Small Screen

Erwan is a pretty uncommon name native to Brittany, that anciently romantic and windswept peninsula in Northern France, full of legends and stone monuments like the Carnac Stones that are fabulous cousins of Stonehenge. Breton is a Celtic language, like Cornish or Welsh, and the name Erwan corresponds to 'Yves' in French, the closest we come to it in English is the girl's name Yvonne. 

An etymologist's delight, the progression from Erwan to Yves to 'if' - modern French name for the yew tree, that most mysterious evergreen with its bright winter berries and deadly needles, something mysterious and after-lifey going on there. Golly, so Chateau d'If is Yew Tree Castle! Who knew? Well, Frenchies everywhere did, obviously. I'd always thought of it in terms of the English 'if'... "if ever I escape from here, I'll get my revenge", that kind of thing. Anyway, enough Montecristoing... 

The talented Erwan, now in the ava-iteration Roman Fox, has set up a successor of sorts to Serenity Grid, and it has a definite flavor of the rugged Breton land and seascape. Some of you may remember a couple of glorious regions on Serenity that I blogged about a while back, the Monet house and garden, and Mont Saint Michel both unbeatable for the instinctive realism of familiarity and just good old building chops. It was a small miracle of a grid, and it was very sad to learn that it had gone offline. When I learnt about this new grid, also quite minute, I had to come see.

The visitable sim called simply Ecrin, meaning screen, has the form of an island with a large manoir on the highest point. Shown in the photo above, it's just a little bit foreboding, if luxurious in its grounds and furnishings. The whole layout has something of the look of Mont Saint Michel, with the little streets and shopping area. The gaily lit dance area neatly completes the little village...

... which is brought to life with a few figures out and about on the rues, but even more so by the freebies inside the various shops, everything from watches to skins can be found here, so a little bit of retail therapy can be part of the joy of your visit.

There's also a touch of Giverny here, in the absolutely heavenly garden, this summerhouse is a particular delight. Makes the whole world feel a bit like lavender, small but perfectly formed. Perfect for summer.

 HG Address: 185.13.36.19:8002:ECRIN