Quimper, the Town, Part II

We came to Quimper for the faience. We came away with so much more.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that Quimper is a charming and historic town that affords a good glimpse into the culture of Brittany.

Quimper was founded  in the 5th century, and to visit is to step back in time.  The Odet River runs through town and pedestrian bridges, decked with flowering baskets, connect the main streets on either side of it.  The city of 60,000 is dominated by a cathedral, with it's square, and has a warren of cobblestone streets radiating from it.  The streets are lined with four story buildings that seem to be typical of ancient European cities.

The center of town - The Cathedral of Saint Corentin of Quimper.

A typical Quimper street scene.

Many building have faience statues tucked into pedestals or niches.

Buildings line parts of the Odet River.

I have never seen so many specialty shops in one place:

Flower shop.

Seafood at the market.

More seafood.

Have you heard of a sardine shop?

My favorite, marcarones.

When we checked in to our hotel, the manager asked if we wanted a room in the front of the building, or a quieter room in back.  We chose the room in back, without realizing that there was a good reason for our decision:  it is festival season. It was serendipity that we arrived in Quimper during the annual Festival de Cornouaille - a huge cultural fair that happens right in the middle of town.

The streets running along the river were lined with tents that one typically sees at town festivals.  In addition, people had come from all over Brittany to join in the fun. Many of the participants were dressed in their traditional garb, which looks a lot like the clothing of the people on my Quimper faience. The most noticeable part of the festival were the bagpipe bands, and men in kilts.  Who knew bagpipes existed anywhere but Scotland?  Throughout the day, we saw and heard bands practicing, or performing.  By evening a regular battle of the bands had started.  While eating our crepe and cider dinner at an outdoor café we saw band after band march by, with their bagpipes blaring.  With our unaccustomed ear, the bands all seemed to be playing the same tune.  Perhaps, an ethnomusicologist could distinguish the tunes.  In any case, we were glad of our room at the back of the hotel.

We happened by a threshing demonstration.

This isn't a decorative display.  It's the tools the threshers are going to use - with a classic hat.

The threshing team is getting ready.

Here they go. The men move in a clockwise attitude, chanting, and beating the crap out of the stalks of grain.

Now, they form a trench in the center of the stalks and they scoop up the grain.....

and take it to the mill for the ladies to work their magic.

Voila!  Buckwheat.

We watched dancers.

A few more delights:

The HenRiot train kept chugging through the festivities.

A couple of ponies obligingly gave rides to the kids.

We saw lots of cooks preparing buckwheat crepes, and we had crepes for dinner almost every night we were in France.  Since cider is a traditional drink, we usually ordered cider (the alcoholic kind) with our crepes.  What surprised us about the cider was, it was always served in a teacup - usually a faience teacup.

This is a picture on a tray from the HenRiot museum.  One woman is making crepes, and the others are drinking cider from their tea cups.  This is still going on today.

Quimper was such an unexpected treat.  It will live in our memories as a magical city where the people are still enjoying centuries old traditions.