Two Go Hunting French Orchids

[Jane NotRog]

Tonight's sunset. I was about 10 minutes late for the best display. Story of my life...

View attachment 1203341

Still an amazing photo!

 

[Wanders from Glos]

It is amazing. The butterflies born here at the end of summer head off for Africa but they will never reach it, only their descendents will get there.

It's as if they are sacrificing themselves for the good of the species.

There's a weird group of things called slime moulds which are neither animal, plant or funghi which do something similar. They form a massive single cell with millions of nuclei. At a point in their lifespan they get into breeding mode and some nuclei become spores while others adopt very specialised roles including some which form a stalk which will raise the spores up so the spores have the best chance for successful dispersal. The nuclei in the stalk will die, the spores have a chance of forming a new organism.

Very weird.

Wierd but fascinating.

 

[DBK]

The photographs from your new camera are superb.

Thank you but I'm still getting used to it. One problem is it has too many buttons which are too easy to touch when you are carrying it and this causes altered settings. I may have to get into the habit of only turning it on to take a photo then immediately turning it off.

 

[DBK]

Today was a "Vet Day" as I'd booked Charlie in to the vet in St Pol de Léon for his annual vaccination this afternoon. The vet had no problems recording the treatment in his EU pet passport. It wasn't particularly cheap at €58 but if we find another vet in 3 to 5 weeks he can get a booster which will last him 3 years. As far as I know UK vets only give annual vaccinations so it will save money in the long term and using the pet passport seems sensible. If we use a campsite which asks for a vaccination record for the dog (a few do) it will be a document they are familiar with.

This was our route today.

The detour around Cléder was to avoid a road closure. The journey from St Pol took us to just south of Carhaix-Plouguer and a free parking spot by the Nantes-Brest Canal.

The puddles on the floor are evidence it has been raining on and off today and now seems to have settled in to a steady drizzle.

The structure in the distance is a lock or écluse. To reach it we had pass through here.

The sign on the right says "Towpath flooded. Access prohibited." I ignored it of course as did several dog walkers. This is France after all.

Charlie was interested in the lock.

He was not happy with these leaks.

Unlike UK canals I don't believe boaters are allowed to operate the locks themselves but have to contact a lock keeper by phone. There is a lock keepers Cottage here but it either a second home or holiday rental I think.

There are a lot of locks on the canal, this is number 197.

I would have cycled the towpath here about ten years ago when my brother and I did the Velodyssee, the cycle route from the French/Spanish border up the west coast of France ending at Roscoff. We spent a few days on the canal and where we are today is only about a kilometre from where you turn off it and head through Carhaix-Plouguer to pick up the old railway which takes you north to Morlaix and then onto the final stretch to Roscoff.

It was raining I remember just like it is today!

On the way here I saw a sign about the town of Huelgoat and a caption saying "Terrain de Légendes" or "Land of Legends". A bit of searching revealed this is worth looking into on a subsequent visit. There's a "Chaos" of boulders, a Devil's cave and the Huelgoat forest, which is a remnant of a huge forest which once covered the centre of Brittany.

La Forêt de Huelgoat | Tourisme Bretagne

Sa forêt mystérieuse, ses rochers aux formes étranges et sa rivière d’Argent, pénétrez un monde de légendes. Saurez-vous faire bouger la Roche Tremblante ?

www.tourismebretagne.com

You could overnight at a paid aire outside a campsite or for a brief visit there is free parking day time only.

The Bretons are keen on their legends and we are in deepest Brittany here.

The parking spot we are on is in Park4Night but not any of the other apps. I've submitted it to CamperContact but could complete the upload for SearchForSites as I couldn't get around the photo uploading stage. I might try again later after reducing the size of the images.

The location is: 48.252833, -3.559068

 

[Grianan]

Great photos … interesting to know you need to call the lock keeper to open the gates …

 

[DBK]

Just looked up the journal I wrote of our Velodyssee trip.

Seeing this image of me suggests it was a lot wetter than it has been today.

Just Keep the Sea on Our Left - The Velodyssey: Pontivy to Carhaix Plouguer: Damp and dirty day

Damp and dirty day

www.crazyguyonabike.com

 

[Orion]

Just looked up the journal I wrote of our Velodyssee trip.

Seeing this image of me suggests it was a lot wetter than it has been today.

View attachment 1203644

Just Keep the Sea on Our Left - The Velodyssey: Pontivy to Carhaix Plouguer: Damp and dirty day

Damp and dirty day

www.crazyguyonabike.com

Your online post of that Velodyssee trip was part of the research for our own (dryer) journey a couple of years later. We took our time in two parts - Roscoff down to St Gilles-Croix-de-Vie one year and Santander up to Nantes to next, with both ending with SNCF returns to Morlaix. Happy days.

 

[DBK]

Your online post of that Velodyssee trip was part of the research for our own (dryer) journey a couple of years later. We took our time in two parts - Roscoff down to St Gilles-Croix-de-Vie one year and Santander up to Nantes to next, with both ending with SNCF returns to Morlaix. Happy days.

At the time north to south was the preferred direction as the signage was better going that way. It may be different now.

It was a shock to realise it was 13 years ago!

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[DBK]

Supper tonight. Tin of cassoulet for scale.

And ready to eat.

It may not look very exciting but it is very tasty, especially on a damp evening.

Expensive too at €6 a tin. The Super U own lable was half the price but extensive research has shown us the cheaper tins are a bit light on meat. The sausages in tonight's were delicious.

A final shot of tonight's spot. We now have a MH next to us since the shot was taken. They seem well behaved so happy to share the aire with them.

 

[DBK]

I was struck by the amount of birdsong by the canal this morning so I turned on my Cornell Bird app which can identify birds by their call.

It quickly listed what it could hear:

The one near the bottom was interesting, short-toed treecreeper. They are not found in the UK and I've never seen one before. Of course the app isn't infallible so I turned to another app on my phone, the Collins Bird Guide which has the ability to play the calls of birds it lists. While playing the call, which is a very distinctive "tuut, tuut, tuut" I heard exactly the same sound coming from the tree above me!

This is what it sounds like:



The upshot of all this is I still haven't seen a short-toed tree creeper as it was somewhere in the middle of this:

Towards the end of the walk the Cornell app said it had heard a bluethroat which would have been an amazing encounter but I didn't see one and I'm not ready to believe the app.

Later, quite a bit of driving today by our standards, about three and a half hours, brought us a bit south of Nantes to the CCP aire at the curiously named town of La Séguinière.

This was the route:

Most of it on a non-toll motorway with light traffic except around Nantes where it was busy but there were no queues or delays.

It was mostly dry today but the ground was wet in the aire so I decided on one of the hard standing pitches.

This was a mistake! The surface is a fine grit and it stuck to the bottom of our feet and it was next to impossible to stop yourself bringing it inside.

So we moved to a grass pitch, which is much nicer.

This is quite a nice aire and is almost full this evening.

The site is next to the La Moine river which immediately beside the aire is a typically turgid affair with dark, muddy water.

But elsewhere it was a bit prettier.

We'll move off again tomorrow and after a bit of shopping probably only do a couple of hours which should take us to a little beyond Poitiers. The first objective on the orchid hunt is the river Lot but that is still a bit far away from here. A few more hops to go.

 

[Grianan]

We are in the Dordogne and the notice board in the village says there are 4 species of orchid (I’ll photograph it tomorrow). Not seen them yet!

 

[Jane NotRog]

You’ve still got much better weather than us in Italy. And so has home

 

[Lenny HB]

Today was a "Vet Day" as I'd booked Charlie in to the vet in St Pol de Léon for his annual vaccination this afternoon. The vet had no problems recording the treatment in his EU pet passport.

I thought you couldn't use an EU pet passport since April.

 

[DBK]

I thought you couldn't use an EU pet passport since April.

Apparently not but I wanted to find out if the French vet would be happy to record the details in it - she was.

From what I've read no one (BF, Channel Tunnel etc) is refusing anyone from crossing at the moment who only have an EU PP but all say you should have a AHC and they don't know how long the transitional arrangements will last.

The new rules are proving tricky to implement I think so a bit like EES then!

 

[DBK]

You’ve still got much better weather than us in Italy. And so has home

The weather in Europe is looking very unsettled for the next couple of weeks apart from perhaps the far south of Spain which I don't want to visit as we have a ferry to Santander booked in the Autumn - this is our French trip! We'll do Spain later.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

I was struck by the amount of birdsong by the canal this morning so I turned on my Cornell Bird app which can identify birds by their call.

It quickly listed what it could hear:

View attachment 1204217
The one near the bottom was interesting, short-toed treecreeper. They are not found in the UK and I've never seen one before. Of course the app isn't infallible so I turned to another app on my phone, the Collins Bird Guide which has the ability to play the calls of birds it lists. While playing the call, which is a very distinctive "tuut, tuut, tuut" I heard exactly the same sound coming from the tree above me!

This is what it sounds like:



The upshot of all this is I still haven't seen a short-toed tree creeper as it was somewhere in the middle of this:

View attachment 1204232

Towards the end of the walk the Cornell app said it had heard a bluethroat which would have been an amazing encounter but I didn't see one and I'm not ready to believe the app.

View attachment 1204242

Later, quite a bit of driving today by our standards, about three and a half hours, brought us a bit south of Nantes to the CCP aire at the curiously named town of La Séguinière.

This was the route:

View attachment 1204214

Most of it on a non-toll motorway with light traffic except around Nantes where it was busy but there were no queues or delays.

It was mostly dry today but the ground was wet in the aire so I decided on one of the hard standing pitches.

View attachment 1204215

This was a mistake! The surface is a fine grit and it stuck to the bottom of our feet and it was next to impossible to stop yourself bringing it inside.

So we moved to a grass pitch, which is much nicer.

View attachment 1204216

This is quite a nice aire and is almost full this evening.

View attachment 1204235

The site is next to the La Moine river which immediately beside the aire is a typically turgid affair with dark, muddy water.

View attachment 1204233

But elsewhere it was a bit prettier.

View attachment 1204234

We'll move off again tomorrow and after a bit of shopping probably only do a couple of hours which should take us to a little beyond Poitiers. The first objective on the orchid hunt is the river Lot but that is still a bit far away from here. A few more hops to go.

We largely use the Collins Bird App. I’m a fairly incompetent twitcher but usually manage to see a Short-toed Treecreeper in Spain. As you say it has a very distinctive call. I think they are relatively uncommon.

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[DBK]

We largely use the Collins Bird App. I’m a fairly incompetent twitcher but usually manage to see a Short-toed Treecreeper in Spain. As you say it has a very distinctive call. I think they are relatively uncommon.

Even with good eyesight I think they are very difficult to distinguish visually but the call is the clue. I didn't know that until today. I've seen treecreepers before in places where the short-toed should be but was never confident about identification. Now I know to ignore the binoculars and reach for the ear trumpet!

 

[Ingwe]

The photographs from your new camera are superb.

I agree. Great bokeh on some.

Great thread DBK. Only just spotted it since our four day trip to Hereford.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Even with good eyesight I think they are very difficult to distinguish visually but the call is the clue. I didn't know that until today. I've seen treecreepers before in places where the short-toed should be but was never confident about identification. Now I know to ignore the binoculars and reach for the ear trumpet!

The trick is to look for movement and then get the binoculars out. Because I’m keen on birding I’m always on the look out. It drives Claire mad on a walk when I keep stopping to check a bird out on my app.

 

[DBK]

I agree. Great bokeh on some.

Most of the photos on this thread are taken with my phone but the camera will be dragged out for the flowers.

And the odd moth or other curiosity including sunsets!

 

[Dolmen]

Not 100% sure which route you are taking to Poitiers, however, knowing your interest in history, if you are anywhere near the Tumulus de Bougon I can recommend it as a unmissable archaeological site visit and free overnight stop in the car park. The nearby village of Pamproux has water and waste disposal. No orchids that I am aware of! Regardless, enjoy your trip

 

[DBK]

Not 100% sure which route you are taking to Poitiers, however, knowing your interest in history, if you are anywhere near the Tumulus de Bougon I can recommend it as a unmissable archaeological site visit and free overnight stop in the car park. The nearby village of Pamproux has water and waste disposal. No orchids that I am aware of! Regardless, enjoy your trip

Thanks, that looks very interesting.

 

[Ingwe]

Not 100% sure which route you are taking to Poitiers, however, knowing your interest in history, if you are anywhere near the Tumulus de Bougon I can recommend it as a unmissable archaeological site visit and free overnight stop in the car park. The nearby village of Pamproux has water and waste disposal. No orchids that I am aware of! Regardless, enjoy your trip

Thank you Dolmen for posting this. We’ve noted this site and nearby town. History, and in particular archeological sites, are our main interests. One of the main reasons we enjoy DBK posts (apart from the great narratives and excellent photos) is that they usually have a theme. This is something we want to do to give our travels a structure rather than just a destination with travel in between.

Threads like this with the info contained, restore my travel mojo.

 

[Pantouffle]

Time to start a “good archaeological sites” thread?

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[Just smiffy]

Time to start a “good archaeological sites” thread?

I’d love to go on a dig somewhere, I wonder if we could do a rally where we could do an archaeological dig…

 

[Just smiffy]

I’d love to go on a dig somewhere, I wonder if we could do a rally where we could do an archaeological dig…

If all else fails a rally at the beach and I’ll bury myself and you lot have got to find me…..

 

[DBK]

We took up Dolmen 's suggestion and headed to the Tumulus of Bougon today, which is a little south west of Poitiers.

Admission is €7 per person, there's a reduced rate of €3 but despite my grey and wrinkled appearance we didn't qualify for this. I blame Mrs DBK's youthful appearance.

At the entrance was a notice in English giving the background to the site.

I took quite a lot of photos but won't bore you with them all. Here's just a selection.

Unlike the sort of tumuli you get on say Salisbury Plain these are not little bumps but major structures which were built with a lot effort. You can see the entrance just to the right of the tree on the left.

Lights come on automatically when you walk, or rather creep inside. Note the dry stone walling between the larger stones. Umpteen thousand years old.

The photo above show the huge capstone. One of the notice boards outside the tumuli, which are in English and French, said they weighed up to 32 tonnes.

One of the information notices. This one mentions 4th millennium BC but one mentioned the 5th so over 6,000 years old.

This one though had a corbelled roof, it looks like one of the trulli you find at Alborobello in Italy.

Another one.

They are not all round. This one was about 70m long, with rounded ends but burial chambers only at the ends.

They were not all huge.

One in particular was very impressive, with two chambers.



The museum was interesting with a lot of flint tools on display. The pile of flint arrow heads on the right was impressive, they were very thin and like the axes made with considerable skill. Mrs DBK made the clever observation that the flint didn't come from around hear, it's a limestone area, so it must have been brought in from elsewhere - traded using an early version of the EU no doubt.

There was also a full-scale replica of the chamber at Gavrinis in the Morbihan. We've visited this on a previous trip and I recommend it but as it's on an island you have to go as part of an organised tour, which can be arranged locally. The chamber is almost unique for the amont of decoration in it.

You can stay in the car park overnight for free and there is water and grey waste disposal but not black waste. However, we decided to move on a bit to reduce the driving tomorrow if we are to spend the weekend on the Lot, which is the plan.

And there were a few orchids.

These are Pyramidal orchids and under some trees, in the shade, we found some larger orchids not yet opened. My guess is they were probably Butterfly orchids but hopefully we will encounter these later in the trip when they are in flower.

We've ended up tonight on the CCP aire at Pressac, more due to laziness than anything else, it was just easy to see it was in the right place and the punch that into the GPS.

We are here on our own, which is a shame for the village.

This was today's route.

 

[Dolmen]

Great visit report, pleased you enjoyed it, and there are orchids there after all! win win

 

[DBK]

Great visit report, pleased you enjoyed it, and there are orchids there after all! win win

It was very interesting, very many thanks for the tip.

I must confess my (limited) knowledge of French history didn't suggest we would find anything like this here. I've always associated these sort of cairns with Brittany.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

I’d love to go on a dig somewhere, I wonder if we could do a rally where we could do an archaeological dig…

I’d be up for that.