May 19 – Locronan and Quimper

Today we are visiting Locronan, another Plus Beau Village.  And it is pretty magical.  There were a lot of flowers (the roses are now blooming)…

cute signs,

a few shops open (this one carried lots of spices...reminded us of the spice markets in India),

and just a beautiful village.

We visited the Church of St. Ronan…

and the adjacent picturesque cemetery.

Took a long walk up a hill where we had views of the town and the countryside beyond.  Unfortunately, it is a bit rainy so the views weren’t as good as they would have been on a sunny day.

We stopped at the Celtic Library.

And then found the only eatery that was open.  A Salon de Thé (Tea Salon).  They had minimal savory offerings but a huge table with lots of desserts.  So, like independent adults, we had dessert for lunch.  Carrot cake and apricot clafoutis.  Mary makes this at home sometimes and wanted to see if her version was anything close to the French.  And it is.

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More Locronan
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We were done by shortly afternoon so decided to stop in Quimper on the way back to the hotel since it is on the way. 

Quimper is a much larger, modern city, but it has a great old town.  We wandered some of the streets…

and Plaza Terre au Duc with their half-timbered houses.

Next was Saint Corentin Cathedral.

Then we took the Petit Train ride around town.

Some yummies we saw along the walk.  But we didn't stop to get anything.

We saw some of what remained of the old city wall during the ride.

Some views of the tiny, and very picturesque, Steir River.

And views of the much larger Odet River.

We didn’t stay long but we got a good flavor of the town.  We were back in Concarneau by late afternoon.