[Last time](https://peakd.com/hive-163772/@viking-ventures/getting-to-guingamp-brittany-2000-visiting-brittany-france-part-1-normal-is-boring-an-autobiography), I took you to Brittany with me (in 2000). We got to the gîte at about 1:30am. Today, we pick up where I left off...

# What is a Gîte?

A gîte is simply a self-catering house, usually rented by the week. For a family with three very small boys, it made more sense than trying to do a bed-and-breakfast. (Though maybe that would have been the better option overall...)

This particular gîte had a architectural design that I soon discovered was very typical of Brittany (and quite different than anywhere I was in England.)

Again, here's the picture of the front of the house - with two very large bedrooms upstairs, a large living room and a kitchen/diner downstairs. It would be a very comfortable house to live in - with about an acre of grounds around it in the countryside north of Guingamp.

https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/viking-ventures/DkzVj4tX-Britt00a_600.jpg

![Britt00b_600.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/viking-ventures/6Iel937X-Britt00b_600.jpg)

(My elder two sons [then aged 3 and 2] coming outside, one without shoes, lol.)


The only bad thing about it was the strange heating control which had to be fed 10 franc pieces (about £1 at the time) so frequently that it was quite expensive to get any heat in that place - and it was only April!

![10FrancMünze.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/viking-ventures/Fw8muL6K-10-Franc-MC3BCnze.jpg)

(_Image source: [Wikipedia: User Exa](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:10-Franc-M%C3%BCnze.JPG)._)

To be completely fair, we didn't spend much time *in* Guingamp, something I sort of regret because there are some beautiful sites there - beyond the local grocery store which I *did* visit (and realized that my French was in even worse shape than I had thought!)

Fortunately, I did find you some information about this small Breton town.

# Guingamp

According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guingamp), Guingamp has fewer than 7,000 residents, yet supports a professional football (er. soccer) team [En Avant de Guingamp or EA Guingamp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_Avant_de_Guingamp) which won the French Cup in 2009 and 2014 and later qualified for UEFA.

When I visited, I noticed the signs of Breton language around me, but it wasn't predominant. I'm pleased to see that Breton is being taught again.

Another site to read for a little bit of information plus an interesting video is this one:
[Alchetron](https://alchetron.com/Guingamp) which includes this lovely little picture, so give them a visit.

https://alchetron.com/cdn/guingamp-3fec42a7-49c8-4796-871d-de0f350e066-resize-750.jpeg

(_Image source: [Alchetron.com](https://alchetron.com/Guingamp) - used (and linked) educationally._)

Here are a few videos of driving around Guingamp. Although it's been 20 years and I only spent a week in the area, I recognized several of the places including the turning I took to get to our gîte and the market area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MANcYBAkl5g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6177tCdHjs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h5g2fQN4es

I wonder how the trip would have been had I not been under the influence of soy - which is one of my most severe triggers of my chronic fatigue. I'm sure we would have made better use of our time there.

We didn't just stay in the gîte though - despite my fatigue, we did get out and see a few things - which I'll talk about more next time.

Gîte photos taken in 2000 with my (film) SLR (either my dad's old Olympus or my second-hand Ricoh.) As with part 1, these photos are poor quality because they were scanned in, and reduced probably 19 years ago - I just came across these scans which had to be enlarged to see *anything*, so they've been pretty badly abused.

[//]:# (!pinmapple 48.564572 lat -3.134188 long near Guingamp - not exact location d3scr)

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/691729571917070366/692112560064823348/TheTerminal.png

### Past issues...

# Preschool to Second Grade - Svensen, Oregon (1976-1981)
[Svensen Trailer Court](https://steempeak.com/autobiography/@viking-ventures/svensen-trailer-court-normal-is-boring-an-autobiography) , [The Best Place for a Child to Grow](https://steempeak.com/writing/@viking-ventures/the-best-place-for-a-child-to-grow-normal-is-boring-an-autobiography) , [The Forming of a Farmer](https://peakd.com/writing/@viking-ventures/the-forming-of-a-farmer-normal-is-boring-an-autobiography) , [The Great-Horned Owl](https://peakd.com/writing/@viking-ventures/the-great-horned-owl-normal-is-boring-an-autobiography) , [The Forming of a Homesteader](https://peakd.com/writing/@viking-ventures/the-forming-of-a-homesteader-normal-is-boring-an-autobiography) , [Forty Years Ago : May 18, 1980](https://peakd.com/writing/@viking-ventures/forty-years-ago-may-18-1980-normal-is-boring-an-autobiography) , 

# Waking Up - Southampton, England (1998-2003)

[Getting to Guingamp, Brittany - 2000 - Visiting France, part 1](https://peakd.com/hive-163772/@viking-ventures/getting-to-guingamp-brittany-2000-visiting-brittany-france-part-1-normal-is-boring-an-autobiography)

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/691729571917070366/692112560064823348/TheTerminal.png
<center>
**Lori Svensen**
author/designer at **[A'mara Books](https://www.facebook.com/AmaraBooks/)**
photographer/graphic artist for **[Viking Visual](https://www.facebook.com/vikingvisual/)**
(Buy my work at [RedBubble](https://www.redbubble.com/people/vikingvisual/shop?asc=u), [TeePublic](https://www.teepublic.com/user/viking-visual), [PicFair](https://www.picfair.com/users/VikingVisual) and [DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/clatsopduck).)
verified author on [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8349742.Lori_Svensen)
(Buy my books at [Books2Read](https://books2read.com/ap/RDD3NR/Lori-Svensen) and at [LBRY](https://lbry.tv/@LoriSvensen:6))
find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/LSvensen)
[![kofi_giphy.gif](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/viking-ventures/zjShW5vg-ko-fi_giphy.gif)](https://ko-fi.com/vikingventures)

https://i.postimg.cc/NFncty4n/do_not_annoy_writer_banner_2.jpg
*** 
<center>
<a href="https://peakd.com/@naturalmedicine">
<img src="https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/riverflows/G7mNMQoW-naturalmedicinebannernew2.png">
<sub>Join The Best Natural Health Community on Hive</sub></a>
</center>

https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://img.esteem.ws/dl1iu9zqw4.jpg

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/691729571917070366/691740025989234818/TheTerminal--00.png

[![Discord Link](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/470080582076858369/497978034545098752/Elite_Slash_Game.png?width=716&height=430)](https://discord.gg/AxmqfV9)

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/690613836297928750/692436468773290014/unknown.png

</center>