My Love for Brittany
Oct. 10th, 2020 03:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcpipDo you have a love for a place or people that you have never been to? For me, it is Brittany (Bretagne, Breizh), the north-western corner of France. To be sure, I do have a thing for wild coastlines and cool, stormy, maritime climate, which also explains why I like the land of my birth, the South Island of New Zealand. Whilst still spectacular, I can only imagine how impressive the Paimpont forest (Forêt de Paimpont, Koad Pempont) would have been in previous centuries, as the legendary Brocéliande, the final resting place of Merlin and much used in other fantastic literature. Perhaps it is the extraordinary archeological remains, including Neanderthal hearths that are some 400,000 years old, or the stunning neolithic cairns of Barnenez, Saint-Michel tumulus, and the Carnac stones? Maybe it's because I am charmed by the Ouessant sheep, which are around 45-50cm at the shoulder, fully grown.
Perhaps there is something about a place whose people are one of the last beacons in the Celtic Twilight (which I have given previous presentations)? One small village of indomitable Gauls (a childhood favourite) is in Armorica, inspired the village of Erquy as unofficially confirmed by Underzo. The Romans probably didn't really think much of the place, naming the far NW corner, Finis Terrae, the end of the earth. Of course, the Bretons are not Gauls, having made their way over from Devon and Cornwall in the 5th to 7th centuries CE in preference to having to deal with the invading Anglo-Saxons. Brittany managed to remain semi-independent until the 16th Century, until incorporated into France by jure uxoris. With the Breton language (sort of like Welsh with a French accent and loanwords) never officially recognised, it fell into a decline especially in the second half of the 20th century to approximately 200,000 speakers, although there is a contemporary revival and, conveniently, it is today's featured project on Wikiversity.
There is much more that I could say on this subject, but on an Epicurean level, last night was Breton night at home. With![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
caseopaya's nephew Luke staying with us for a few weeks in preparation for his move back to Perth it's a full house. Drinks through the night were various versions of Kir, the Kir Impérial to begin with, followed by Kir Breton for main (with imported Kerisac cider), and a standard with dessert, and a post-dinner Calvados as a night-cap. The dinner itself was Gratin de Thon aux Haricots Secs, which I thought would be pretty plain but was absolutely amazing, although my variance from the standard recipe by using tomato-infused breadcrumbs possibly helped. Dessert was Kaletez, buckwheat pancakes, with fruit fillings. Background music was of the culture, which caseopaya drew some similarity with Dead Can Dance; nothing new under the sun, but there is new combinations.
Perhaps there is something about a place whose people are one of the last beacons in the Celtic Twilight (which I have given previous presentations)? One small village of indomitable Gauls (a childhood favourite) is in Armorica, inspired the village of Erquy as unofficially confirmed by Underzo. The Romans probably didn't really think much of the place, naming the far NW corner, Finis Terrae, the end of the earth. Of course, the Bretons are not Gauls, having made their way over from Devon and Cornwall in the 5th to 7th centuries CE in preference to having to deal with the invading Anglo-Saxons. Brittany managed to remain semi-independent until the 16th Century, until incorporated into France by jure uxoris. With the Breton language (sort of like Welsh with a French accent and loanwords) never officially recognised, it fell into a decline especially in the second half of the 20th century to approximately 200,000 speakers, although there is a contemporary revival and, conveniently, it is today's featured project on Wikiversity.
There is much more that I could say on this subject, but on an Epicurean level, last night was Breton night at home. With
caseopaya's nephew Luke staying with us for a few weeks in preparation for his move back to Perth it's a full house. Drinks through the night were various versions of Kir, the Kir Impérial to begin with, followed by Kir Breton for main (with imported Kerisac cider), and a standard with dessert, and a post-dinner Calvados as a night-cap. The dinner itself was Gratin de Thon aux Haricots Secs, which I thought would be pretty plain but was absolutely amazing, although my variance from the standard recipe by using tomato-infused breadcrumbs possibly helped. Dessert was Kaletez, buckwheat pancakes, with fruit fillings. Background music was of the culture, which caseopaya drew some similarity with Dead Can Dance; nothing new under the sun, but there is new combinations.