We’d arrived in St Malo a week earlier after a relaxing overnight crossing with Brittany Ferries, then headed to Carnac Plage and Eurocamp’s Des Menhirs site with its fabulous sports and swimming complex.
I wimped out on the water slides but the two big kids with me loved them.
With loads of activities and within easy reach of a beach, Des Menhirs makes a great family destination, while Carnac itself is a delightful resort of pretty houses, meandering footpaths and, of course, those renowned and impressive avenues of standing stones.
A few miles away lies the Gulf of Morbihan and Port Blanc.
Here we hopped on the Izenah Croisières ferry for the five-minute crossing of the glorious bay to the Île-aux-Moines, where a jumble of fishermen’s cottages and winding alleyways combine with a profusion of wild flowers and mind-blowing views to create a timeless feel of an earlier era.
As we pedalled our hired bikes around this exquisite gem of an island, we encountered a total of three cars.
The following day we headed to Paimpont and the fabled, myth-haunted forest of Brocéliande that lies in the heart of Brittany.
Here Merlin, the enchanter of Arthurian legend, still lies imprisoned beneath his rock after losing heart and liberty to the nymph Viviane; the scheming Morgan le Fay’s stronghold is nearby in Val Sans Retour; those of pure heart may find the fountain of youth; while at Fontaine de Barenton toss water on to a stone to summon a violent storm and a mounted knight.
Alas, my attempt raised neither storm nor knight in shining armour.
So no change there, then…
At La Porte des Secrets, an extravagant son et lumière spectacle revealed the hidden world of the age-old forest, its history, inhabitants and legends.
Had we arrived a couple of weeks later, an English language version would have been available but instead we relied on a dynamic translation from tourism director Suzanne Noël.
From here we went to the city of Josselin, a fascinating warren of medieval streets in the shadow of an 11th-century chateau. Fantastic electric bikes from Ti War An Dour whizzed us along the towpath of the Nantes-Brest Canal, past decorative cottages and Brittany’s only floating gîtes.
Back in Carnac we picked out gifts among the Asterix souvenirs at Maison des Mégalithes before viewing some of the thousands of standing stones put up in the area about 7,000 years ago.
Our guide, Isabelle, was happy to explain the hows, whens and wherefores of the alignments, but not the whys.
They remain a mystery.
Inspired, though, we hired bikes (electric, of course) and, channelling our inner Obelixes, set off in search of yet more dolmens and menhirs.
Then it was off to Mohon for fabulous folk and a fantastic welcome at Le Manoir, from where, three days later amid the echoing strains of Wild Mountain Thyme and promises of a repeat performance in 2019, we returned to St Malo.
Here we were given a fascinating tour of the old city by our entertaining guide Nathalie and on the ramparts, at restaurant Le Corps de Garde we lunched on gorgeous galettes washed down with the local Sorre cider while contemplating the magical land we were about to leave – reluctantly and amid hopes of an early return.
