E15: Roscoff 1st Oct 2015

Roscoff marks the end of our Brittany adventure.  The 16th century harbour town is full of granite merchant housing and of course plenty of boats in its very photogenic harbour….

Roscoff is synonymous with the striped top beret wearing ‘Onion Johnies’ who use to load their boats with plaited strings of locally grown pink onions, cross the channel and don their bikes to pedal (literally) their wares in the UK.  Also famous in Roscoff is this 16th century Gothic style church which has a double gallery belfry with two levels of bells, considered to be the prototype for many subsequent churches in the region….

Inside, the roof is classic ‘inverted hull’ adorned with these interesting beams (note the mythical creatures head at each end) and ornate painting and carvings...

The figurines appear more akin to ships figureheads….

 

Lastly………… (apologies in advance)……………… ‘Le French Foon’! haha

E14: Plouescat to Roscoff 29/30th Sept

Plouescat is on the Granite coast of North Brittany and continues the theme of shallow sandy bays and estuaries strewn with rocky outcrops and islands many of which are only revealed at low water.  Our night stop was again wonderfully scenic and remote….

A view of the sandy spit that straddles the estuary mouth….

Wildlife is abundant….

These little birds took refuge on one of the exposed rocks….

Having circumnavigated the Brittany coastline it is clearly noticeable that there are close similarities with Cornwall (and the Outer Hebrides too).  This region is quite different to the rest of France (no vineyards) with similar crop and dairy farming to the UK.  Even the architecture is less definitavely French and sometimes we have sometimes had to remind ourselves that we were in France!

 

Remember in E8 we mentioned Kouign Amann?  Well here they are….

Another taste test was of course necessary!  They are similar in texture to Lardy cake but made with butter instead of lard and without the dried fruit.  Best eaten warm, you can feel the pounds piling on and your arteries clogging with each mouthful !

 

E13: Foraging for fresh French Fruit de Mer

After stopping the night at St Mathieu, we joined the locals on the beach at low tide and harvested some nice fresh moules which we enjoyed later in the day having tried unsuccessfully sea fishing off the pier at Le Conquet.  Encouraged by our initial foraging we decided to return to the previous night stop to be ready for crab hunting the following morning!  As it happens we were also treated to a display by a Pod of passing dolphins and a lunar eclipse of the Super Moon ….

The beach is a popular site with the locals who come to find crabs and moules at low water….

most arrived ‘tooled up’ for the occasion! (we just had a fishing glove, a pair of bent skewers, a plastic bucket and our surf boots!)

However we were successful and caught ten of these Velvet swimming crabs, also known as Devil crabs due to their highly aggressive nature and nasty nip! (which Kate can testify to, despite wearing the armoured glove!)

As they say, ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’…. so after cooking these little critters we chilled them and ate them later for supper with lots of fresh crusty baguette, salted Breton Butter and a couple of glasses of white wine…. ‘yummy’….

 

Spurred on by our recent success  we re-located to St Cava in Lilia to try again the following morning (this time for larger Brown crab)….

 

The tide went out for miles and the made the rocky outcrops and islands accessible at low water where locals were this time shrimping and cockling as well.  We found a few more Velvet crabs and plenty of small brown crabs which were unfortunately below the minimum legal landing size.

Despite our failure we thoroughly enjoyed our beach combing adventures….

 

Todays Fasting Fact:  It was just as well we were on a fasting day……. nothing to eat! (well, nothing fresh from the sea anyway!)

E12: Pointe de St Mathieu 26th Sept 2015

St Mathieu is a headland located near Le Conquet which has been valued throughout history as a strategic naval maritime location.  Positioned on 20 metre high cliffs are the remains of a 17th century Benedictine abbey, a 56 metre high lighthouse and the latest in a series of signal stations (this one built in 1906)….

Just to the North is a cenotaph, commissioned after the WW1, in memory of sailors who died for France….

The stella, representing a sailors wife, was designed by René Quillivic and placed here in 1927

The position of this memorial is poignant and quite relevant as it provides an excellent look out over the infamous Chenal du Four and the sea entrance to Brest, an area in which many vessels have been dashed on this coastline over the centuries

In fact, the village which developed behind these ruins was partially funded by salvaging ship wrecks!

 

To finish off a lovely late summer day we parked up for the night on this spot overlooking the Pointe de St Mathieu with an un restricted view out to sea and the setting sun….

 

Todays Furious Fact:  About 30 minutes after taking this photo a French van turned up and (despite our protestations) parked right in front of us!!

E 11: Presqu'ile de Crozon 26th Sept 2015

On our way out of the Crozon peninsular we decided to cross the river L’Aulne where we anchored just North of the old suspension bridge….

Imagine our surprise to find this stunning new bridge ahead of us instead!!

We stopped at the observation points and discovered via these info boards that it was completed in 2011 as a replacement for the old one (seen clearly in front)….

 

A view from the East side showing the unique curve…. (in 2006 we anchored in the area that can be seen just under the bridge on the right hand side)

 

Then, just a kilometre or so further along the road towards Brest we popped in to this honey farm (and museum).  All the honey is cold extracted and comes from either 600 hives in the local area or 250 hives from Perigueux further to the South.  They produce all sorts of specific honey depending on the flower harvest at the time (e.g., chestnut, lime, pine,ivy) ….

Of course we sampled a few and brought some home with us (did I ever mention I love Honey? Grahame), and also a bottle of Hydromel (Chouchen in Breton) which is a digestif drink made from honey and water, fermented to reach 13.5% vol (it’s sublime) and is drank ice cold…….yum yum

E 10: Presqu'ile de Crozon 25th Sept 2015

From Camaret we cycled out to two of the headlands.  The first was Pointe de Pen Hir, three kilometres south of the village,  a spectacular headland composed of steep and dramatically weathered cliff faces and the site of two WWII memorials, during autumn and winter gales this must feel like the end of the world. 

 There are two war memorials on the Pointe de Pen Hir, this one is the Cross of Pen-Hir, a tribute to the Bretons of Free France

 and this one is the memorial to the Battle of the Atlantic and is located in the bunkers of the Kerbonn Battery

 

The Western tip of the peninsular leads to the Tour du Toulinguet which is a Fort, signal station and lighthouse and this is where we spent a peaceful night stop

 

Todays Frightening Fact:  We were joined overnight my this mighty Mann 4 wheel drive overland motorhome (!) from Germany.  It certainly gave us an inferiority complex (the rear section had an opening roof providing an elevated observation platform, all that was needed was a machine gun!)….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

E9: Presqu'ile de Crozon 24th/ 25th Sept 2015

The fisherman anchor shaped Crozon Peninsula is hailed as one of the most scenic areas in Brittany.  For the last three days we have been exploring its various arms, the heavily eroded cliff faces and coves, the quaint traditional stone buildings and villages and the many and varied memorials often placed on the “Pointes".  

 

Southern territory 

Cap de la Chèvre lies at the tip of the Penisulas' Southern arm.  The area is thick with gorse and heather (still in blossom during our visit) and dotted with glimpse of wind sculptured pine trees.  Criss crossed with walking and biking trails it is easy to lose yourself amongst the heathland.  We took the sometimes precipitous coastal walk around the Cap.

 

On the tip of the Cape is this striking memorial to Naval Airmen

  

We stopped for breakfast at Morgat Harbour.  The town was built in the 1930s as a summer resort by the Peugeot brothers (Car maker!) and still reflects some of its colourful past, the wide safe bathing sandy horseshoe bay is heavily utilised as a sports and recreational resource.

 

Western territory

Located on the tip of the Western arm is Camaret-sur-Mer,  a thriving fishing village until the beginning of the 20th century and at that time the biggest crayfish port in France.  Its fishing past is immediately evident including the vast harbour, streets of stone warehouses now converted into apartments and most notable the clutch of abandoned fishing vessel carcasses in various states of weathered decay.  

The Chapelle Notre Dame de Rocamadour behind the boats, is a typical sailors church with a wooden roof constructed like an inverted boats’ hull and decorated with oars, lifebuoys and model ships.