This is a LONG post, so sit back and enjoy...I hope!
On the 19th of September, we left the Chateau for
a trip north to Brest and around the coast to the north Breton port of Roscoff.
The reason for this trip to the Breton department of
Finistere ( Pron. Fini stare, literally meaning End of the Earth) was to see
the coast on the most western part of France, and therefore Europe.
Brest was so heavily bombed during the last WW that they
have been rebuilding the city ever since, a bit like St Nazaire, on the Loire
River estuary. It is also the end port for the Nantes/Brest Canal.
Having decided to make the trip up north, I set about trying
to find accommodation. Thanks to Airbnb, we found places that were out of the
way and in places not normally visited by other than French tourists. We heard very
few other English speakers on our journey.
Our first night’s accommodation was in a place called
Plougastel Daoulas. Bear in mind that we are now very much in Gaelic territory.
The name is Gaelic = Ploo ga stel Da oo la. We had found a B&B here in this
very nice seaside town just south of Brest. The rate for the lovely big room
with a sea view (albeit some distance away) and a continental breakfast was
reasonable and the host had a Gaelic name. He spoke pretty good English, having
hosted his B&B for the past 13 yrs and come into contact, he said, with many
English speakers…which kind of makes a lie of my claim we heard no other
English speakers…but we are outside of regular tourist times, remember.
Anyhoo...back to the journey!
We left the Chateau around 9am after a good breakfast, and with no
good reason to rush, as our destination for the day was only about 3 ½ hrs away
in real time. That is without any of our tiki-tours!
We took the highway to Pontivy,(pon tee vee) one of our favorite small
cities. This being a Monday, it was Market Day in the middle of town on that former
parade ground of Napoleon’s. It was challenging finding parking, but after a
bit of around and around we finally found one and it wasn’t too far from our
favorite Café , le Grand Café. A real old time café with plenty of brass and
deep red velvet upholstery. We had been here before, so we knew we could get a
good Grand Crème with hot milk. First we had to find a morning treat, and on
the way to the café, we passed a supermarket with a Boulanger/Patisserie at the
front of it. So, as is the norm here, we sat in the café (they don’t sell food
there) with our pastry and ate and drank and relaxed in the lovely atmosphere
until we felt able to go north again. We had actually come back here to see if
we still liked it. Lots of modern clothing (and other) stores and it is a
bustling center that attracts us without it being a huge city, if you know what
I mean. The town itself is in a valley on the river, or actually at the
confluence of two rivers. The Blavet (Bla vay) being one, and the Nantes/Brest
Canal the other. Not much further north, the Nantes/Brest canal feeds into Lac
Guerledin (gare le darn), which we investigated further on our way home…more on
that later.
Monday Market in Pontivy is a large one.
Our Grand Crème, with pastries in Le Grand Café Pontivy
As we drove out of town we spied a couple of houses for
sale. This isn’t unusual, as you probably know by now, but what was unusual, was
that we were discussing living in the middle of a town! Hmm…Well, we do want to
be very much part of a community, and we do want to be within walking distance
if possible, of our daily/weekly food shopping and of course the café and the
boulanger! Well, who wouldn’t?
We put that idea back to bed, and carried on towards the
coast. We had a mission to visit the Crozon Peninsula. If you are looking at
the map, this is the peninsula just below the City of Brest. Directly opposite,
in fact. Our destination on the GPS, was Camaret Sur Mer, the most westerly
point of the peninsula. It was very much a case of going in and coming back out
on the same road, which we try not to do, but there were no other choices.
First, however, we had to go through a town we had seen on
the map for ages and where we had seen many inexpensive homes for sale…Guemene
sur Scorff ((Hard G sound) Gemenay sir Scorff), and because you should NEVER
judge a town by its Monday clothes, which we did, we didn’t hang around. This
is an ancient town with an old Chateau (I mean OLD!) or what is left of it and
the Fortification, and so many OLD houses on the main streets that our mouths
stayed open all the way down the hill through the town. We were told we should
go there during the week when things are buzzing. Somehow we couldn’t imagine
this drab looking town as BUZZING! And if it was so buzzing, then why are all
the houses so inexpensive? We liked that SOMEONE had a sense of humor!:)
One of the main streets. Pretty, but dead, on this Monday.
The OLD Chateau in Guemene sur Scorff.
We stopped long enough for Waz to find the town Public
Toilette, and a quick drive around to find the origins of the Town ‘wall’,
which was a Chateau, at one time. Onwards through Rostrenen, which was another
town we had made a note to check out, mainly for the same reason, which was
inexpensive Real Estate. This too was closed for most things, but we passed a Kebab
shop, and thinking this might be our last chance for some lunch, we stopped
down the road and walked back. We ate kebabs, which are warm Pita bread with
meat and salad inside, and of course the delicious Frites accompanied by Frites
sauce (like tartare sauce) that are part of the ‘meal’ choice.
With full stomachs we could start out again, without having
to think of a meal. We should have been thinking about a meal,
however…especially later!
Along the way we passed through towns like this one, along a very hilly route.
And went across bridges like this one.
We took Highway N164 through to Chateaulin (chateau larng),
having already spent considerable time on secondary roads and uphill and down
dale ad infinitum through gorgeous countryside in the area known as the
Montagnes Notres in the Parc Naturel Amorique.
Another huge surprise awaited us in this estuarial town
(Chateaulin) on the Nantes/Brest Canal. As we drove down the hill to the town
(because they are on the river, they are ALWAYS at the bottom of a hill and in
a Valley!!) we spied an A Vendre (For Sale ) sign on the left side of the road,
hanging off some fairly spectacular looking gates. I couldn’t stop in the
middle of the narrow road down, so we made a mental note to check it out a bit
later.
We parked opposite the Ecluse or Lock on the river. The little bridge goes across to the lock.
Finding a parking space in this town proved a bit
challenging, this also being a Monday Market town. Aiee!! (Markets fall on
different days in different towns in an area, because the same vendors visit
all the markets, generally and they can’t be in two places at once, of course).
And to make matters worse, it was beginning to rain. We got a weeny bit damp
during our long walk back to the center of town, along the river/canal. We
found a café which served a wonderful Grand Crème, and better still, had a
clean toilette! The rain came and went,
and it didn’t stop us from taking photos on this dull and grey day. It wasn’t
particularly cold, and there was no wind. All pluses!
A very picturesque town, we set about exploring it. First
though, we had to find the ‘For Sale’ home on the hill, just 100 feet uphill
from the river. Find it we did…and declared that it would probably be outside
of our price range, being so close to town, and the fact that it was either a
Maison de Maitre or a Maison Bourgeoise. Both would involve waay more money and
time and effort than we were prepared to commit to in a Real Estate purchase.
Onwards and upwards…literally, in this case. Looking for the property from the
top, we went up and around and over, at least one city block, and came out
right at the site of the Monday Market. It really was raining by this time, and
needing further sustenance, we went into a Boulanger/café/Patisserie where we
ordered Tea and a Pizza for Waz, a Quiche for me and a pastry to go. We were
glad of that pastry later!
We poked our noses through the lovely gates where we found the For Sale sign, and this is what we found. Someone had been doing some yard work, but it looked a formidable job, frankly.
We wall surrounding the Maison de Maitre that is for sale. We went up and over the back, looking for a way to see into the property further, to no avail.
The market was around the corner, but we found Les Halles, or the covered market down a side street. I love the British Telephone booth on the right!
Les Halles is where one would normally find fresh foods, being a market. The market that was here today, was open air and itinerant vendors open up their purpose-built vans and trucks to display their wares and food.It was raining at the time and my camera didn't come out for some reason....too busy holding the umbrella, perhaps?
The far side of the river and the buildings sit underneath this Granite rock, hugging the face of it to the rears, as you can see. As we left the town, we sent up that road to the far left, up onto the hill and beyond.
The Architecture was changing, at this stage, with the most noticeable being the churches. The steeples were getting higher, more figured and more open at the same time. This lead us to believe that there were vicious winds in these parts. The numbers of bells also seemed to increase, strangely, and we didn't find a reason for this either.
This is the façade of a Breton Bisquiterie. The biscuits are wonderful!
Looking back towards the town bridge, right side.
and on the left side.
Further fortified and with a timetable to keep to, we needed
to move onwards to the small Fishing town of Cameret sur Mer (Cam er aye sir
meer). This too was at the bottom of a steep hill, going down to the water and
the two ports (Pecheur, or fishing, and the Plaisance or pleasure).
I pulled over and stopped to take this photo. Sorry about the weather and color...I don't like to edit, so this is the real thing we saw.
Looking across to the Peninsula opposite the harbor.
The hill we came down, in the center of the photo, and also low tide, looking towards the Port de Pecheurs, or Fishing Port.
The Port de Plaisance, or Pleasure Boat Harbor,
Le Tour Vaubun, at the end of the Peninsula
These boats had been scuttled and abandoned.
The church on the peninsula
A memorial to those who have died at sea
Our first reaction, on topping the hill overlooking the
sheltered harbor, on this cool afternoon was “OH WOW!”…a little less than
descriptive, but as you see the photos, perhaps you will say those same words.
It was picture postcard pretty, despite the lack of sun the grey cloud cover.
Lovely shops and restaurants (well, at first glance) and homes lining the bay,
with the Port de Plaisance sheltered from the wind and waves by a peninsula
jutting out into the bay with a couple of important looking buildings. One of
those is a church! The other is a Fortified Tower, which is not something we
had prepared ourselves for. This is quite a startling building and has an
interesting history.
We parked, taking our bags and cameras with us, and walked
the main drag marveling at how the town had closed down at the end of the
tourist season and how barren it was now, although we encountered a few foreign
tourists (think German) along with the requisite French seniors ( about our
age) in their campervans.
Even though it was quite cold with a chilly wind, we had to
have a Glace (ice cream). Not too expensive, but certainly more than we were
used to paying, but they were generous with the 2 boules (balls) and we enjoyed
salted caramel and Strawberry for Waz and Salted Caramel and Cassis (black
current) for me. Divine! The flavors seem to be very intense, which we love,
and so much more so than in the USA where everything just tastes…well… sugary!
My cassis, or Black current, Glace. Divine. It sure makes you pucker up!
Waz's Strawberry Glace
Back to touring.
Back at the car having reached the end of the Port de Pecheurs
( pesh ers) or Fishing Port, and now much colder, we drove towards the
peninsula opposite and where the Port de Plaisance operated from.
There is a parking lot for tourists (this time we only heard
French being spoken) and we all made our way to the Chapel which is obviously
used by fishermen and people who work on, in and around the sea and Ports.
Plenty of boats (toy) and emblems of the sea inside, which somehow seemed very
appropriate, given its location, not to mention that this is a major Altantic Life
Boat Port. As we are on the Atlantic Ocean here and knowing how rough it can
get in Winter we are very mindful of those well trained men and women who put
their lives at risk anywhere in the world, but in particular in wild and
unforgiving seas such as these. Because Waz is a former NZ Coast Guard
Volunteer (and a well-trained one at that!) we are very interested in these
places and people.
There is a low (but wide) hip height rock seawall facing the
ocean, and on the other side is a beach full of white rocks. Creative souls
have piled some of them on top of each other to create little cairns, which
look decorative on the one hand, and rather shameful on the other. Why? Because
man is always trying to bend or make Mother Nature into something he/she wants
it to be. Leave them alone, I say. To me it is similar to carving your name
into a rock or tree or some other natural place. I just don’t understand the
need to do those things and deface the beauty, especially a growing thing such
as a tree!
and along the waterfront.
These boats have been abandoned, and colorful though they are and excellent to photograph, I hate to see this amount of iron sitting around contaminating the water, among other things.
We walked to the end of the peninsula, taking note of the
sailing craft out on the water this cold afternoon, especially those youngsters
who were having sailing lessons! Brrrr!!
Here, the Tour de Vaubun ( (Vo boon – short vowel sound on
the boon ) the Tower mentioned earlier) is being renovated to its former glory.
Lovely to see. This is a REAL tower with moat and drawbridge!
Having thoroughly investigated this peninsula and the
buildings on it, it was time to move onwards. We had to be at our AirBnb by
6pm. This makes for a long day when we would really like to be there by 4pm and
settled in for a cuppa and a feet up, as it were. Travelling is very tiring,
especially when you are taking in so much new information. Driving isn’t the
problem as traffic in these areas is especially light, now that the Silly
Season is over!
We had to be at Plougastel Daoula at the Airbnb, at 6pm. The
only address we had was the name of the Manor and the town. No street address,
and having no internet, we couldn’t access any further address or instructions.
We stopped and asked various people in this pretty town if they knew the Host,
and /or where his Manor might be. Some thought they knew, but most didn’t.
Eventually we got him on the phone and he gave explicit instructions to a
landscaper who stopped to help us, and who eventually led us to the address,
with us following his truck in our car. We were exceptional grateful for his
patience and his good humor over the whole incident. We were tired, hungry and
not of such great humor. Why did the owner not have
his explicit address on the booking page? Everyone else did! Our GPS couldn’t
find the small amount of information he had on the page, of course. He was
pretty non-plussed as to all our trouble and said that in the 13 yrs he had
been a Chambre D’Hote owner, he hadn’t had any other problems with finding the location.
Hmmm…Don’t know how, but it really wasn’t easy to find, even with the
directions.
He was/is a thoroughly nice fellow, and very patient with my
French Language which I attempted to speak almost exclusively, and especially
in the morning where our fellow guests were French, and they also were very
gracious in helping me with my vocab and in our fun and informative discussion.
They were from Orleans (or lay ong), and were either biking or hiking local
trails, for the day. We find the French love doing both! They appear (in
Brittany, anyway) to be very outdoorsy.
In the meantime, we needed some dinner, and though we seemed
to have eaten plenty during the day, we were starving by now (7.30pm) and
needed to find food. The place we thought we might find something, was indeed
Mondayized…CLOSED. We had been advised to go to a Creperie in Faou (far oo)
about 20 minutes away and on the water.
The garden at the AirBnb was inviting, but it was a bit too cool to sit outside, this evening.
The distant view of the sea from the outside. A slightly better view was to be had from inside the room.
The creperie (red Door) in Faou (Fa oo) at dusk. We will know better next time, on a Monday, to take our own food to eat. Mondays are not good days to find lunch or dinner, anywhere in France, unless you want to go to a Restaurant, which we don't always desire.
We found the Creperie and sat down. This is Brittany, so of
course there was a Cider bowl on the table. EVERYONE drinks cider here, except
us. They treated us as if we were English tourists, which is to say, not very
well. Service was slow…there being (as there often is) only two waitresses, and
this being Monday, there were plenty of French families there for dinner. One
little girl at a nearby table was coughing (hacking, more like it) into her
hands and of course then touching everything. Our waitress was also sniffing
and sneezing, and we were inclined to head on out of there in a hurry, but for
our hunger pains. Thank goodness we didn’t end up with the prevailing lurgies!
We chose a Galette each and left ASAP, afterwards.
After a shower and general clean -up we were in bed early.
We came down to breakfast dead on the dot of 8am, as instructed,
and were sitting down and eating when our French neighbors appeared. We all ate
while engaging in convivial conversation, and departed wishing all a
bonjournee, (bong zhor nay) or g'ood day'.
We were grateful for the translating skills of our host, who
claimed that his English language wasn’t that good, but he did exceptionally
well, and I needed quite a few interventions to make myself understood to the
French who spoke no English at all…thank goodness!:) This is why we are here
and what we love so much about this country. We have had wonderful hosts who
are VERY patient with me. In the meantime, I’m learning heaps, not just
language, but about the different regions and their people.
With Brest on our agenda today, we set forth about 10am,
having cleaned up our room and facilities, and enjoyed finding our way around
this large city that is still recovering from the second World War. Fortunately
there is an old Chateau that is still in active use by the Military, on a
promontory, per usual, and the fortification is still in evidence around the
port city. We found it a more modern place with a HUGE and very austere
Cathedral. It was something to behold, in the middle of downtown. We loved
watching the modern Tram system in action, and even found an American style
brand of coffee shop which charged through the nose, but it was the only place
that we recognized as somewhere to get a somewhat recharging Coffee. Anyone
would think we just go around looking for coffee!! Not so! We usually only have
one per day.
We parked, per usual, in a place we could easily find again, and this is often near a church. Obvious, that one!
This is the Cathedral in the middle of downtown Brest. Being a relatively 'new' old city, after WW11, the architecture is modern, with very little being older than 100 yrs, in plain sight. A very austere building inside and out, as you will see. It felt COLD in all ways. Perhaps that was deliberate?
Inside is not too conducive to getting settled, as you can see.
Modern Glasswork with an ancient twist, or the other way around?
The Baptismal font in an ancillary chapel which was much friendlier feeling.
A tour or Tower on the opposite side of the river, set amongst the modern apartment blocks overlooking the ancient castle
Waz counted 18 Military Tugs, in this fleet. We watched military boats coming and going, for quite some time, before moving on to visit the Chateau and the Port de Plaisance on the other side of the river.
The Chateau is in active Military service. We could have taken a tour, but didn't feel we wanted to be inside on this cool day, preferring to venture further around the ports to some lovely gardens we spied.
The Port de Plaisance with a long seawall out into the Atlantic. This is a major port for Military Boats/ships, trade and pleasure craft.
Everywhere, reminders of war, no matter how ancient!
This is only one side of this sculpture and memorial to those who have died at sea, in peace and war.
With the Chateau in the background, this looks back through the lovely garden we spied, towards the open ocean.
We are high on the Ramparts of this fortified city. Yes, there are still the ramparts intact! This is overlooking the Port de Pecheurs (fishing) and the Port of trade
We marvel at how Mother Nature finds a way to make us smile in even the most sever of circumstances. These daisies are like weeds, but they are happy weeds. I once read that we call things WEEDs, only because they are not something we WANT is our gardens. I like that.
Looking over the ancient Ramparts of the city of Brest, to the road below, which is a regular highway. Lovely apartments line the garden to the right.
You can just see the obelisk that is the American Memorial to those US and French servicemen who died in various maritime conflicts in the European arena.
Looking back towards the Chateau, again.
Of course it is the largest memorial we have seen to date, and being American, that is somehow appropriate, lol.
We had another Airbnb to find, at the end of this day, at
another seaside town called Plouginvelin (ploo garn ve larng), and decided,
late afternoon, to go and find it, about 25 miles out of the city of Brest. I
had chosen a small town on the coast, for this evening. The price was right,
but again, the GPS had trouble finding the place. One of the reasons for this
was that it was an apartment over the garage of a normal house.
Interesting…until the host led us up a ‘ladder’ type of stairway (it was that
steep!) into a small slope sided apartment with a bed and a desk, along with a
small (being the operative) kitchen. The bathroom was huge by comparison, with
what they call here an Italian Shower. This is a shower that one just walks
into, vs climbing over the side of a bathtub or other base. Usually tiled, they
are very easy to keep clean, generally and give much more space in which to
bathe. We like them. However, when we had a shower, before bed, the drain was
blocked and we had a major flood. One couldn’t tell that the water was washing
all over the rest of the floor! Ack! We used all available towels to mop up,
wring out and mop again, finally hanging the very wet towels up where we could,
and going to bed. We made sure to tell the Host’s Husband, when we returned the
key the next morning. He agreed that this problem happens, and just shrugged it
off. I didn’t give them a good write-up, I’m afraid. Be careful! Less expensive
is often what you get in all ways!’
Evidence of the flood...all available towels on the floor!
Fortunately we had brought enough food with us so that we didn’t
have to go out for dinner, that night, and our breakfast was a croissant and
pain chocolat. We were able to make a coffee out of a jar, and were happy to
leave there. It was nice enough, but would have benefitted from a casual chair
or two to sit on apart from just the bed!
Moving right along….
I forgot to tell you about our discovery, as we were a
little early, on this Tuesday afternoon. We visited a Biscuiterie, which is a
Breton Biscuit factory shop. Here they produce the Sables (Sar blays. Sable (sar
bler) means Sand, in French) which they then cover in all kinds of chocolate,
on one side, or flavor them with natural flavors, such as Strawberry, Pistachio
etc, nuts, dried orange peel, and lots of other goodies. Very yummy, and made
with LOTS of good Breton butter! We were looking for some Hostess gifts, and
found plenty. Good job!
Some of the regional goodies on offer.
And then we saw another sign that eventually led us to
Pointe St Mathieu, where we found not just a Light house (relatively modern)
but a really HISTORIC Light House AND the ruins of a Cathedral AND a really old
church, all in one place! Oh Happy Day!
The 'new' light house on the left, and the OLD Cathedral St Matthieu on the right....well, what is left of it.
The gorgeous rocky coastline, looking across the channel
This shows all the buildings to great advantage, from around the coast, where we decided to go tiki-touring on foot.
You could just imagine this coastline of a wild and windy day....we will leave the cold part out, at this stage!
The Cathedral would have been lovely, but who in heck thinks to build them in such inhospitable places?
The cool was coming in on what had been a lovely day, so
far, and we walked around the coast a bit, marveling at the amazing rocks
(huge) and the calm Atlantic Ocean, the number of Light Houses out in the
Channel with apparently sees in excess of half a million ships each year. Think
about that number!
By now it was 5.30-ish and we needed to back-track and go to
our apartment. We love the unexpected and it was a fabulous end to a long but
informative day. The apartment was clean and tidy, apart from anything else,
which is always a bonus. Our hostess was thoughtful and kind, and though the
apartment ultimately came up short, it wasn’t a deal breaker, thankfully, as we
don’t know where else we might have gone at such short notice.
Onwards tomorrow.
We had wanted to see as much of the far west coast of France
and Europe as possible. This meant finding the western-most town in the whole
of Europe, Le Conquet (con kay). On a wet and cold/grey morning, we found this
little seaside town protected by a sea wall from the Atlantic Ocean, which felt
very immediate. Not sure we would want to be there in winter, put it that way.
Fishing boats in the inner harbor, but nothing large, which made us wonder how
all these little fishing boats survive on the Atlantic.
We travelled along the coast line, visiting more small
seaside towns…see the maps close-up. All were significant for the number of
SMALL fishing boats sitting inside protective harbors, small islands off the
coast, and the grey day didn’t help the general feeling of this being a
depressed and somewhat depressing place. Amazing rock formations, however.
We had also noted changes in the Architecture of the region.
Steeper roofs, many with colorful tiles and slates in interesting patterns.
Le Conquet, the western most town in the whole of Europe and therefore, Brittany.
Hauling the catch.
We were somewhere here!
Hydrangeas or Hortensias, as they are known in France.
Marvelous rock formations!
Just slightly large!
yes, those are all light houses!
Low tide!
SO many rocks, and it rather blew our minds how many yachts were perched on them at low tide.
Finding some of these rocky shorelines with the tide out was
wonderful, however, especially on the North coast, which is, in strict terms,
La Manche, or the English Channel. It is still the Atlantic by any other name.
For lunch that day, we walked into a Patisserie/Boulanger
opposite a small bay, and bought an Americain Sandwich…well, I did, Waz had a
Pizza stick which they heated for him. We stood against the seawall and ate,
looking out past the rocks to the ocean beyond.
We found ourselves in the Breton Vegetable Basket, as it is
called, with fields of broccoli, leeks, cabbage and Artichokes, both green and
purple. What glorious sights! This was on the way to our next night’s Airbnb in
the small town of St Pol de leon, which is pronounced as it looks, except the
Leon is Lay on.
Artichokes.
What a fabulous little town with an incredible Cathedral at
its center. Well, two, actually!
We parked in the parking lot outside this church, in St Pol de Leon. We were rather amused to see lots of those maroon colored Caster Beans, from which the poison Serin gas is made!
Lovely gardens everywhere, per usual
We parked in the mid-town parking lot beside the second
cathedral, and decided to walk to our apartment, and check out the parking
situation. It didn’t look good during working hours, but once the town emptied
out, we should be able to park right outside. Again, we had to meet our host at
6pm at the Apartment. Katy spoke no English, but we managed to communicate
sufficiently to find out that we wouldn’t be able to wash clothes as she was
getting the plumber in to fix the washer, the following day while we were out.
Good to know, especially as we really needed to do some laundryJ .It would have to
wait.
We had been right about the parking issue, and after doing
some jiggery pokery, like going down a one way street the wrong way to get it,
I managed to secure our space right outside the apartment, which, by the way,
was on the 3rd floor, up a very old spiral staircase.
We had multiple bags…shopping bags of the French supermarket
kind (not flimsy!), to be exact, as that is all we had gone away with. We find
it works best, as we also have very heavy computer back packs. Glad we didn’t
have our normal airline bags to lug up those stairs.
The Apartment was modern and lovely and perfect for our
purposes for the next day, and I had booked it for two nights. Pricey, but
right in the middle of town (one block) and our host recommended a restaurant another
block away which served us the perfect meal, to set off a long and busy day.
Waz ordered a Hamburger and Frites which was beautifully presented on a slate
slab, and I had a smoked salmon salad thing, which was delightful and worked
its magic on me. I was dying for a salad. The French, we have found, don’t eat
as many vegetables as we do normally.
Nothing to complain about in THIS apartment, fortunately,
and we slept like logs.
We are always interested to see what can be seen outside of our apartments. This is the view up the street towards the middle of town. You can see the twin spires of the cathedral just to right of center. It is a one way street, and not going OUR way, so as there was little traffic, I did break the law going the wrong way, all in the interests of securing a parking spot, though:)
Looking left down the street
And the chimney pots complete with the requisite pigeon and Satelite dish!
The inside was efficient, inviting and clean and tidy. Just how we like it.
Even if it was on the 3rd floor with no elevator.
These old wooden stairs are inside a tower, as you can see.
The original tile floors are typical of northern Brittany.
The next day was exploratory and we set forth to the Port
town of Roscoff, the Ferry terminal to Plymouth, Portsmouth in England and
Cork, in Ireland. Roscoff is about 10 kms from St Pol de Leon, going north.
Finding a Boulanger, we bought a croissant each and made our way to the port to
sit in a pub with our Grand Crème with hot milk and collect ourselves over our
very French breakfast. Delightful! A cool day but the sun was out, which
invited us to walk, walk and walk some more. Lots to see and do in this little
town. First up was checking out the long piers going out into the bay. Watching
the Ferry from Ile de Batz coming into port was fun. Ile de Batz is something
of a Vacation spot with its lovely climate (just 15 mins by boat, off the
coast), its exotic gardens, churches and beautiful beaches.
The general area of exploration. I hope you can see some of the names.
We sat inside and drank our morning Grand Crème and ate our croissants before venturing forth, in Roscoff. The name opposite is in Gaelic.
Towards the end of the pier at Roscoff.
Quaint and built of grey granite.
Here comes the car ferry from Ile de Batz
Walls built to keep the sea out!
The car ferry a little closer. We watched them unloading and reloading a short while later.
The Roscoff Light House...well, one of them, and the one on land and in the Port. The others are scattered amongst the gazillions of rocks, out there.
The homes are typical of the region and for the weather, which is very unforgiving.
There was a cat sitting and soaking up the sun, on the dock,
and it appeared to be very friendly, as evidenced by the way it twined itself
between our legs. We enjoyed the contact, and then moved on. Our host had
recommended a restaurant that we HAD to visit, and we went looking, not having
to go too far to find it. There we met a couple who had come across from
Plymouth for the day. We didn’t look at the menu, as it turned out, and moved
on, walking the back streets before deciding to find other places around the
coast, to visit.
Carantec proved to Market Day, where we bought a chocolate
crepe for me and a Caramel for him from one of the vendors, before walking the
market, wondering at all the fabulous produce. The market had literally taken
over the whole town! Not satisfied with the crepe, we found a Boulanger for our
now standard lunch, and Americain Sandwich. He always has chicken and I
inevitably have ham. These mostly cost less than 3.5euros, and are an excellent
and inexpensive meal.
We delighted in this northern coastline, but didn’t like the
idea that it rained all winter. Im sure it was fabulous in summer, however.
Lots of homes shut up for the season, now that the cold has set in.
As usual, we got lost, and enjoyed finding our way out
again. We see the best sights this way.
Some of the beaches and bays were amazing, and it was lovely
to sit and watch families enjoying the sun and the water, cold though it was.
The odd hardy swimmer came out of the water, claiming it was just fine, thanksJ
Our drive took us down as far as Morlaix, a major city in
the area at the bottom of bay, and up the other side, as we had originally
intended. We could have driven along the coast all day, but it was getting
late, and we were tired. Not much was open, now that tourist season was over,
and we struggled to find a cup of coffee anywhere. We took the main road back
to Morlaix, and from there, there was only one way, and it was not a highway.
No matter, we got home in time for coffee. We didn’t do so well with our second
meal out, choosing Pizza instead of a repeat performance, which, in retrospect,
would have been much nicer. The pizza was horrid, but we ate it, being hungry,
and went home cold and dissatisfied.
A good night’s sleep and we were off again at 9am, bound for
home. It would be a long day of travel, and I think we were ready to get there.
Adventures to be had in between time though.
If you are still with me, congratulations. Five days into
one blog post is a lot! Thanks!
We weren’t too sure which way we wanted to get home, but decided
somewhere along the route to give Callac (call ack) a go. We had read so many
Real Estate adverts for homes with low prices, in this area, and decided to see
why. A hillside town in a pretty Natural Parc, Callac isn’t somewhere you would
choose to go, as a tourist. There just isn’t too much around to go and visit.
We stopped for the obligatory Grand Crème, in a corner café, having sent some
mail from the post office down the road, and got a feel for the place. A few
English people live here, but it didn’t look too lively first thing in the
morning. We were an hour and half out of St Pol de Leon, going south east.
Getting back in the car and finding the road out of town, we
glanced left, to discover a house we had seen advertised in the internet. WOW!
A little curb hopping later, we had parked and now, armed
with our cameras, were casing the place. Black granite stones on the front of
the four story home with the prettiest of gardens out front, and as we went
around the walled garden at the rear we saw someone with paintbrush in hand,
painting the kitchen window. Of course I yelled out “Helloooo!”. She stopped
and came outside to greet us, from around the front. She very graciously
invited us inside the lovely home she and her American husband had finished
over the past 8 years. It isn’t that she wants to sell, but with her husband
called out of retirement and working all over the world, the 8 bedroom 4
bathroom home is now too large for one person. She wants to stay in the town,
but in an apartment.
The home and garden have everything we could wish for except
the price. It is about 75,000 euros over our budget, which of course is telling
us something! You think??
We enjoyed a long chat and said we would be in touch, should
things change for us. We have since heard from her, and we are going to spend a
few days back there as her guest. How wonderful is that! Better still, she and
her husband own a second home just down the coast from us in Florida, and they
will both be there for Christmas. I see some more entertaining coming on!
Moving back towards home, we revisited Pontivy, making sure
to park, walk and find the homes we had spied on the way out of town, on our
way north. They weren’t quite what we had in mind, and beside that, we now had
a new benchmark in the house in Callac. Oh dear!
Arriving home, we had work to do with some American guest
that were staying at the Chateau. We had left them to it, for the week we were
away, with them texting us to see where the cork screw was…which I guess is a
good thing! If that is all that they couldn’t find.
We had moved back into our old apartment in the Manoir while
they occupied the Chateau, and they were leaving in three days time.
Plenty more to write about, but for now, it is almost 11pm,
and I have been writing for the past 4 hours. No internet right now, so this is
a word file, which gives me the leisure of doing it whenever I feel I can.
Night night, and I hope you have enjoyed our journey up
north.
