I undertook a mission with Forrest to introduce friends and family on the Northern Brittany coast to a proper gin and tonic. Forrest set the bar very high indeed, calling for Star of Bombay or Royal Dock Navy Strength gin. I failed miserably to locate either in the Paris area, notwithstanding thorough internet searches and multiple visits to reputable liquor dealers. Best I could come up with was Bombay Sapphire. Indian Tonic was not a problem, nor were Mexican limes. The ice problem wouldn’t reveal itself until we were on the road. (nota bene, Forrest found some Star of Bombay in the Charles de Gaulle duty free area on his way to a fishing commitment in Alaska).

The French are not gin drinkers, perhaps on the assumption that only decadent ex-colonial Brits ever show a tendency to want to drink it. Had they been eligible, the French would surely have voted “leave” on BREXIT. More pertinent to this account however is the French relationship to ice in mixed drinks. Basically, one or two cubes seems to them as wholly sufficient, whereas we all know that the glass should be filled, preferably with ice chipped from a block, before even starting. We cleaned out the total ice cube reserve in a couple of homes before getting to our second glasses. The excessive use of ice in drinks has already been identified as a uniquely American pathology by the French Journal of Medical science, but most of my friends and family had never been in the presence of gin and tonic drinkers; a true learning experience for most of them. You may be saying to yourself, “Wink exaggerates everything”. I know you will want to verify this, so I’ll name names, but Mario Roger of Trébeurden told us that he had never tasted a drop of gin in his life. This is a man with a 1,200 bottle wine cellar, so he’s not allergic to alcohol. Fortunately we were able to right this wrong. All this just to let you know the magnitude of the challenge. Since we were getting free room and board at every stop it we felt we should do it right.

Normally a quick trip to a local version of a supermarket should allow a rapid solution to the ice problem, right? Think again, you can’t buy ice in France, at least not easily. In Brittany the market seems to be limited to local seafood suppliers, who have their own machines, and it’s all small shaved ice but we weren’t making snow cones.

Between cocktail hours we also took some pictures.

The Mont Saint Michel (I know, I know, technically it's in Normandy):




Bus stop.





Swimming pool which fills up at high tide in Saint Malo:




On the pink granite coast near Ploumanac'h:






Mario, the man who had never tasted gin:





Upper deck on the boat trip to a seabird sanctuary in the Channel:



The guide on the boat told us that in Brittany they have beautiful weather, several times a day.


Forty thousand Northern Gannet on a rock:




Northern Gannet in flight (I had to borrow Forrest's 300mm lens since I only had a 20mm and a 28mm with me):




Pink granite light house at Ploumanac'h:



There are no deep water ports in this area, and it's a very rugged coastline with 30 foot tides. How do they do search and rescue, you ask?:




A normal low-tide situation:




Our last night in Brittany was spent in Brest, a deep water port (with lots of French navy) way out west. Every four years they have a tall sailing ship event, and this year Lafayette's frigate Hermione was there. A few shots:





Hermione, which called on the same ports in the US in 2015 as Lafayette in the late 18th century:




View of port at Brest:

Nice pictures. Were you ever embarrassed, or did you at any time feel threatened, with Forrest wearing his Make America Great Again Trump 2016 t-shirts and red hat everyday?

Wink,

Great photos again, as always.

Can one trade the bathtub gin you mentioned for a decent whisky ? I'm partial to Johnnie Walker Platinum for a blend or Lagavulin 16 year old single malt.

Again, beautiful photography.

TT

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Nice pictures. Were you ever embarrassed, or did you at any time feel threatened, with Forrest wearing his Make America Great Again Trump 2016 t-shirts and red hat everyday?

Mike,

As embarrassing as the present Presidential race is, all exterior signs of idiocy were avoided.

quote:

Originally posted by Tsquare2:
Wink,

Great photos again, as always.

Can one trade the bathtub gin you mentioned for a decent whisky ? I'm partial to Johnnie Walker Platinum for a blend or Lagavulin 16 year old single malt.

Again, beautiful photography.

TT

When entertaining, the French drink Scotch or champagne before dinner, wine with dinner and occasionally a cognac or armagnac after dinner. Contraptions made of vodka or gin or tequila are for the most part put on the same level as parlor tricks. This said, our hosts seemed to like the mixture and kept on drinking them until the ice ran out, our cue to end the pleasantries and start eating.

quote:

Originally posted by Wink:

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Nice pictures. Were you ever embarrassed, or did you at any time feel threatened, with Forrest wearing his Make America Great Again Trump 2016 t-shirts and red hat everyday?

Mike,

As embarrassing as the present Presidential race is, all exterior signs of idiocy were avoided.

Amen. Out of more than 300 million people, these are the two best we can come up with . . . amazing.

Looks like good cigar smoking weather in Brittany. Last time I saw Forrest he mentioned the trip. However, based on the way he talked I think he thought you were going to see someone named Brittany. I hope he was able to get over his disappointment at learning that Brittany was not actually a young French girl.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:

quote:

Originally posted by Wink:

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Nice pictures. Were you ever embarrassed, or did you at any time feel threatened, with Forrest wearing his Make America Great Again Trump 2016 t-shirts and red hat everyday?

Mike,

As embarrassing as the present Presidential race is, all exterior signs of idiocy were avoided.

Amen. Out of more than 300 million people, these are the two best we can come up with . . . amazing.

Looks like good cigar smoking weather in Brittany. Last time I saw Forrest he mentioned the trip. However, based on the way he talked I think he thought you were going to see someone named Brittany. I hope he was able to get over his disappointment at learning that Brittany was not actually a young French girl.

I think anyone who is not brain dead will either try a write-in vote (why not, after all?) or just tick off the boxes for the local candidates and skip the boxes for President. I'm probably going to vote for Forrest, since floating down rivers in Alaska makes him much more qualified than anyone presently on offer. Cigars were smoked. Don't let that "I'm just a country boy" talk from Forrest fool you, he knows darn well that Brittany can be both.

Wink, another tremendously entertaining post accompanied by world-class images. Thank you! We usually keep Bombay Sapphire on hand, but I shall look for Star of Bombay and Royal Dock.
Also, Plymouth gets high marks for making martinis and gin and tonics:
http://theginisin.com/gin-reviews/plymouth/

Wink, I really enjoyed you post. Thankyou.
Your choice of subjects for photos was great for me! Brian

Wink, thanks for putting up this album.

Like all my previous forays with Wink, I had a great time on this trip. I always get to see something new, learn something new, meet some new friends and thoroughly enjoy myself. As you can see from Wink’s photos Brittany is beautiful. I will definitely return as my wife would love this place.

I have no idea why these people are so ignorant about gin. The Brits have had their fingerprints all over Brittany for a thousand years and more than a few Brits have second homes here. However, you’d grow old trying to find a decent bottle of Gin (much less tonic) in these parts. I think it may have to do with the weather. G&T is a warm weather, sunny day, kind of drink. The Bretons, lacking familiarity with warm sunny days are also unfamiliar with the pleasures of a simple G&T. Wink and I brought sunshine and gin into their otherwise cloudy lives. It was a mission of mercy.

In return, I was introduced to a simple concoction of pastry, sugar and butter called a Kouign Amann. I had only one. I’ll make a return trip just to have another. If I could get these at home, I’d weigh 300 lbs.

Our trip took us generally along the north coast of Brittany west to Brest and then back towards Paris through central Brittany. Some places I remember along the way: Mont Saint-Michel, Saint Malo, Fort la Latte, Cap Frehel, Plancoet, Plevenon, Perros-Guirec, Ploumanach, Brest and Landerneau. Since this is not TripAdvisor, I’ll shut up and post a few photos of my own. You’ll notice, I don’t have the photographic talent of Wink but I am eternally thankful for his tutelage and post processing skills.

Mont Saint-Michel. I like this view because you can’t see all the tourists flocking to this place.



A couple of Puffin photos. Note: In the King Salmon, Alaska airport, I overheard some hardcore bird photographers talking about Puffins. They were planning their next trip to take photos of Puffins. For the first time in my life, I offered some photography ideas to someone else.





Another view of the bird sanctuary.





The Breton’s were so proud of their coastline of pink granite. I took great pride in showing them photos of all the pink granite buildings in Texas, including our state capitol building in Austin. I have to admit though our Texas coastline doesn’t have the scenic beauty of the French coast.





I took a ton of photos in Brest. Wink’s are all better but here’s one of mine that catches my eye.



This is called the Pont De Rohan in Landerneau. It’s a bridge with stores and homes built on top of it. I found it interesting because I could see several trout swimming in the river (I wished I had my fly rod handy). Wink found it interesting because it had a really cool Irish bar in one of the buildings. Note: There was an exhibit of Marc Chagall’s art work in a mid-sized exhibition in Landerneau. It was very nicely done. This was a great town I’d like to see again.

Another Gin lover

I am in the first phases of setting up a distillery in Europe for small commercial production. Found some unique ingredients for my recipe.

Just one more thing for your bucket list:


http://www.eater.com/2016/4/13...astry-france-america


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/fo...e-bretagne-261299472

Among the many good things about traveling with Forrest, if I say "Try this!", he usually does. I don't believe for a second that a Kouign Amann made in Salt Lake City tastes like a Kouign Amann in Brittany.

There are people who make wine around Bordeaux and people who make wine in New York.