My Winter Vacation - The Ruins of Brittany

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Originally uploaded by dangunderman.

The missus and I had the pleasure of traveling to Brittany in the north of France during My Winter Vacation to see her brother and his family in their 17th century farmhouse. My brother-in-law is teaching himself how to renovate and rebuild the house as he goes, primarily in the 17th century style of things. To date, this has included slate roofing and clay walls. Fortunately, he's also installed plumbing and hot water. The portion of the house in which he and his family live is inhabitable and comfortable. The missus and I got our own room, which ruled, but it was in a part of the house with no windows or doors, and with the temperature hovering right around freezing... well, it was sort of like camping in wintertime. Hot water bottles, long johns, and lots of cuddling under blankets to keep warm. Going straight from the bed to the fireplace or wood-burning stove while sucking down as much hot coffee as possible was the first order of business every day.

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These beautiful 17th century ruins pepper the landscape of Brittany, and while some, like my brother-in-law's, are restored and lived in, most are simply the shell of beautiful stone work without a roof. In some cases these ruins, like the example pictured to the right, serve as the context for creative landscaping and gardening.

Most of these ruins are relatively inexpensive to buy, but then, of course, it takes the time and resources to make them livable. My brother-in-law also says that there's no real economy in his immediate part of Brittany, so for the most part, these ruins lie, well, in ruins, waiting to get knocked down for good (a real shame) or to get restored to their former glory. But like the refugees in Casablanca they wait. And wait, and wait, and wait, and then two German couriers are killed for their letters of transit, while Rick and Ilsa rekindle their romance while remembering their time in Paris, and Victor Laszlow defies the Nazis, and Captain Renault and Rick form a beautiful friendship. It's such a great movie.