Quimper

Quimper is a cute, little city on the ouest coast of Brittany, distinguishable by its canal and large cathedral. Like my other travels in this region, I spent a half-day wandering its city-center after visiting another small town in the morning. The most notable part of my afternoon, however, was a visit to the Biscuiterie, which was a larger than expected shop full of Breton specialty baked goods, such as gâteau breton, far breton, galettes, palets, and, of course, kouign amann. A small gift of cookies made with farine de blé noir turned out to be the biggest revelation - something I had seen and passed on while walking through the shop, only to spend years afterwards searching for more. In typical French fashion, certain phrasings are only used within a city or region, thereby guaranteeing that you will sound like a idiot. It turns out that blé noir is otherwise known as sarrasin, or buckwheat. And now you know.

Date: November 2012
Camera: Nikon D40