So

On the very lucky days, I finish up with work before it's dark out. And rather than go back to the hotel, I usually try to do some exploring. Those of you who have been reading this blog since the Bretagne days know that I love me some megaliths.

So when I saw a sign pointing to a site I'd never visited, I couldn't resist taking a small detour to check it out. It ended up being much farther than I thought though, taking me down many a lonely country road.

One particular road was lined for kilometers by this large stone wall:
Now you see these kinds of walls fairly often in the countryside, but this one was very high at many points and just keep going and going. I couldn't help but wonder - Who built it? And what were they trying to protect?I turned a corner and thought that would be the end of it - but that wall just kept right on going. And I still couldn't see through the forest. Finally a kilometer or so down the road, I got a glimpse of what was behind it all:
There was no sign stating the name of this place, nor who the domain belonged to. But isn't that France for you? You can come upon random chateaux when you least expect.

But I didn't have time to ponder it too much - I wasn't here for the Châteaux - I was on a rock hunt. I followed a few (miniscule) signs and ended up driving down a road (road?) like this:
There wasn't a soul in sight, and the road just kept getting smaller and muddier by the minute. With no where to turn around. My GPS was confused and there was no signage anywhere. It was starting to get dark as well - things were not looking good. How would I explain where I was if I got lost? Or stuck? Would I even be able to call? My cell signal was going in and out.

Then, all of the sudden, there was another, slightly larger, road to the right. I decided to take it, hoping I could at least make a square and come back to where I'd started. Lucky me - at the end of that road, there was a sign pointing to the dolmen! (But honestly, what do the French have against signs anyways?)

And there they were - a whole field of them, sitting right by the edge of the road:I don't know what it is about these things, but I find them so fascinating. I guess if I believed in reincarnation, I'd think I was somehow linked to them in a past life. Back when I was living in Bretagne, Fab & I often spent our weekends driving around to look for new ones - so there aren't too many that I haven't seen by now. Though it was closed for the winter, this site was really well done up, and seemed to have a lot of different information and activities set up. But that can probably be explained by the fact that it was only (re)discovered 30 years ago, and that the site itself has only been open since 1997:They were built 5000 years ago - and destroyed in 1000 AD! That's just mind boggling to me. And there they sat, hidden, for thousands of years. Though I guess some of the local population were probably aware of them - and doing their best to keep it a secret. After all, it's a farming community, and what farmer would want to give up their precious land to the government? According to the signage, there are several other groupings spread out over a 7 hectare area. I'd love to go back some day and explore the rest by bike - only this time, with a map!