Archive for

Oct 5

There is a reason they call it oyster “farming”

Oyster farming in Cancale

“I love oysters. It’s like kissing the sea on the lips.” Spoken by a frenchman about the oysters from Cancale — A small town in Brittany, but a big city in the oyster world. Here oysters are raised like a crop by artisan farmers. The spat mostly come from the warmer waters to the south, but are lovingly tended from spat-hood to adulthood in the bay of Mont St-Michele off Cancale.

Cancale is an ideal oyster greenhouse because of its 45 foot tides (but that’s another post), abundant phytoplankton and cold waters. The oysters spend most of their time in the communal farm plots you see in the picture above. At low tide, the oystermen (and women) use traditional farm equipment to tend their crop — moving the oysters, confined to large plastic mesh bags to different locations so they will get equal benefit of the nutrient-laden tides.

The result, I can attest, is like kissing the sea on the lips.

Oct 5

Do you know the way?

From Michelle: This tidbit is for those of you who have been to Mont Saint-Michel. The access to this spectacular great abbey built atop a rocky islet at the mouth of the Couesnon River currently is undergoing a change-a big one. In two years, 2014, no longer will anyone be able to drive and park on either side of the road/pedestrian walkway leading to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Instead, the two existing car parks on either side of the road/walkway (which, granted, are underwater at high tide) AND the access road, will be completely demolished allowing the islet to become a true island surrounded by the tides and river. A pedestrian bridge will be built to cross over the water and reach the Abbey. Parking for all – private cars, vans, large touring buses, will be about a mile away.

So how do the Japanese tourists with their heavy bags get from the new parking lot to the hotel halfway up the rock? As Cecile says, “I think a lot will be written about this and not in a good way.”