Weekend in Brittany
A long summer weekend away from Paris
While many in Paris have already split for the summer—one friend replied to a text to Romain that she was returning September 29th (which was an error, but a very believable one), we are sticking around town for most of July, getting ready for nos vacances (our vacation), starting in mid-August and into September.
I used to wonder why people in places like New York City, where people who live there claim that they’d never live anywhere else, can’t wait to leave it. In Paris, everyone gets itchy to leave the city and head to the countryside. Yes, culturally people in France do like their vacations, but the summer vacation is also part of the rhythm of life here, a right granted in 1936 to workers who won the right to a paid, two-week vacation.
(The current prime minister recently proposed cutting back two jours fériés, public holidays, which - as you can guess - isn’t going over well here.)
While I’ve resisted the French urge, and Romain’s urgings, to have our own maison secondaire, we have friends who have them and invite us to come visit, which is a lot easier than owning your own place. One downside is that I’m not a big fan of socializing with people when I’m in the relaxation mode, but often those trips turn into dinners that start at 10pm or even 11pm and involve meeting new people (i.e., the introvert’s nightmare). It also means adjusting to other people’s schedules and habits, which is difficult for me because I am a creature of my own habits.
Fortunately, the friends we stayed with last week in Brittany are like family and we don’t have to “perform” for them or be entertaining. And none of their friends ask me if I’m Canadian, as people outside of Paris invariably do, due to my ability to speak French, albeit tainted with a North American accent.
Our friends also happen to be good cooks, and they know the region well, including the beaches. I have a hard time jumping into cold water if the outside temperatures are chilly and blustery, which doesn’t bother people in Brittany one bit and they just dive right in. I didn’t have much trouble plunging myself into the 11ºC (52ºF) icy water when I was in South Africa since it was very hot out. But the brisk 17ºC (63ºF) water of Brittany is a tougher sell to me, especially when it’s drizzling and rainy, which it was for most of the weekend.
But when the weather in Brittany turns lovely, it’s magically beautiful. That persistent rain keeps everything well watered, and the sea can surprise you with a remarkable turquoise color when the sun hits it.
Just as in Paris, even the most gorgeous day can suddenly turn cloudy, which it did after a lengthy swim in the cold water. (Once I get in, I’m fine. But there’s a lot of drama before I can fully immerse myself.) After our swim, we set up a picnic lunch using a nearby rock for a table.
