Yes, OK, these are my holiday photos, but you don’t have to look at them if you don’t want to, and there is quite a smattering of history in here …

This walk around Brittany followed paths like this, and country lanes, on what the tourist office map describes as the Circuit de Crucano and the Circuit de Sainte-Barbe, just north-east of Plouharnel. (Not a very accurate map I should warn anyone following in my footsteps, although the paths themselves are very well marked.)

The paths appear to be if not ancient (although the way they link ancient sites is suggestive), certainly historic – in fact given the presence of fountains and chapels they are certainly medieval and early modern pilgrimage routes. They are often lined with dry-stone walls and the presence of ancient apple trees unattached to buildings suggests there was once much more settlement here than there is now. There are also lots of blackberries, and it seems the French aren’t much into picking blackberries as they walk, since you don’t even need to get seriously scratched to pick as much as you can eat.

Just north of the Plouharnel Gare SCNF (no trouble crossing the rail line – it only runs July-August, in a very French way!) is the Menhir du Vieux Moulin. (“Standing stones of the old mill” – no longer in evidence). They reminded me of what the guide at the Alignements du Menec said (well she said and a friendly visiting Englishman helped me to understand – her French was tres rapide) about the menhirs at the start of each alignment tending to be placed very close together, forming almost or perhaps in fact a wall – maybe only certain people were allowed to progress beyond that.

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