#CountryKids Port-Louis, Brittany

After a successful drive south we headed north west on day 5 and ended up at Port-Louis as it was marked on the road map as a medieval town. It turned out to be well worth the drive:

The children were intrigued by the old town walls which rise impressively around a lot of the town:

Along a lot of their length is a walkway allowing access to the top of the wall:

There were some interesting plaques to read if your French was up to it:

We had to keep descending and ascending to get to the various parts:

There was a pretty strong wind so gramps chose to remain at ground level! I plucked up enough courage to stay up there so that each child had an adult to supervise them. It did give some great photo opportunities:

Eventually granny and I ruled that the walkway was too narrow for safety and made the children descend. We later saw someone cycling on the bit we had wimped out from! Instead we headed to the park and the children found another of those fantastic climbing pyramids:

This time my son was brave enough to get to the top:

Reunited with gramps and restored by churros we headed over to the citadel:

The citadel was first constructed in 1591 but it has plenty of later additions. The only access is through this impressive gateway:

It wasn't cheap to get in as grown ups, though children were free, but it proved well worth every Euro. The full star shape can only be appreciated from the air so I snapped a picture of an aerial photo:

Inside the former barracks have been converted into various museums. The first was a history of ship wrecks and life boats which was fascinating. Then there was an exhibition about treasures discovered from shipwrecks:

Dotted around the site were various pieces of seemingly random modern art which I never did find out any more about:

The old armoury was filled with various guns from medieval muskets and cannons to 20th century pieces:

Of course we had to take a walk around the battlements and the children were thrilled when some sailors on a French naval vessel waved back at them:

There was also time to sit on the cannons and think about what it would be like to fire them:

The final museum was about the French Indies Company as the port was once a thriving hub for trade:

It was fascinating to see how the ships were constructed and to see some of the items brought back from these voyages:

It must have felt wonderful wearing a silk dress like this:

There was more random modern art too:

And right at the end an impressive set of Samurai armour which my children found fascinating:

The citadel was closing for the day so we headed into the old town centre in search of a restaurant for dinner:

Unfortunately French restaurants cater for French timings and are generally closed from 2-7! Therefore we had to jump back in the car and start driving back towards Carnac keeping our eyes peeled for any open restaurants. Luckily one enterprising owner had realised that plenty of foreign tourists like to eat from 5 so had an open creperie: 

Of course this gave us grown ups another chance to sample locally produced cider:

Altogether a fabulous Country Kids day out and we can recommend as a trip to anyone in this part of Brittany.