`C'est formidable! Formidable!" The grey-haired woman touched my shoulder again, then made a sweeping, appreciative gesture towards my well-worn touring bicycle.
If you want to soften French hearts, you need only travel in Brittany avec velo. Hotel keepers allow bicycles in hallways or wheel them off to a secure garage, waiters accept Lycra as an optional dining outfit, small children wave vigorously from the back windows of passing cars.
Her outburst drew the attention of an amused, gently sweltering crowd queueing for ice cream in the spectacularly medieval streets of Dinan. I was trying, rather unsuccessfully in flaming red cycling shirt and black shorts, to blend with chain-mailed soldiers, belles dames in elaborate gowns, and motley jugglers and jesters.
Dinan, unexpectedly in the full throes of its annual Fetes de Remparts, had turned from a brief excursion into an all-day visit. But then, how could one cycle on and ignore the colourful crowd, the platters of wine-cooked mussels and flagons of tart Breton cider? That's the charm of opting for a bicycle and a vague itinerary rather than a car and prebooked lodging. I had nowhere to be but here, was on no schedule but now, and had the day served up like a Breton seafood feast, just as tangy and fleeting.
With the region's proximity to Ireland and direct links by ferry, a cycling or motoring holiday in Brittany is an easy option for an impromptu break. Even in the high season, moderately-priced rooms usually can be found in the small, family-run hotels which are one of France's great delights - just avoid the resort towns. One of the best reasons for setting off across the sea is Brittany's odd and angular fellowship with this island, its shared Celticism and Catholicism woven through history, music, art and architecture. Brittany is at once both surprisingly similar and disconcertingly alien to an Irish sensibility, making any visit a journey into a compare-and-contrast sense of Irishness.
If you opt for Brittany Ferries from Cork, the boat will deposit you in St Malo or Roscoff, while Rosslare and Cork Irish Ferries departures will bring travellers to Brest. Alternatively, you can fly into Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris (bikes cost £20 extra each way on Aer Lingus), then take the free bus - with bike - to the nearby train station (remember, you must have a bike bag for train travel - save the one from the plane).
Armed with Michelin map number 230, which covers Brittany, and a good guidebook - the Rough Guide to Brittany and Nor- mandy is unfailingly wry, informative and reliable - you're away. Picking your destinations on whim is what cycling is all about. Some amiable stopovers include Rennes, with its rambling streets of half-timbered houses, the hilly fastness of Fougeres, and nip into Mont St Michel, the otherworldly walled and spired island monastery.
Don't bother trying to stay in costly Mont St Michel, though - head for little Dol de Bretagne, near the hump of Mont Dol, on which the Archangel Michael is said to have wrestled the Devil. From there, pedal south to Dinan, setting aside plenty of time for exploring the town. Then, aim ultimately for Morlaix. That odd town, bisected overhead by a 19th century viaduct of which it is inordinately proud, is the gateway to one of the most intriguing parts of Brittany - the Parish Closes.
Make sure you have a good dinner in Morlaix (La Maree Bleue, 3 Rampe St Melaine, has magnificent seafood), for the countryside is hilly from here on, and cyclists will want stored energy. Visit the tourist office as well to get a copy of the leaflet on the Parish Closes, which will suggest three mix-andmatch routes.
Scattered like small jewels through the valley of the Elorn river, the parish closes (enclos paroissiaux) are walled churchyards in which each community of the once-prosperous villages, bloated with riches primarily from the linen industry, lavished its wealth and town pride. Each close has the recurrent ensemble of triumphal arch, a calvary, an ossuary, and a church. And each of these elements was lovingly decorated with exuberance and skill by local artists.
Rather than remotely austere religious images, the closes are covered - sometimes riotously - with endearing carved figures that emphasise the human rather than the divine. Foolishly grinning soldiers, deeply pained Marys, gentle Christs, boisterous saints at the Last Supper - the wonderfully emotive images are moving as well as striking. Within the churches, the religious theme often trails into carved nooks and ceiling beams entwined with images of community life - ploughmen, herders, millers, dancing peasants, leaping dogs, even snails and birds.
Each enclos has its own recognised masterpiece. At SaintThegonnec, it's the wooden pulpit carved by two brothers and a lifesize entombment in the ossuary's crypt (make sure you stop for hearty crepes and cider at Creperie Steredenn, right across the street). At nearby Guimiliau, it's the fabulous calvary, surrounded by more than 200 granite figures depicting the life of Christ.
The leaflet lists 26 closes in all. Perhaps the most charming is the tiny close of La Roche Maurice, with its deep blue, angel-crowded ceiling, ancient stained glass, carved ceiling beams which emerge from the mouths of demons, and elaborate, brightlypainted church screens. The carver seems to have had a fascination with demons - they're everywhere - many bearing pendulous green breasts.
Also, don't miss the Romanesque abbey and cloister at Daoulas (if you decide to stay the night, there are no hotels, but Madame Jacquet and her daughter offer rooms and breakfast at their home, Kervern Treana, 29460 Daoulas, phone 02 98 25 87 20). Another evocative stop for Irish visitors is the Museum of the Rural School near the village of Tregarvan on the Crozon Peninsula. Occupying a disused school, it lovingly recreates a turn of the century classroom, and its exhibits recall how Breton children were legally required to speak French. Any child who uttered a word of Breton, that piquant relative of Irish, was forced to hold a small wooden cow.
A good place to finish the tour, before catching a train back to the ports or Paris, is Quimper, the oldest Breton city. After the little closes, a visit to Quimper's towering gothic Cathedral St-Corontin can be almost overwhelming. The meandering streets yield a mix of riches - the superb collections of drawings in the Musee des Beaux Arts, a pottery museum, and the Ceili, an Irish-run bar featuring traditional Breton music.
A visit to the little square, Place au Beurre, offers both the renowned Breton and Celtic music shop, Keltia-Musique, and the excellent creperie, La Krampouzerie. Good for end of tour souvenirs and for that great pleasure of cycling - eating expansively and well.