European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 19, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Rock formations flank this privately owned House on the Northern coast of Brittany. The mysterious soul of 4 # .0 of Jhu All if f 1 enchanted Region sure to Charm most jaded visitor by Gary Lee the Washington Posta a a a. Even during the drive from Paris i was a a settling into a plate of buckwheat crepes. My body was stuffed into the passenger Side of a beat up Renault. In. My mind however i. Was sitting at a thick. Wooden table Fork in. Hand. Thin Pancake like delicacies stuffed with cheese and folded into squares were stacked across Blue and White China before me. A Glass of sparkling cider rested to one Side a Platter of fresh oysters to the other my destination was the French province of a Brittany which hugs the Atlantic Ocean. On earlier trips i had come to know the area s specialities from the shellfish and other seafood Breton fishermen drag Home to the special brands of apples and the creative use locals make of them. After a week on the heft Bank hanging out in old impressionists haunts and bistros along the Seine i was ready for a change. Parisian dazzle made me hungry for something rustic and earthy. Brittany was clearly the answer. As it turned out i was hot fully prepared for an authentic Breton experience. Guidebooks of the Region explain How the locals enamoured with. Legend and mythology sit around the Hearth speaking not of what happened at the office that a Day but of Merlin the sorcerer and How he wandered through these parts or about the legend of Tristram and Isolde which supposedly occurred Here. % the end of lie trip with a family of French friends into the heart of Brittany i Felt i had entered an enchanted world w Here maybe an Elf dances on the tables at night and the wind really seems to repeat centuries old myths As it whips through the Woods. My transformation came m the course of an afternoon. Back in Paris a clairvoyant had warned me Gamst falling under Brittany s spell. Some supernatural event will capture you there she said with a wag of the Finger. I brushed it off As an old wives tale. I was wrong. About Halfway through the fou hour drive to. Suichen the Breton town where i was to spend a week the Region s differences began to emerge in one town the roofs of houses were thatched with Straw As they used to be commonly made m the Region. In another Village where we stopped for Coffee the locals were adding Quot pm Quot to the ends of words in the typical Breton dialect. This is not the France of wide boulevards lined with cafes the latest in strapless evening Wear and unpredictable latin tempers. Brittany is a rustic place with the feel of Rural Maine. Besides the capital of Rennes and the fortress City at St Malo it is composed of mostly close knit villages. On the heavy populated european continent it is one of few Tess developed areas where some farms still have outhouses and Many old town centers have been lovingly restored to their Majestic 16th-Century state. The bretons like Many Village dwellers openly disdain the trends that fade in and out in Urban. Europe a surprising number have never been to Paris. Instead they  celebrate the basics to take everyday aspects of life and make them special from the wearing of hats a local women Wear a traditional embroidered headdress starched continued on Page 12 10 stripes Magazine january 19, 1995