In Locmariaquer among fresh oysters and mysterious megaliths

The writer of Bel Ami also willingly went to Locmariaquer near Auray, right at the mouth of the Gulf of Morbihan, which also overlooks the inlet of Quiberon. Maupassant was attracted by the fame of the local oysters, to be eaten perhaps on the beach while sipping a glass of chilled Muscadet, while the wind sways the ropes of the moored ships (La Paulette is also a tempting destination to see how these delicacies of the sea are farmed). Then we go to visit the dolmen called Table des marchands and the Grand Menhir Brisé, a large granite block weighing 280 tonnes split into four pieces after being miraculously raised vertically. Just as impressive is the mass of the burial mound of Er Grah: all these megalithic vestiges were located on the shore of the ocean, which then gradually receded. And those sharp, irregular stone slabs embedded in the Carnac meadows make one think of a battalion of foot soldiers that has been petrified and no longer moves, while sheep bleat all around and wild flowers give off a vibrant scent of life. At the Crêperie des Îles, meanwhile, back in Locmariaquer, one listens to the speeches centred on the sea, trying to grasp the intricate affinities between the Breton language and classical French: one would think that they are all sailors, those to whom the Chapelle Saint-Philibert is dedicated, located on the opposite side of the estuary, from whose blue ceiling dangle model boats.