We are on the road
for about a 1000kms to get to a rather hidden place, our friend’s Carole and
her husband’s Paul house in Brittany, the „Finistère“. They live in Kergonan, a
sleepy little place some 20 km away from „Quimper“. The house itself is a
little jewel, very idyllic, with a big barn and a beautifully maintained (my
compliments to Paul) garden. Attached to it is the guesthouse, (mind you,
„house“, not room) with every facility you need to be completely at ease. All
exclusively for our use, we feel totally spoilt! We settle down and get invited
to the „main“house for dinner and a long and detailed chat, after all we have
to catch up on news for a loooong time….
Thursday 15th of August
Get up at our leisure,
enjoy breakfast and meet Carole and her niece Mia for a first walk. It is nice
to become a bit familiar with the direct surrounding: a mystical little chapel,
„Brittany -style“, in granite stone and very bare, and a litte spring next to
it, people attribute healing powers to it. We get to the beach and continue to
the „torche“, where Paul meets us and we have our first „crêpe“ in Brittany.
There is a hard
wind blowing at the coast, and soon it is raining quite heavily. But this is
the thing that turns Brittany into Brittany: wild surroundings, rough climate,
mystical places with a lot of power.
In the evening Carole
cooks for us, and we show her some pictures, so she can get an idea about our
lives and the travelling we did over the last 2 decades. What a nice and cosy
evening!
Friday, 16th of August
It is raining cats
and dogs, so we decide to take the camping car and explore the neighbourhood. We
get to „Lorient“, the port with E. Tabarli’s sailing school and museum (his
legacy..).This „Base“ is an old port for submarines ( not the „yellow one“) and other boats. Unfortunately
it is raining so hard that the crowds of tourists all queue up for the museums,
only to be inside and out of the rain. Every place is fully booked, no chance
to get into the buildings. We walk around, a bit frustrated, get totally soaked,
take some desperate pictures of the old submarine in the port and decide then
to treat ourselves to some nice „crêpes“. We drive to Quimper and
„Décathlon“and shop some sportive items. After that a little dinner at „our“
place and a nice rounding off at Carole’s with a glass of wine. So cosy, so comfortable!!
Saturday, 17th of
August
No rain today, so we can do the cycling loop Gaston has planned for us. We leave Kergonan, and get to a chapel, „St Demet“, all typical, in granite and simple. In „Plozévet“ some menhirs are integrated into the traditional „monument aux morts“ , a bit special.We go on, on little roads and tracks, eventually we get to „Pors Poulhan“, a picturesque little harbour where we sit on the wall and have a snack. We follow the track getting to the chapels of „Pouldrenzic“ and one at „Plovan“. All these chapels are being cared for and tended by locals; people that chrish the places and try to keep the „patrimoine“ alive.
We enter some
marshy lands, le Marrais at „Tréguennec“, with little creeks and brooks, reeds
and a lush greenery. We even see a nutria, common in marshlands, swimming
around. To finish off the tour with a cultural note, we get to „Plomeur“, an archaeological
place, a tomb actually, with its Dolmen. I am really impressed and enjoy the power
of the place.
While cycling back, we
have to put up with some traffic (not terrible) but certainly with a strong
headwind. But we can make it to our guesthouse, I cook some dinner, and we are fully
enjoying our stay. 76km
Sunday, 18th of August
original site, it is still so nice to see the stones and blocks arranged outside on the lane, we walk through the little „parc“ and I can still feel some power in these old stones, even out of place! Amazing!
We cycle on, all along the sea, and it is a pure pleasure to enjoy the stunning, wild and exceptional landscape: the sea, the rolling waves, the rough coast with cliffs and big boulders, the rural houses all made of granite stone, with their colourful shutters, the flowers ( above all, the GIANT hortensia hedges..) , an abundance outstanding to that at home…The dry-stone walls along the road (reminds me so much of England) , those rough and simply designed stone-crosses, that howling wind, the grey sky at the horizon touching a field of corn or a harvested field with some old-fashioned hay bales, it all creates the unique atmosphere of Brittany.
We cycle on,
through various little ports and harbours, get to a fantastic lighthouse, „le
phare d’Eckmühl", refrain from climbing it since there is a real long queue
outside…Instead we go on to „Loctudy". Here we planned to take a tiny
ferry to the little island, but the timetable is not really fitting our plans. Besides
the sky turns rather dark, so we skip the excursion and head back to Kergonan.
We can make it without any rain, we arrive back home all dry. A little „visite
guidée“ for Carole and Paul of our camping car (they plan to hire one for
holidays..), shower and dinner at Carole’s and Paul’s , so nice!
Monday,19th of August
Load the bikes on to the car and off to Sainte Marine. The initial idea is to leave the car, cycle all the way to „Concarneau“ (along the coast) and return inland. First place that we reach is „Bénodet“, a lovely „pointe“ and harbour, with a fantastic lighthouse, but the town is extremely packed with tourists and heaps of cars, to the point that we walk and push the bikes for a good while towards the edge of town. From here we flee to other roads, any option is better than this.
Finally, we get on a very good cycling track and breathe a sigh of relief: we can enjoy the ride now, sometimes it leads through marshlands and forests, on dirt track then, with a lot of water and greenery around us. And apart from a few other cyclists not many people. So nice! We get to la „Forêt Fouesnant“ and decide to start our return. After the uplifting ride in a natural surrounding, it is a bit sober to cycle on a (very good quality) track next to the road, but it makes it easy and faster, we catch up time that we lost in Bénodet. 50km. Back at the car we decide to get a medical device for Gaston’s knee in Quimper, and make it back on time for our dinner with Carole, Paul and her niece in a very traditional „Crêperie“, „Man Lan Du“. The restaurant has a very folkloric décors inside and heavenly crêpes.
Tuesday, 20th of
August
There is a full moon, this means that the tides get much stronger than usual. So we decide to acompany Carole,Paul and Mia to „Douarnenez“ for a special event: armed with wellington boots and warm clothes, we can WALK over a small land strip to the isle of „Tristan“, a thing you can only do during the full moon tide. We start to cross over, together with quite a number of people who had exactly the same idea. On the whole it is a funny experience, with crabs running over the wet stone slabs and us feeling a bit like Moses crossing the Red Sea… The island itself is a little jewel, with giant cypress trees, some wild and abundant greenery, an old chapel, a little house that looks like straight from a fairy tale, a lighthouse, all in all a very photogenic place. We take our time, and many pictures, but make sure to cross back in low tide.
Back at the harbour I take photos from the old ship wrecks, rotting away at the shore, and above all the old lightship, Douarnenez‘ emblem. We leave Carole and family behind and drive on to the „Pointe du Van“. On the way we have a short stroll through a small but stunning nature reserve, where many birds are nesting in the cliffs during the breeding season. (too late for that now). But the arrival at the pointe is really an amazing sight: a full view of the beautiful cliffs, far away in the sea a lighthouse standing on bare rocks, blue sky and everywhere so much heather, it makes one think of Scottland. The view is breathtaking, with the charming detail of a small granite chapel standing right at the edge of the cliff to provide the perfect picture..There is a single trail and we follow it for some time, walk back at a certain moment and get a little crêpe-snack before driving all the way back to Kergonan. What a nice day with outstanding sightseeing!
Wednesday, 21st of
August
We drive up to
Port de Fouesnant with the intention to pick up the track and continue our
former cycling tour. The start is quite strenuous, ups and downs, all close to
the coast. Soon we enter Concarneau, a busy town and harbour with a famous
stronghold. We get out of Concarneau quite quickly, it is really packed with
tourists. We are much happier when the traffic is getting less stressful, and
we can relax while enjoying the ride. We get to various viewpoints (little
creeks) and „pointes“, always surprising with a nice coast, large boulders visible
due to low tide, the boats leaning to one side, also due to low tide, and see
many land/seamarks and buoys. We get to „Port de Trévignon“ and start the
return towards Concarneau. We are lucky to hit a „voie verte“unexpectedly and
get to the car after +-60km. We drive back, over the 100 roundabouts, so very
much typical for Brittany and dine on a lovely homemade lasagna at Carole’s.
Thank you so much.
Thursday, 22nd of August
Again direction of Concarneau, we stop at „Névez“, where we finished the day before in a tiny village, with beautiful „chaumières“ (thatched rooves..). On the track we pass an oyster farm close to a mill, quite interesting, and after some more kms get to my first Menhir!! These more than 5000 years (and plus) old stones still have an amazing power, you touch them and feel their mystery after all these millennia, fascinating!
It is our lucky day, we get on and arrive in „Pont-Aven where they celebrate „La fête de la belle Angèle“:the little town is very busy, crowded, a lot of food stands, art galleries, tiny shops and a band of Scottish pipers playing in the street! The Bretons have their own pipers ( a bit of a different sound) , but they don’t wear skirts. The whole lot turns it into a funny event.
We leave Pont-Aven climbing some steep hills and continue while following little trails to the sea and backtrack each time since there is rarely a way out. So after this back and forth rhythm we enjoy a little break right next to an „Allée couverte“, another archaeological site, always a tomb. Having a look at the weather forecast it tells us, we must expect some rain pretty soon. So, we get back, still doubtful about the accuracy of it, but we just make it to the car, when it starts raining. We drive back and shop for some dinner. Glad to be indoors now! 50km
Friday, 23rd of August
Rain, rain, rain, so we decide to sleep out and do a little walking tour later on, when the weather is nicer. (hopefully…). -We take the car to the ruins of „Languïdo Chapelle“, a very special ruin, with the rose window still intact, against the light a wonderful picture…And a lot of atmosphere and „spiritual whispering“ around it.
We drive on to Pors Poulhand that we know from a previous cycling day but this time we take a walk at the coast to get to another „Allée couverte“, this time a rather big one. (I can stand underneath without bending over…). We are lucky, nobody there except us, for a while, so I can thoroughly enjoy the energetical place and feel its power. What an experience!- The rest of the coastal walk is very nice, large boulders, rough waves, the sound and smell of the sea…and in the end some sunshine. Amazing.
We round the day
off with a short visit of „Audierne“, a nice fisher harbour where we enjoy a
stroll through the port. We shop some souvenirs and return for a dinner with
Carole &Co at „Tom’s place“, a restaurant Carole reserved for the night. Great
food!
Saturday, the 24th
of August
Heavy rain all
morning. Gaston busy on the internet while planning our loop up north, me
working with Reiki. -Then , surprise, some sunshine. So, we take the bikes for
a quick tour but just come back right at the moment when a heavy thunderstorm
hits the neighbourhood. Lucky to be indoors at the right time. Dine on a nice
mixture of simply everything, „une planche“ as Carole calls it, delicious.
Sunday, 25 of August
Today we plan to explore the area around „Crozon“, which means driving all the way up and only then starting our cycling day. We need a long time for the drive, small roads, countless roundabouts etc…Finally we arrive at a tiny location „Tal Ar Groaz“, leave the car there and start a tour that is classified as „difficult“. And indeed, the classification is correct, we are facing steep hills and scary descents. We get to „Cale de Rostellec“, some rotting shipwrecks, and go on to the „Pointe des Espagnols „ at Roscanvel. We get off the bikes to take a better look and there, on the other side of the bay, we can see Brest. We even detect the submarine stronghold and read on signs how the entire bay was involved in war and defense.
Then a strange hooting sound and we see 3 big sailing boats with spectacular rigging chasing each other through the sea: a regatta! We go on watching for a while, the boats get much closer and we can take some fine pictures. When we have enough we cycle on to „Le Cap de Dinan“, a beautiful coast line where we even see from far away the coastal path. A bit sad that we can’t take a proper walk here, but we don’t really want to leave the bikes behind for a few hours. So next time we might get there, we’ll wear walking boots….Later we get to a very busy and touristically coastal part, one where we can see a „hole“ in the cliffs ( a tiny version of Etretat…) . Unfortunately we don’t linger long enough to take pictures, we just flee from the crowds and the tremendous traffic.
So on we go , on
our „difficult“ track, up and down, through several villages until we make it
back to the car, quite tired. A long drive back, 76km
Monday,26th of
August
This time we park
the car at „Pouldu“ and plan a loop direction Lorient. Soon we get to a little
ferry boat and watch rather flabberghasted the young man heave one heavy e-bike
after the other aboard! Not to mention his technique to fit 8 bikes on a small
ferry! Physical and physics! -On the other side of the port we cycle on , get
through „Clohars-Carnoët“ and reach a cycling track that leads us along the
coast. The sight is nice but we are a bit slow due to the dirt track. But since
we do some sightseeing anyway, we don’t mind to be slowed down. At „Plomeur“ we
see a fort on an island, „Le Fort bloqué“. The site is quite isolated and only
to be reached at low tide.
It is pleasant
pedalling leisurely along the coast, stopping every so often to take a nice
picture or to have a little snack.We return via inland instead of taking the
ferry again, this time on a smooth track, so we can make good progress back to
the car. 60km
Lovely dinner at
Carole’s many thanks!
Tuesday, 27th of
August
After a „lazy“
breakfast we plan to take that pleasant walk to „La Torche“ again. The weather
is absolutely perfect and this time the wind at the beach is merciful: it is a
nice breeze, nothing like the one we had before, blowing our heads off!
We get a nice
lunch at the crêperie of the Torche (thx Paul) and back to „our“ little cottage
to pack up.
Last cosy evening
with Carole, Paul and little Mia. We had
a great time, got spoilt to death with food and drinks and wonderful long
chats. Thanks a lot!!
Wednesday, 28th of
August
After breakfast,
we clean our wonderful guesthouse, load the car, kiss our hosts goodbye with
many thanks and off we are for our little tour further north.
Arriving in Brest,
Hotel Ibis , checking in and arranging our long term parking. Ibis is great, we
can leave the car on their parking, even for free.
At Nor-Auto (in
the industrial zone) we get a battery booster, since our car battery is low and
we worry if we are going to be able to restart the car after a few days.
We take a rather
unpleasant walk all the way down to the port: Brest is really not exciting,
full of „Chantiers“on the road and not many nice buildings (ALL of Brest was
bombed during the war..) . We get back by taxi and dine at the hotel.
Thursday, 29th of
August
It is still dark
when the alarm clock rings: get a solid breakfast, sort our things out, stow
the rest of our luggage in the car and…on the road again. Brest is not really
small, so we expect our typical troubles to get out of a big city. But we make
it quite quickly and are back on the familiar scenery with plenty of
fields,acres and farmhouses which means back to
the countryside. Back to the
little granite chapels with their stone carved spires, back to the ups and downs,too.
We don’t get a glimpse of the sea and I think that this ride through the
countryside could be the Bourgogne…“St Divy Chapel“. „Notre Dame de bon secours“
in „La Roche-Maurice“ is an old ruin again, we get off the bikes to take
pictures and to enjoy the place. In „Landivisiau „ we enter the little town to photograph the
church and get a picnic there,too. We cycle on, doing some involuntary loops since we get lost a few times. But we
don’t mind the extra tours, the landscape is always nice and the traffic is
rarely a nuisance. Last beautiful church in „St Thégonnec“, a very nicely
carved round spire with 4 little towers around it. „Morlaix“ B&B Hotel,
66km dinner right next door
Friday, 30th of August
Leave at some chilly 11 degrees. There is a high fog this early morning lying over the valley, a pretty sight, so we take the temperature with composure. And right we are, the sun licks off that mist and we enjoy the emerging landscape: we see one of the first artichoke fields ever, very special plant, some are already with a big purple flower, the others ripening in the field. Magnificent plant and vegetable!- Then „St Pol de Léon“ with its great cathedral, so impressive.
-A while later we get to the coast and the town of „Roscoff“. It is a nice place with an atmosphere of its own: a „rocky“ coast,with some really giant boulders, the port, the lighthouse, extremely photogenic. We move on, along the coast all the time, enjoying the sea, the beach, the big rocks, all amazing.
We get to „Goulven“, shop some snacks for the coming day, and cycle to our chambre d’hôte, „La maison de la côte des légendes“. Here the friendly landlord explains to us that there is no chance to get dinner at a restaurant without any reservation ( due to the fact that restaurants are really rare in the region) . Well, we don’t have a reservation, of course, the man even calls some places, but no chance. So we quickly cycle back to that village with the tiny suprette and shop some food and drink for the evening. We picnic on these in our room, and quite enjoy the goodies, so no harm done. 89km
Wake up and see
it: it is drizzling, the sky is totally covered and the clouds hanging low. But,
after all this is the Bretagne, weather changes in about an hour. So we get
breakfast and yes, at our departure the rain has stopped already and it is not
too cold. Well, we would love real summer weather, too, but we can live with
what we got. Following the signs „Le Littoral“ we get indeed to the coast: and
again, these stones and boulders, the beach, the granite houses…and there is a
grey sky at the background that creates a real photogenic light, so we don’t
complain but enjoy ourselves.
We stop at a very
big menhir at „Brignogan-plages“, where we get the proof that the church was
clearly oppressing the old Celtic believes: they implanted a big stone cross
right on the top of the menhir!
We come across
some more old stones and boulders in „Meneham“: the tiny location is a local attraction.
Here they show the technics of „les
chaumières“ and the „Goemen“. These old technics of drying the seaweed (algae)
to extract fertiliser from it is now
part of the patrimonial heritage.
We picnic around
„Plouquerneau“ looking at a stunning lighthouse further away (“Aberwrac’h“),
far out in the sea on the „île vièrge“.
Sometimes the
coastal route leads us inland, on steep ascents and sharp descents. And not to
forget the wet dirt track, so it is not easy to cycle and quite merciless.
After 80km we
arrive at the doors of a chambre d’hôte, „La petite valise“, St Pabu, and by
first sight, we think it is rather posh.
We get dinner at a
simple little pizza take-out, glad to find at least something, no matter how
modest.
Sunday, 1st of
September
La petite valise
is a disappointment: it is not clean, smelly, and the landlady oversleeps ,serving
us then a lousy breakfast on dirty
plates! We hurry to get out of the place. Again , the day starts under a thick
layer of mist. Will the sun lick it away again or will it be worse? One never
knows in Brittany.
We cycle through various villages and come to the conclusion that these church spires look best from far away when you can see through the carved stones, like „Notre Dame de Brélès“ .
Back at the coast
we realize that the view is close to zero:
so much mist , it makes me think of John Carpenter’s „The Fog“, a bit
creepy…Far out in the sea we can spot the outline of a lighthouse, quite
special, other lighthouses signed out on the road stay simply invisible, a
pity. But the day has a charme of its
own and certainly a special atmosphere.
At „Plougonvelin“ we
stop to wander through the ruins of an abbaye, and right behind it stands a
lighthouse, its top disappearing in the mist. Quite a sight!
After that last break we cycle on, sometimes along the coast, sometimes inland, until we get to Brest. We pedal hard, it is a long way to get around the port (with its submarine base from WWII,and a military base) , get over the huge bridge,from which we have a great view. We see the rest of the port, some splendid sailing boats and the famous maritime museum in a Vauban stronghold.
From here it is
rather steep to get to the Hotel, in Kergaradec. But arriving there we feel proud
and happy, 80 km and at the same time the end of our tour. A nice pizza at the
Del Arte pizzeria and after a good rest
drive all the way home in the morning. And….the car
started right away, hurray!
+- 800km
