{Foraging in France}
Last month, my wife and I had the good fortune to find ourselves meandering down the emerald coastline of Brittany. While navigating the Crozon peninsula’s historic abbeys, abandoned fishing villages and emerald cliff tops, we found ourselves digging in the exposed sea bed for some of our very favorite things in the world to eat: shellfish. Among the targets of the nautical scavenger hunt were oysters, mussels, razor clams and winkles. Our host Joel, was kind enough to show us the ways of the salt shaker and shovel when it comes to digging clams and navigating the craggy sea floor. We ended the afternoon with a collection of tasty morsels in our basket, which our host would later cook for us at our traveller’s cottage – known in this area as a gité. We settled in with a bottle of home made fermented apple cidré (bearing no resemblance to the sweeter American variety – Woodchuck et al) and enjoyed the bounty of our hunt. For a day spent in borrowed wellies while digging in the seaweed and sand – it doesn’t get much better than this.
88 Responses to “{Foraging in France}”
looking lovely … sadly I am allergic
how fun – and that last scenery shot, what a beautiful area.
Wow, these photos are incredible!
Brilliant photos — love the textures in that first one. Wow…
Great photos! What a wonderful setting!
Wow. What a beautiful place, and it looks like a great meal to celebrate it.
Absolutely gorgeous photos!
Wow, what a life! That looks like the most beautiful scenery to write and daydream in!
Cheers!
Nothing more satisfying than finding your own food. Especially if it tastes as good as these pictures look.
Fab photos and fab food. We have a friend who is a ‘percebeiro’ in Galicia, NW Spain – i.e. he makes his living collecting sea-urchins, razor clams etc and diving for octopus. Just the best food in the world!
Great photosI I really can see why did you say emerald about this place. Well done for successful foraging!
Gorgeous photos! My husband and I are huge fans of shellfish, too, and would love to do something like that. How rewarding!
I’m an ex-pat living in Morocco these days, which has made me want to go back to France. Seeing this makes me want to go more than ever! Lovely work.
Great photos. I really can see why did you say emerald about this place! Well done for successful foraging!
Nice, a six-thousand word post that is quick to read! Congrats on being freshly pressed.
Beautiful! Your wife has nice hands, too!
Haha – thanks! I’ll have to let her know of her future career as a hand model!
That last photo is unbelievable! Stunning!!
what a dream. I can almost imagine the succulent, juicy oysters… beautiful. especially the green in the first picture!
Great Photos – thanks for sharing – another person that takes photos of their feet/shoes! Congrats on being FP!
I will be heading that direction in the fall! It looks like a great way to experience the area.
Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!
mmmmmmmm… * love * all of those fruits of the sea
brings back memories… a friend once dove to the bottom of the ocean in the south (cassis? maybe) and brought back sea urchins. so fresh!
any chance you’d care to share the contact info for the gité?
Thanks and absolutely. Our hosts were outstanding – here is there info: http://www.gite-rando-bretagne.fr/
merci!
WOW WOW WOW!!! I wanna BBQ those babies!!! Last photo contains the most beautiful color combo in the world! THANKs!!! kimi. http://www.californiapixie.com
I like your second photo. It looks like the lady in the foreground has just stepped into the picture; such a vibrant figure. And the rest is slightly-toned down reality, more picture postcard. Two senses of reality in the one picture. It lends a saltiness and a sound to all the other things in the pictures – those beautifully stranded boats. That lady is like a portal into the real moment when you were taking the picture.
What about that last picture! That’s an extraordinary beach, with its green waters. Extremely romantic.
Thanks so much for your comments! Appreciate your perspective on the image!
I like that second photo. It looks like the lady in the foreground has just stepped into the picture, like she’s real in the picture, and the rest of the things are at a picture-postcard remove – the beautiful stranded boats. The freshness of the lady figure in the foreground is startling, like a portal that pulls your senses into the moment and place the picture was taken – the salty fresh air. There’s two feelings of reality in the one picture, makes it vibrant.
What about that last picture! That beautiful beach and clouds, the green water – extremely romantic.
Fascinating look at an aspect of French life we rarely see – thanks!
that last photo was spectacular!
SO beautiful! Extremely inspiring!
Just absolutely outstanding. Thanks for your pictures taking me to a wonderful place. Q. why saltshaker w/shovel?
The salt arouses the razor clam to the surface – our host wasn’t sure if it was out of desire or annoyance – but the salt gets them out of their slumber in the sand….
you forgot to mention crepes!
It’s what Brittany is most famous for.
Hahaha – we LOVED the crepes – especially the buckwheat variety!
Greate photos, i love the last one best!
Very dreamy! Great color tones and scenery!
WOW~~~ beautifull pict.
i love the 1st and the last pict.
^^d
Incredible photographs
What beautiful photos!
Great pics !!
Great pictures !!
Love you blog,that should be a happy day.
Wonderful photos! After studying for a year in Nantes (former capital of Brittany), and spending many a weekend in Brittany, I really am missing that coastline! I’m glad you had such a wonderful experience there!
Beautiful!
I LOVE the photos! Congrats for being Freshly Pressed!
yummy..love to try those clams…I’m a 24 year old Asian is about to go to Europe too in a couple of months…so excited to enjoy the simple funs of Europe…thank you sir
awesome images!
oh oysters! It’s been months since I’ve last tasted one and it was in Seattle, pretty tasty too
I’ll rather pick mushrooms.
nice pics
great photos! are they captures from video clips or from stills camera?
Lovely post, thank you for sharing. Photo’s are amazing.
Just beautiful. Thank you for this.
val
http://valentinedefrancis.blogspot.com
Beautiful pictures! How did you get the colours of the sky to come out that way?
Thank you! That is achieved primarily with the use of a graduated neutral density filter.
very nice pictures:)
Awesome photos!
Beautiful photographs! They are amazing!
The colour in these photographs is incredible. Looks like a wonderful trip
Lovely captured moments!
That last shot is incredible. Thanks for sharing your trip.
It’s nice to travel from a comfy chair when you can’t do it in real life. Another one of the amazing places I now want to visit.
Glad you had a good trip!
http://dyefeltsool.com/
Moss and mussels….. hmmm… yummmmmyyyy LOL!
Beautiful shots …and congratulations!
What stunning photography and the activities (foraging and eating) sound wonderful too!
love the blueish tones. great work! shellfish is also my favourite food, yet unfortunately it has high cholesterol ;(
Beautiful, I love especially the last picture
Fantastic photos – love the detail and texture! Had to shield the screen from my oyster-allergic hubby, otherwise he’d break into a cold sweat!
Amen! Especially for a cook, there is something so magical about harvesting food from the wild and preparing it.
Unas imágenes estupendas!!!
Wow! I love your pictures! The view looks amazing.
Stunning photos. My wife and I are looking forward to traveling to Paris for our first anniversary. These photos are very beautiful and inspiring!
Absolutely gorgeous photos- France is so magical… everything is an adventure! Have fun
Love the greenery! The seaweed and shellfish remind me of the Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada, although it is more rugged there.
Ah! Definitely on my bucket list…
‘Makes me wanna go to France!
very beautiful photos! you are very lucky
I have ancestors from that part of the world. Hope to get there someday. Thank you for sharing.
yummy!
How beautiful. I can’t think of anything else to say. How beautiful…
Lovely!!!!
congratulation on being freshly pressed
I’ve always heard that the region around Bordeaux is great for oysters- something for you to consider, maybe!
vivid greens!
Sounds like a great experience! and the photos are great!
awesome pix!
Wow, what beautiful photos you have. It sounds like an amazing day finished with a delicious meal
That is so amazing – the photos just are really beautiful