My Breton adventure mostly took place in the outskirts of Plougasnou at La Ferme de Trézenvy.
Life at Ferme de Trézenvy was by far the most uncomplicated stop I've had so far - and that's saying something considering the family dry toilet was in my room behind a curtain! Charlotte, Briac and their four-year-old, Orancie were so easy to be around. We predominantly spoke French, but occasionally they'd have no idea what I was trying to say and we'd switch to English for a few minutes.
I met so many interesting people there. At Charlotte's birthday party, at concerts, in the garden and friends who would regularly stop by. In my second week another WWOOFer, Ronan, also joined the farm. Everyone I spoke to had such a fascinating story and world view which led to riveting conversations (of which I probably only understood 60%!) For example, Ronan is a talented journalist and musician, check out his band La Botanique.
La Ferme de Trézenvy consists of three parts: Briac's vegetable farm; a cultural association called Le LIEU (Laboratory of Utopian Imaginations and Experimentation) which is Charlotte's baby; and (another) Charlotte's ceramics studio.
Briac isn't a fan of machinery and ploughs the fields with the help of Raphaëlle, his horse.
Briac showing Ronan the ropes.
I loved vegetable farming. Ok, apart from is often killing your knees and back at times, working in the greenhouse tunnels was a time of meditation for me. I learned a lot about preparing and planting seeds, re-planting seedlings, about different forms of compost and how to prepare the soil for healthy plants and how to care for a range of different vegetables. It was great to see how quickly the different plants grew over the time I was there. Visible progress.
Planting new seeds.
There were several perfomances held at the farm during my stay, including an African Blues artist, Chaek, a Spanish contemporary dancer, Carolina Fernandez and even a movie night where we watched Beetlejuice. Click here to see some of the performances that have been held there.
All of these events were held in one of the two yurts that are set up on the property: one as a guest house, the other the stage. I had never heard of a yurt before and now I can completely see myself living in one one day. (Apologies that I don't have any pics of inside - trust me, it's more impressive than the outside.) See here.
The farm was just a few kilometres from the coast and that made for an ideal jogging route. Unfortunately it was still a little too cold to go swimming. Can't complain with a track like this though...
St Patrick's Day was quiet this year, but didn't go unnoticed. I made shepherd's pie and homemade Baileys. Sorry... no pics, I was busy in the kitchen.
On March 20 there was a lunar eclipse. We tried our very best to get a good look, but the Breton weather wouldn't have it. We even held hands and chanted to summon the weather gods - but we scared Orancie, so we stopped.
Believe or not, 24 hours later we had a dream day out at the beach to see the low 'tide of the century'. The next time the tide will be out that low will apparently be in March 2033. Once the tide started coming in again, we had to walk fast!
Charlotte is a fellow lover of sewing and I made use of her machine while I could. I am proud to say that I finished off several projects which had been haunting me for some time! Beating procrastination one project at a time.
Ronan and I dabbled in a little landscape gardening in the front yard. I wish I had taken before and after photos. The trees in the middle were surrounded by a small, ugly concrete wall, which we removed. Then we re-shaped the garden. Here's an 'after' photo, which doesn't entirely do Ronan's dry stone wall justice! The garden is far from finished, the next WWOOFers have their work cut out for them.
My time at La Ferme de Trézenvy went out with a BANG at the Morlaix short film festival Court mais Bref with the theme 'Made in Japan'. What a bizarre and hilarious mix! Charlotte and her neighbour Maud had entered in the competition and it's not every day you get to watch with the competitors. Maud and I had a great last night out, enjoying the Celtic charm and buzz Morlaix' bars had to offer.
Next stop: Vannes. I couldn't get enough of the coast.
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