June 2025 Gazette
Enjoying "Les Ponts de Mai" (long weekends) with Spring walks, strawberry picking and a day trip to Ile de Groix.
Bonjour and welcome back to my monthly gazette, my dear friends!
Oh, how I loved the month of May! There’s a reason to love every month in France, but May is a little extra special for a few reasons. First, summer starts to peak its head in. While we have had some greyish days, we’ve also had some gorgeous stretches of sunshine and warmth in the mid 20°’s (68°F+). The days get much longer and we’re blessed to have daylight until around 9:30pm or later already! It kind of makes sleeping early a touch difficult if we don’t close the volets (French for shutters), but I wouldn’t change it for anything, especially on weekends.
How’s the weather where you are? What time are you getting sunlight until in your part of the world?
Now, onto what truly makes May extra special, is what we French call “les ponts du mai” – which translates to “The Bridges of May”. What these “bridges” are, is 3 separate “Jours fériés” (holidays), each of which landed on a Thursday this year!
May 1 - France’s labor day
May 8 - Victory Day, celebrating the end of WW2 in France.
May 29 - Ascension Day, marking the day Christians believe Jesus ascended into heaven. A public holiday in France as well!
What this means, is the French set themselves up to having 3 long weekends during the month (Thursday – Sunday, as we tend to take Friday off of work, when possible). It’s an amazing and calming way to enjoy the start of summer weather, and a great way to spend time with family and friends, and catch up in the garden!
Marc, Sophie and I spent a lot of time outdoors, walking along the coastlines, visiting my parents and doing little daytrips. Our usual market visits felt a little different, as we’re not as bundled up and we’re starting to see new produce pop up – especially the fresh rhubarb, swiss chard, peas and spring onions.
During my first long week back from Belle-Île, we spent a beautiful, sunny Sunday walking along Le Blavet—a river that winds its way through Brittany. It’s one of our favorite local spots; we usually begin our walk in Hennebont, just a 10-minute drive from home. The riverside path is always full of life, with families, runners, and cyclists passing by, and dogs eagerly exploring every scent.
On sunny days, the river sparkles with kayaks and paddle boards drifting along its calm stretches. Some parts of the landscape even remind me of Canada at times…
Another highlight of early May was the 80th anniversary of our town’s liberation, during World War II. In 1945, Lorient was finally freed from years of Nazi occupation by the Allied forces and French resistance, and this milestone was commemorated with great pride and emotion. The entire town was festive throughout the month, with reenactments, concerts, displays of American jeeps in the city, and much more.
As a history enthusiast, I thoroughly enjoyed the celebrations and even managed to drag Marc along a couple of times to visit memorabilia exhibitions. It’s always humbling and moving to reflect on the turmoil and stories that unfolded right where we live—not so long ago.
Later in May, we also found a little time to go do a little strawberry picking in the neighboring town of Merlevenez. Here is the link to the farm, if you’re ever in the area. For the absolutely unbeatable price of less than 7 euros per kilo ( 3.20 euro/pound), Marc and I threw ourselves in the farm, surrounded by luscious, ruby red “dream” strawberries.
After picking 1.5kg, we decided to check out and took these little beauties home to devour. They didn’t last long at all, as we shared some with Sophie, made smoothies, and ate them with yogurt. Nothing better than a freshly picked strawberry, am I right?
To round off the month and make the most of the third and final pont de mai (long weekend in May), my parents, Marc, Sophie, and I took a beautiful trip to Île de Groix. Just a 45-minute ferry ride from the port of Lorient, the island welcomes you with stunning coastlines, pristine beaches, and its famous, well-preserved fishmongers.
Though technically part of our hometown of Lorient, Île de Groix always feels like a world apart—like stepping into another country, or even another time.
We visited the island a few years back, but my parents hadn’t been since about fifteen years ago. Not much has changed here really, perhaps just a few extra hotels and shops, but the island has a way of keeping its incredible charm and authenticity. It also helps that only 5 ferries come in and out of the island each day, many of which are locals coming in and out, as it is only accessible by ferry.
We returned to a delicious lunch at Bistro Bao, a restaurant Marc and I stumbled on during our last stay here. If you’re ever on the island, we highly recommend getting a reservation here! We enjoyed the most delicious plates of “bulots” (whelks), locally-smoked fishes and a plate of freshly-caught sardines.
This month I also ramped up my training for a short 8km run that I’ll be participating in, come June. I used to be an avid runner, but with age and a career and the blog, I find the time to available to run being less and less. But I made a promise to myself to restart this passion and this mini-run was the perfect kickstart of inspiration.
I’ll be running alongside a friend from work, and we will have colleagues and Marc and Sophie there at the kick-off and the finish-line to cheer us on. Wish me luck!
I sincerely hope you enjoyed your May as much as I did, and look forward to sharing how the run went with you. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to start a discussion, I’ll be happy to reply!
À bientôt ! Audrey
In case you missed it…
Here are the 4 recipes I shared in May on the blog and here on Substack.
What to cook in June ?
I appreciate sharing those pictures!! Merci beaucoup!
May has been mild here in Texas and now as we get into summer it will be hot.
My family and I absolutely love sardines and eat them often.
Thank you for sharing your May. It strikes me it is similar to the lovely days we have here in Queensland in May. The heat has gone, a slight chill in a few days, but still lots of sunshine.