Heloise and Abelard: The French Touring Game for Brittany (France) about Sinners, Saints, and Haints by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Héloîse and Abelard:  The French Touring Game for Brittany (France) about Sinners, Saints, and Haints by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget 

Introduction

The Brittany Peninsula in northwestern France that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean is famous for cuisine that would appeal to young people with yachting in the blood, interest in love stories, and yearnings to be a Celtic druid.

Brittany’s Cuisine – Simple yet Nutritious and Satisfying

-raw oysters (belons – huîtres plates are the most famous)

-pré sale lamb (salt marsh lamb)

-alcoholic apple cider

-towering seafood platters with homemade mayonnaise

-Muscadet white wine (goes great with seafood platters)

-steamed mussels made with Muscadet white wine and crème fraîche and chopped, flat-leaf parsley

-fleur de sel sea salt from Guérande, Brittany

-galettes (buckwheat crêpes for savory ingredients)

-crêpes for sweet and savory ingredients

-far cake studded with cognac-marinated prunes

-garden vegetables such as bibb lettuce, strawberries, green beans, and small potatoes for side dishes

-butter cookies to go with tea

King Arthur’s Camelot

Brittany is famous as the setting for Camelot in Chrétien de Troyes Arthurian Romances.

The Château des Ducs de Bretagne is where King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, and Queen Guenivere lived in myth.

I always told Florence when we visited Nantes that we might see those three in windows or walking around the gardens.

Middle Ages Lovers: Abelard and Héloîse

Brittany boasts being the tryst land for two Middle Ages lovers named Héloîse and Abelard.  Abelard was a priest, and Héloîse was his student.  Héloîse became pregnant.

The church superiors castrated Abelard.  Héloîse had to become a nun.  The two were allowed to correspond. 

Their correspondence has been preserved and published.  Spoiler - In the end, Héloîse starts making fun of Abelard, which is why it has been in print for centuries, begging for a movie.

Anne of Brittany: Queen of France Twice

Another famous personality from Brittany was a real queen named Anne of Brittany (1477 – 1514).  She became the queen consort of France twice.

Her first husband was Charles VIII and her second husband was Louis XII.  Both kings added her territory of Brittany to that of France.

She lived in the Château of the Ducs of Brittany, which is in downtown Nantes (Naoned in the Breton language).

I have some suggestions for places to visit in Brittany in the blogs that follow.  You can go to Nantes by TGV (French Speed Train) and rent a car to see the places I have described in the blogs:

Level 1: Books about Brittany and its Famous People

To better appreciate the culture of Brittany, you might want to do some reading before you go:

-DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Brittany by DK Travel

-Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes (various publishers)

-Letters of Abelard and Héloîse (various publishers)

-Twice Queen of France: Anne of Brittany by Mildred Allen Butler

-The Complete Sailor – Second Edition – by David Seidman (You can rent sailboats in some places)

-Crêpes and Galettes from the Breizh Café by Bertrand Larcher

-The Oysters of Locmariaquer by Eleanor Clark

Level 2 – Views from the Air

If you wake up in time, you can see evidence of how Brittany’s inheritance laws differ from England’s.

Level 3 – Places to Visit in Downtown Nantes

-Gothic Saint Pierre – Saint Paul Cathedral

-Château of the Dukes of Brittany

-Dobrée Museum

This museum holds many treasures documenting Nantes’ participation in the Triangular Trade with the Americas (slaves, sugar, rum, cotton, and salt cod).  

French slaves might have come from the modern nations of Senegal, Cameroon, and Benin.  (Information could be available in the poems of Senghor - the first African president of Senegal and leader of the Negritude Poetry Movement.)

Bordeaux also participated in Triangular Trade with the Americas before it converted to growing wine and selling it to the English.

-Jardin des Plantes

This garden by the Château of the Dukes of Brittany has trees in it that ship captains brought back to France from their travels around the world.  There are many magnolia trees in this garden.

-Musée des Beaux-Arts

This museum houses many portraits of the wives of shipping companies in Nantes, who made the city wealthy.  When slavery was outlawed, the city converted to making butter cookies to maintain its contacts in the Caribbean and markets.

There are also many Tenebrist paintings in this museum by the painter Georges de la Tour.

Level 4 – Breton Meals

I talked abut some Breton dishes in this blog’s introduction, but what kind of menu would you put together for a nice Saturday dinner for your family and/or friends using the dishes I listed as Breton cuisine.

Level 5 – On the Breton Pilgrimage Route to Santiago de Compostela

Parthenay Stop

See my blog on this Savvy Mom Ruth Paget website.

Level 6 – Dobrée Museum

Maritime Trade Financier’s Art Collection from the Triangular Trade with the Americas (slaves, sugar, rum, cotton, and cod fish)

See my blog on this Savvy Mom Ruth Paget website for information.

Level 7 – St. Gildas des Bois

A granite, French church that has stood in the forest for centuries

See my blog on this Savvy Mom Ruth Paget website for information.

Level 8 – Redon: A Breton Venice

Redon is a Breton Venice with cascades of red geraniums tumbling down to canals from bridges in this town that has won a “Ville Fleurie,” or “Flower Town” award.

See my blog on this Savvy Mom Ruth Paget website for information.

Level 9 – Rochefort-en-Terre

Regional center where processions of the Virgin Mary sometimes take place

See my blog on this Savvy Mom Ruth Paget website for information.

Level 10 – Celtic Menhirs and Dolmens at St. Just

If you are Celtic, you can commune with your ancestors’ designs here before heading out to a larger site such as Carnac (France) or Stonehenge (United Kingdom).

Level 11 – Puy du Fou Medieval Theme Park in the Vendée Region

Just below Nantes is the region called the Vendée where there is a re-enactment of the history in this region. 

There is a medieval theme park with cobblers (wooden shoe makers), coopers (barrel makers), blacksmiths (horseshoe makers), and candlestick makers here along with shows featuring falcons and drawbridges to run across in the medieval theme park associated with this re-enactment site.

Have fun in Brittany (France), which is relatively close to Paris thanks to the TGV (High-speed French trains)!

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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