Benevolent Abductions, Pigs, and Jumping at Night

The chocolate factory that would make
Pleyben much, much more bearable

A day of freedom.

Each volunteer is allowed one free day per week here at Wwoofing farm Bio de Kerjean, so John and I hopped aboard the rickety bikes and zoomed off to the closest town, Pleyben, last Saturday.

First order of business: visit local chocolate factory.

Upon entering, we began wildly snatching up chocolate samples and were quickly intercepted by a pretty blonde employee. Although my first reaction was to panic at being caught with a mouth full of samples, I realized that this woman meant no harm. Anne, in her adorable clipped English, asked us about our Wwoofing arrangements and general reasons for being in France. Perhaps she sensed a bit of unrest in my attitude toward the farm, because before we knew it, we were in her car headed back to her house to have lunch with her two kids and her husband, Yannick, who was preparing a lunch of mini “pizzas” with Emmental cheese and BACON. After one week, I thought that I didn’t miss meat very much, but beloved bacon showed up to remind me that I’ll never be free from the world of meat.

Since Anne didn’t have to return to work after lunch, we all hopped in the van for an impromptu day trip to Locranon, a 15^th-century town that's a part of the Association of the Most Beautiful Villages of France, then onwards to the Pointe de Raz, or the “end of the world,” a dramatic cliff with crashing waves and a breathtaking view of the sea. 

Locranon, a cobblestoned town known for its wood work and  beautifully preserved buildings and church 

Standing at the Pointe de Raz with the Julian and Amelie in the pouring rain. Hey, anything to get off the farm.
On the right, a rainy picture of the Pointe and its lighthouse.

Perhaps you’re asking yourself, “did I miss something??”

Well, no. You didn’t. An adorable French family really did descend from the heavens and bring us along on a mini tour of Brittany. And feed us lunch. And give us snacks. Little orphan Americans, rescued for a day. Oh random kindness, how will I ever pay it all forward?

John and I being kids again...yes, that's a juice box and a "crepe to-go" that he's holding.

We parted ways before dinner, with John and I left dumbstruck and wondering if the day had really happened, or if we had actually just been daydreaming while boiling potatoes.

But the day wasn’t over, because a mere two miles away, a country pig roast was taking place! You might suspect that we’ve been a little starved for something more than potatoes, zucchini, and rice, especially the non-vegetarian volunteers. And we were. It’s borderline Lord of the Flies here.

OK, I’m being dramatic.

Just don't mess with these guys

But as it turned out, even the vegetarians needed a break. All the volunteers showed up, just to have a night out. 

There was live music from a traditional “Brittanese” choir (yeah striped shirts and neckerchiefs!) and even Brittanese dancing, which seems to mainly consist of people marching around, holding hands, and stomping every once in a while. 

Can we say "adorable" in French? Yes, because the word is the same.

Once we had eaten everything we possibly could, we grabbed a bottle of wine and began the walk home, whereupon we realized that it was a perfect time to take pictures of ourselves jumping.

Wouldn’t you have done the same?

What caption could actually be worthy of this photo?

If you want to see and hear the glorious choir of Brittany and see an example of their dancing skills, watch the quick video below. Choose the video on the right to see pig roasting in action.

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