To the end of the world - Rainy Brittany- 7
To the end of the world
When we want to leave the hotel next morning, it's raining cats and dogs again. So we stay at the reception for a while, but there's no point in waiting. Eventually we leave, dragging our suitcases behind us, crossing the little river, two streets and then up the hill. Freya grumbles to herself. Good mood looks different.
But never mind. We warm up the seats in the car and drive to the graffiti, which we didn't feel like doing yesterday. Then to Leclerc's. With cheese, sausage, baguette and wine the basics are covered.
We drive to beaches and lighthouses. Freya doesn't even get out of the car. It's so disgusting. Then it's time for lunch. Freya wants to eat at least something good because of the shitty weather.
In Brignogan Plage we find something that exceeds our expectations. There's a restaurant right at the beach. It's called "La Corniche" and is crowded. But there's still room for us. Freya chooses mussels Breton style with cream and bacon. Jürgen eats fish. It's warm and dry here and the food is delicious. The highlight of the day.
As we leave the restaurant, the rain has stopped and we take a walk along the beach and the dunes. Lots of rabbit holes, lots of wind. When it starts to drizzle, we leave and at the next beach it's so wet that Freya stays in the car again.
Now we turn south in the direction of Brest and then west in the direction of the most western points of the French mainland. Before we reach Le Conquet, where we'll spend the next nights, we have another lighthouse on our list.
Phare du Petit Minou [↗] is located high on a cliff. We park on the official parking lot and walk the rest of the way. In the meantime it has stopped raining, but it's so cold and windy that Freya wears ear muffs.
Now the only thing left to do is to get to our place for the night. This time our choice is a private accommodation.
Well, we had imagined it a bit different. We have to go up the stairs through the landlady's hallway into the former children's room. The bed is not very wide. The wifi doesn't work either, although our landlady shows up with a handwritten note and a multi-word password.
She is really nice and even makes us hot tea. Something we gladly accept after this day. Freya can finally make good use of her French. Our landlady speaks neither English nor German.
The next morning starts with a small breakfast and beautiful weather. Since the light is so beautiful, we change our program a bit and drive to Phare de Kermorvan [↗] first. We are early enough to be alone at the lighthouse. But when we get back to the car we already see the first locals walking their dogs or riding their bikes. No wonder on a sunny Sunday morning.
Our next destination is a little further away. We bypass Brest and drive through the Crozon peninsula to Camaret-sur-Mer [↗]. This is a nice village with a marina mainly for private yachts. They also have a shipyard there, although it's not clear if they're still in business. But what they do have are some old ship wrecks sitting at the pier.
We find a parking lot at the pier and walk to the ships and the small church, which is dedicated to the seafarers and decorated with model ships.
Conveniently, it is early lunch time and the restaurants are lined up along the promenade. We find one we like and take a seat on the terrace.
Just after us, a couple arrives with a large, somewhat older dog. They tell him to make himself small under their table, but he doesn't want to. He wants to make himself even bigger.
So he lies in the aisle, looking almost like the bearskin in Dinner for One. Everybody has to climb over him or go another way. And he looks around so cute. You have to like him.
After lunch we want to go back to Brest. With a little detour, because the gas station our Navsat shows is no longer there, we reach Plougastel-Daoulas [↗], still south of Brest. Here they have another famous Calvary and we agree that this one looks even better than the ones we visited yesterday. Unfortunately, the church is closed.
The weather is still nice and the last item on our agenda is the lighthouse and chapel of Saint-Mathieu [↗], just a few kilometers from Le Conquet. In fact, it's so close that Jürgen had planned to hike there at sunrise or sunset. But since it's Sunday afternoon, it's so crowded that we don't even get a parking space. With so many people around, it doesn't make sense to try to take pictures anyway.
So we park the car at our accommodation and walk into town. We walk along the cliffs and the harbor into the old town where we find a small pub where we get cider but no food. We can't find a restaurant either. No problem, because lunch was plentiful. Our landlady has made us another cup of tea. There are also cookies and so we relax at the end of the day.
