It took me some time to peel the rose hips but here I am with those high concentrated vitamin fruits !!! I’ve done two different recipes with them : jam and syrup.



The more difficult in the recipe is to peel the rose hips. You have two different ways to do it : for the lazy ones (read 1), for the meticulous ones (read 2).

Ingredients :
Rose hips
Sugar

To take away the itching powder, you need time and you can either :



1 – Put the rose hips through a colander and save the pulp.

Or

2 – Cut the rose hips in two pieces and take out the fine hairs with a knife. I know it is quite long…

Once you’ve done that, it’s easy.
Add to the pulp sugar (400 g rose hips, 200g sugar) and boil till you have a nice thick orange mixture.

Put in jars.

The recipe of the syrup now…

I would say it is an homemade medicine for sore throat : it has no chemicals and plenty of Vitamin C (you remember that rose hips have 20 times more vitamin C than lemon and when you catch a cold you have a vitamin C deficiency) and honey (everybody knows that honey is good for sore throat).

You have to use 65g of fruits for 35 of honey. The savour of honey is stronger than the rose hips (but they are the benefits of the vitamin C). Anyway it is good for your health…

Take care…

Read it in French : Recette de la confiture aux cynorrhodons d'églantier

In Brittany, Saints used to be quite important in the daily life. Because they were “natives”… I mean they were either born in the region or they did something remarkable and therefore they were venerated.



On the other hand, their fame did not transcend breton boundaries… and usually the Church did not recognize them.

Saint Lénard or Léonard is one among those breton Saints. His grave is located on the village of Andouillé Neuville, (right on the old road going from Rennes to Mont Saint Michel RN 175) and he is still quite famous.

The grave is at the end of a long tree-lined lane. It is also full of ex voto ( an ex voto is an object given to a Saint for a special wish).



A sign reminds us the legend of Saint Lénard and explains that in 1580 there used to be a small chapel dedicated to him in a wood called Bois de Borne. But nowadays the Bois de Borne is really tiny and the chapel gone. The grave is still there but it seems that it has been erected much later during the 19C.



The website of Aubigné ( the district of Andouillé Neuville) presents the 19C legend.

Once upon a time … a bad guy called Léonard used to live in the surroundings of Aubigné. He loved to disturb his neighbours and specially the carters. He used to stand big stones in the middle of the roads. Or he would dig large holes to wedge the carts.
He was hated by the population as everybody knew he was responsible for the troubles of the roads.
One day he was wandering in the forest (bois de Borne where his grave is) and as he was thirsty he tasted an apple that wasn’t ripe enough. He decided to put back it on an old oak and wait till it is good enough to be eaten. Sometimes later he came back to savour the apple and it was really nice. He thought :
Everything could change in better even myself…
And he decided to become a good boy from now on…

Just at that moment he saw a carter that was stuck in the middle of the road. He jumped to help him. But the carter thought that he wanted once again to annoy him. He hit him on the head and killed him. And then buried him.

Sometime later rumors began to say that on the grave, miracles were done. And that’s the way Lenard became an holy man without the help of the Church. A Pilgrimage on his grave began to cure sick people.

The actual grave was built in 1867 as it is written on the cross. A pilgrimage used to take place till the 70’s and the money given was used to buy bread for the poors…
Today the grave is still visited and lots of ex-voto



indicate that Saint Léonard is a healer Saint.



Read it in French : Le tombeau de Saint Lénard (Léonard)

If you want an easy and quick recipe… here you are… with algae mustard…

Ingredients :

Fish fillets

The sauce :
- algae mustard (french strong mustard (moutarde de Dijon) is also ok, but don’t use sweet one !!!)
- double cream
- salt, pepper

an oven

Preparation time : 5 minutes
Cooking time : 20 minutes , oven to 7

Mix the same quantity of mustard and double cream. Brush the fillet generously with the sauce. Add salt and pepper. And bake for ... 20 minutes. It’s done.
Bon appétit.

Read it in French : Recette de poisson au four sauce moutarde aux algues

Since 2006, you can visit the feudal castle of Léhon all year long (for free : week-end 10 am to 7 pm off-season).

Located on a small rocky peak, it was before impossible to walk to the fortress because the ruins were hidden in a green jungle, full of bramble bushes…
The town council of Léhon decided to stop the destruction of the castle so that one day archeologists would be abble to excavate the site and discover the history of this monument. They did not try to restore it as it used to be but just did strengthen the ruins to avoid the total erosion of the buildings. The site is an archaeological reserve and when time and money is available, they will begin the researchs…



But let’s talk about the story of this fortified castle. Léhon has long been a strategic place because of his ford on the river Rance and then its bridge. The Benedictine monastery was already built when the Lords of Dinan decided to erect a castle. They choosed to settle on a rock promontory to dominate the Rance river. They took part to the different wars of the time : against the English or the French or during the War of Succession of Brittany. And the architecture of the stronghold evolved in the course of the centuries to fit to the evolution of the war machinery...



In the year one thousand the castle was first in wood. The bishopric of Aleth (the future Saint Malo) was divided into several seigniories. The viscount of Dol inherits Léhon where he settled his capital. The fortress is destroyed many times during the 11C. End of the 12C, the place is even razed to the ground as a punishment following the peace treaty between France and England.



The structure of the nowadays stronghold was done at the end of the 13C : a surrounding wall with towers that fits the rock.




The architecture evolves with the War of Succession of Brittany (1341-1381). The castle was besieged and the walls between the towers destroyed. The archers used the loopholes to reach their enemies.



Those holes were useful because thanks to their shape, the attacks could not get in. Inside the tower, thanks to the openings placed on different points of the tower, the soldiers could defend most of the tower.



Firearms appeared during the 15C and the buildings had to fit to the new attacks of guns. The castle raised and strengthened its walls (the basis is solidified to resist to the guns), the loopholes were enlarged to be abble to shoot from the inside of the castle. But all these modifications were not useful as … the Duchy of Brittany was now part of France and French troops don’t fight inside the Duchy but on the borders of the Kingdom of France.
That the end of the medieval fortress !!! The castle is already in ruins at the end of the 15C and will soon be used as a stone quarry for the monks to extend the priory of Léhon during the 17C.
In one of the tower a new chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph was done during the 19C.



Inside the castle signs explained the story of the castle both in French and in English.





The small village of Léhon is also worth it…

Read it in French : Promenade dans les ruines du château de Léhon (Côtes d'Armor, Bretagne)<br />

Once you ‘ve crossed the bridge, walk up the street and soon you are in front of the priory looking like some centuries ago...




The first abbey Saint Magloire was erected in 850. Nominoë, first King of Brittany gave land and money to the monks to settle the monastery. The first one was in wood but it didn’t last long…



The church is dedicated to Saint Magloire, an holy Breton from across the Channel who arrived in Brittany at the end of the 6C. Magloire was the bishop of Dol, one of the nine breton bishopric, he retired in Sark (Channel island). The abbey was founded once the relics of Saint Magloire were brought back in Brittany. This time the church was built in stone but it did not resist to the Norman attacks. The monks left the place for Paris and came back much later during the 11C.

The nowadays church is a mixture of buildings of different times. It has stones from the 11C, taken from Corseul, a city some kilometers away. Corseul was one of the Roman capital, 5 to 8000 inhabitants were living there. After the Roman, the old capital became less important or even an ordinary small town. As it was already expensive to build in stone… the old Roman city became a stone quarry…



The foundations are from the 12C and the 13C – the front of the church is romanesque and each century will add its piece to the building.

The abbey is a rectangle and during the 14C and the 15C they added a chapel where the important families of Dinan were buried. It has been restored during the 19C and works still go on.



Inside the church the chapel shelters the graves of the Lords of Dinan, the family Beaumanoir. The chapels were at that time the possession of famous families and they were buried there (14C and 15C recumbent statues).



The 13C stoup with carved heads was used to bathe the young children during their baptism.



Next to the church, a 15C doorway



leads you to the closter (17C)



with its square pillars.



It was used as a passage to go from one place to another in the priory and in its center there is a nice garden…

North you’ll see one of the two best kept refectories of Brittany.



The second is at Paimpol (monastery of Beauport). This 13C building is gothic, with its large stainedglass windows showing the Rance estuary. It is the oldest building of the priory and it has been restored between 1987 and 1991. The 17C dormitory houses are on the first floor.



During the 18C, the King Louis XV decided to close the abbey. The French Revolution sold it to a family who lived there for 30 years. It then became a brewery, a canvas manufacture… and a classroom for young girls. As it was in ruins, the council of Léhon wanted to restore it to use it as the parish church.
At the end of the 19C, the works began. Nowadays the priory belongs to the Council and is used for religious purpose. In the buildings of the priory, a museum shows you the life of the monastery.



The priory of Léhon was a Benedictine monastery. The monastic life of the order was a mixture of work (agriculture, writing...) and prayers. The first Benedictine covent was founded by St. Benedict of Nursia in Italy (529). He explained the Rules of his future Order in a small book of 73 chapters. The Benedictine Order became very popular in Europe quite quickly.

Each priory is autonomous. The abbot rules his church following the Benedictine rules, he has total authority over the monks and represents the Christ in the community. Monks have a shaved head and wear the scapular (long piece of canvas).

The place is free and open all year long. The buildings have signs in English explaining the story of the priory. To visit the museum, you have to ask for the timetable at the tourist office.



Read it in French : Balade à l'abbaye de Léhon dans une petite cité de caractère des Côtes d'Armor (Bretagne)

You’ve already visited Dinan and liked it ! Do you know then the small town Léhon which is really nice… and quite close (30 minutes walk). Have a look at it, it ‘s really worth it for whom loves old stones…



You have to go to Dinan harbour and cross the old bridge. Walk then along the canal for half an hour and you’ll soon see the old buildings of Léhon abbey.

To visit the religious priory, go on till a stone bridge.

Let’s talk a bit about this nice bridge.

It has been erected here because long ago, before the bridge, it was a ford. Rivers have always been a problem for whom doesn’t swim or doesn’t like to bath in cold waters…



Romans used to ford the Rance here and it was an important communication route between the main cities of the Roman Brittany. (Roman invaded Brittany during the first century after Christ).

Well the ford became a bridge when the monks during the Xth century thought it would be helpful… A nice bridge was built… but in wood… That means that when the river Rance was raging, the bridge could not stand… and when the Rance was in spate, the bridge did fly in the water...

Tired of this bridge coming in and going out, the inhabitants decided to build it in stones during the XVth to the XVI th century… but as the Rance was still not canalized… and still so vigourous… the bridge sometimes threatened to fall or even did fall apart.

And sometimes it was on purpose destroyed… specially when the Royal Army in 1799 wanted to conquer Dinan and as it was the only bridge around, the Bretons destroyed one of the arch…



The missing arch will be replaced by a wooden footbridge, and later during the XIX th century by a metal one.

In 1832 the Rance was canalized and an important trade using the canal began between the harbour Saint Malo and Rennes the breton maincity. The footbridge allowed the boats through. The horses used to go along the towpath to tow the boats, full of goods from Saint Malo.

The nowadays bridge was built in 1925. The large arch allowed the barges (special flat boat used on canals) to go through. But the events still go on…

During the Second World War, the German Army destroyed the central arch to slow down the Allied advance. It was raised again in 1946.

And now cross the bridge and I’ll meet you on the other side (next post !!!) to visit the Léhon abbey…



Read it in French : Balade à Léhon petite cité de caractère de Bretagne (France)