In last week’s blog I shared some pictures of the Stable having completed the refurbishment but you would have seen that we hadn’t refurnished it. We had the first 3 days of last week to do that before our guests arrived on Wednesday evening (there’s nothing like working to a deadline!) We gave the space a deep clean, did a little additional painting in shower room, hung the new artwork and then finally replaced all the furniture and it looks amazing.
If you follow our facebook page you would have seen the pictures already but, at the risk of dragging it out for a third week, I have added them here.
The guests we had arrive were cyclists who were on a tour of Brittany and had come that day from Concarneau, 85 kms away. They loved their new accommodation – as too the fact that we were able to provide secure covered storage for their bikes and washing facilities for their clothes! Kergudon is certainly the perfect place for a break on a cycling tour.
The cyclists stayed with us for a rest day but didn’t want to travel too far in the evenings so took advantage of David’s 3 course suppers on both nights. With David’s generous portions they didn’t need to get their bikes out for lunch either!
The past week has also been one of downtime too. We made a commitment that we would try and so something ‘cultural’ once a month. This was a commitment we made to ourselves when we lived in London, although there was of course a wider choice there! This week we managed to achieve a couple of cultural activities with some annual events that take place.
Every June is the nationwide ‘Fete de la Musique’ where almost every bar, commune, town and city host some sort of musical activity. This year we travelled to a nearby small town called Irvillac because it had a large colourful sign – the power of advertising! We drive through Irvillac fairly frequently and it always comes across a sleepy little town which is likely to be populated by retired gentlefolk who have probably lived in the area all of their lives.
However, the attendees of the festival were mostly young families with lots of little children running around enjoying the music – more nappy valley than Tena town. The stage was the back of a lorry and they had 2 groups playing while we were there. The first was really good, lots of covers of well-known toe-tapping-tunes with an excellent singer; the second, headline act, played music that probably appealed to fewer people and had a slightly shoutier singer.
These evening events are excellent in bringing families out, and there are always lots of young children enjoying them as much of the adults. The same was the case of Saint Cadou’s Tantad last night.
The tantad is the annual bonfire held to mark the festival of Saint-Jean (St. John the Baptiste) which, in Saint Cadou at least, is accompanied by a Fest Noz (night festival) and traditional Breton dancing. We were hosting some very good friends who had come to visit us for the first time and having taken them for a fantastic dinner at Au Lac, we were able to show them some Breton culture as we arrived just as the fire was being lit. While we couldn’t encourage our friends to join in the Breton dancing we hope they enjoyed the event enough to come back!
We also had a sad first yesterday when we attended the funeral of one of our neighbours, Mimi, who passed away on Tuesday. Not very old at 73 years, Mimi, had been unwell for some time but had lived in the village all of her life with the exception of a 2 years in her teens when she moved all the way to Sizun.
Mimi never married but lived with her sister in the centre of the village where they ran a small farm as well as a couple of other gîtes in the village. I had spoken to Mimi a couple of times about the history of Kergudon and previous owners as she had known all of them going back many years but, sadly, never did so to write it all down.
Mimi’s funeral was held in the church in the centre of Saint Cadou which is used occasionally for music concerts but not religious services any more – with the exception of occasions such as this. It is a very pretty little church and was packed full yesterday. Our thoughts are with Yvette, her sister.
In last week’s blog I also mentioned that Mercedes’ brother and sister-in-law were about to embark on the Camino de Santiago walking from the Pointe du Raz to Galicia in Spain. They are blogging each day on their route, and creating a far more professional blog than this one as they are including video of each day. They are creating some of this video using a drone which, the day after our meal, they brought to Kergudon.
In the next couple of days Dave will edit the video and make a more professional clip but I thought you may be interested in some of the unedited footage. It is amazing the impact having an overhead view makes, and shows how the fertilizer I used on the back lawn has made a difference in the stripes where I spread it. Father Christmas bought me a drone last year as well so we should be able to take a new video each year and watch how things change.
Not sure what next week brings but am sure there is lots to do!
Salut.