Monday 13 April 2009

Breton bread

In nineteenth-century Brittany, certain amenities were often communal: the laundry facilities, the water well, and also the bread oven. This example survives on the edge of the village of Saint Just; it would have been belonged to the local landowner, with villagers paying a fee to use it.

Today, bread remains central to Breton life - but usually purchased from the village boulangerie. However, a highlight of many summer fairs is bread baked in wood ovens. Many are mobile, but the village of Plumaugat still uses the original one every year.

2 comments:

Adam said...

There are plenty of these dotted around the French countryside, but not many still in operation!

CarolineLD said...

No, the one in Saint Just still has a door (no longer attached) but I doubt it's ever used!