Life is better in Brittany and Normandy

If you're in Brittany between June and the end of September then you just must pay a visit to La Gacilly. We managed to skilfully ignore it for years but now we've put that right by visiting 4 times in two of our stints at the house. It's a town that just loves to put on a show... When it's cold they knit jumpers for the trees! And, when the weather is good they honour parfumier Yves Rocher (because this is his birthplace) with a photographic exhibition that showcases the town, it's alfresco dining opportunities and dozens of the world's most interesting photographers... Fair to say, being creatures of habit, we will always be prepared to wait for a table at the restaurant Au Bout du Pont ... Check it out...Not to be missed. I have been known to make a slightly barbed joke that if it was mirrored in UK terms it would be Anita Roddick, Littlehampton, The Body Shop, and Fred's Fish & Chip Café (which is actually probably the best chip shop on the planet).....

Just a 10 minute drive from our house in Brittany is Lac de Guerledan (nearest town Mur de Bretagne)... Look out for the road signs for Beau Rivage (on the the lake) & the village of Caurel. Another great vantage point with launch slipway and restaurant as well as lakeside walk access is Anse de Sordan on the south side of the lake. Guerledan is a great attraction at any time of the year. A magnet for those who love water sports, leisure boating, wind surfing, water skiing, swimming, scuba diving...kite surfing... alfresco dining, of course, as the season suggests, and because of the lake's size, just about whatever you can do on the sea, you can do here. Walking around the shores of the lake along woodland walks is a given of course - and not something you can always do by the sea. Neither is it always possible to dine on board a huge pleasure craft... calm lake water can offer this... as well as a beach for sunbathing and swimming from... a hotel and lakeside restaurants even...

That's right... If you go down to the woods today... you're not only sure of a big surprise - but one of the more memorable meals of your time in Brittany!... So, the next time you go to the forest around  Lake Guerledan ... OK... but you need to be in Brittany between March/April (probably next year now) and the end of October... but it's worth it anyway up . I'm posting this in early October 2024 and we've been there twice in just one week! Not a difficult decision! Without too much exposure on social media (I'm sure that will ramp up before next season)... they have done brilliantly this year. Check out Betty Food . Émiline, who runs things brilliantly and her partner Erwan, say that on one day in August they handled 250 covers - and that's not surprising because the food is fantastic as well as great value.        The team decided to place their Airstream Trailer, parked close to their Chevy Truck towing vehicle, converted to become a mobile kitchen in a...