.