"Un droiad e Bro-Gembre"

Name of traveller

Lukian Tangi (1927-2000) and Chanig Tangi, Yvan Guehennec, Mikael Kerrotret and Volène Kerrotret, Loeiz Poisson and Marie-Claire Poisson, Marie-Claire Marechal

Reason for travel

  • excursion to practise and study Welsh language

Date of travel

2-9 April 1983

Ur souezh hag ur marzh eo mirdi Sant Fagan's; ne glaskin ket menegiñ kement tra a vez gwelet amañ . . .. Talvezout a ra mont da Vro-Gembre pa ne vefe nemet evit gwelout Amgueddfa Werin Cymri, e Sant Fagan's (Tangi 326)

Content

  • architecture:
    • describes the leaning tower of Caerphilly Castle
    • detailed description of the buildings preserved at St Fagan's
    • displeased with the modern sculpture in Llandaff Cathedral
    • visit a number of castle ruins, abbeys and churches
  • clothing: clothes and shoes are expensive
  • diet:
    • frequently dine at pubs
    • find New Zealand lamb sold in shops
  • language:
    • perceive the Welsh as their cousins
    • owners of a B&B in Lampeter surprised to have guests who speak Welsh but no English; discuss Sioni Winwns (Onion Johnnies)
    • discuss the state of the Breton language with a petrol seller in Talybont and with a ticket man in Betws-y-Coed
    • northern Welsh accent sounds different
  • people:
    • young man serving as vicar at Llandaff Cathedral
    • Yvan Guehennec deposits archival material from Rennes at University of Wales, Aberystwyth
    • meet with a Plaid Cymru secretary and Rhisiart Hincks (b. 1954) in Aberystwyth
  • recreation:
    • have difficulty finding B&B near Cardiff; hotels too expensive
    • meet a French family on holiday who think the Breton group are Germans because of how Breton sounds
    • shop twice at Siop y Pethe in Aberystwyth
  • terrain:
    • encounter an empty, snowy landscape in the Brecon Beacons
    • generally cold weather during the journey; frequently mentions snow
    • enjoy views of the sea and cliffs travelling from Lampeter to Aberystwyth
    • area around the Pass of Llanberis like a geology lesson, better than books
    • summit of Snowdon hidden by clouds
  • transport: travel as a group of eight with three cars

Nationality of traveller

Breton, French

Language of publication

Breton

Gender of traveller

Male, Female

Type of publication

essay, travelogue

Citation

Tangi, Lukian. "Un droiad e Bro-Gembre." Al Liamm 221 (1983): 323-44. Print.

Entry created: 13 May 2016
Entry last updated: 26 September 2016