The holidaymakers are coming back. Some soon from Italy; a bunch just back from France, picking up some archaeological information and, similarly, apian or apiarist loot, on the way. Brittany, of course, is the site of magnificent archaeological remains and it is hard to pass the famous lane of huge menhirs, or standing stones, at Carnac. The guide book calls this phenomenon The Lines of Menec. They are standing stones, two lines, three-quarters-of-a-mile long and 100 yards wide, numbering in all 1,009, the tallest of them being 12 feet high. Some avenue! They begin with a semi-circle of 70 menhirs. It's a long time since it was seen by these eyes, so just take what The Michelin Guide says about another stone monument, the Great Menhir of Locmariaquer. The menhir (as this was written in Michelin) is broken into five parts, four of them lying on the spot - they are over 60 feet long (estimated weight of each is about 350 tons). But our travelling friends were making for the Roscoff boat and stopped at Huelgoat which has its own attractions.
Plenty of rock here, too: the Devil's grotto, more menhirs and the Trembling Rock. It's 100 tons in weight, but so balanced that you can move it without it falling on you. But of all the attractions of Huelgoat and its environs, none could compare (to those with a sweet tooth) with the apiary named after the town. And while a Catalan beekeeper said long ago that there were regulations against making claims of a medical or pseudo-medical character, they must be in abeyance, for here are specific points made for the products. Honey made from the blackberry bush reduces mouth infections. If it comes from white clover, you get strength and energy. Most ambitious: for the chestnut, it is written that it acts against dysentery. While heather honey (and we make a lot in Ireland, but this is France) acts as a urinary disinfectant!! They recommend their Royal Jelly and Pollen from the hive. You take this pollen, fasting in the morning. . . rich in minerals, vitamins, protein and so on. One thing can be said: their forest honey (mostly oak, it seems) is lovely to taste, while their honey cake, a bit like ginger cake, is delicious.