Sun 27th Feb - Sun 4 Mar Ploermel (-9hrs Aus time)

I volunteered to stay with Clare for the week because she'd hurt her leg and so wasn't very mobile, and also Steve was going to be in Ireland for the week. I thought it would also be nice to get to know some of my relatives a bit better. The week in Ploermel was quiet, although it did introduce me to some French customs, such as buying a fresh baguete from the bakery every morning for breakfast, and helped me brush up on my (very) rusty French: e.g. helped me break the habit of saying Si (I studied Spanish recently) instead of Oui.

Ploermel is a very pretty town which was nice to walk around, although if I had been backpacking instead of staying with family I probably would only have stayed a day or two. On Friday night Una stayed the weekend (she usually lives with her dad) and I went with her to the local pub/bar. It was a little awkward as she was the only one who spoke much english (and I couldn't expect her to speak to me constantly or translate everything) and also everyone was smoking which in the confined room became a little choking. On Saturday night we (Clare, Una and I) went to one of Una's friend's 18th birthday dinner. The food was great and I discovered a delight in people-watching. Also by the end of the evening everyone was feeling pretty mellow and a guitar made an appearance and made the rounds. The whole table sang french songs, and put their arms on people's shoulders and it was great fun. At one point they tried singing an english song which was popular on the radio and I was singing along, then we all peetered out at the same time because all anyone could remember was the chorus! Then they all looked at me and asked me to tell them the rest and I had to say that I only knew the chorus as well.

On Monday Clare was driving up to Rennes to pick up Steve from the airport and I got a lift with her to Emilie's place.