Salt pans at Guerande in Brittany
They say we’re made of sea-water, so I suppose one could say these fascinating drying salt pans at Guerande in Brittany are concentrating some aspect of mammalian life, in a sense.
Another curious thought is that these muddy and distinctly un-glamorous bird-poo splattered puddles are the source of what I understand is some of the world’s most highly prized sea salt – and they’re just a stone’s-throw from some of the most expensive and glamorous holiday beaches on Europe’s Atlantic Coast. As they say, it’s a funny old world.
Fascinating indeed, but why have we forgotten to do this in the UK? My home town of Arbroath historically had a number of salt pans associated with its fabulous abbey, and the placename Prestonpans, near Edinburgh, reflects its salty past, too. Perhaps the North Sea is now too polluted, tragically, or maybe we are simply no longer worth our salt as providers of home-grown sustainable food.