Continuing through the fishing port of La Turballe we reached
Piriac-s-Mer and an overnight stop by a sandy beach and low cliffs at
the small aire at Parking de Brambel.
The next morning was wet as we continued around the coast towards
Sarzeau and on to St Gildas-de-Rhuys, a small resort with sandy beaches
and rocky coves, where we caught up with the sunshine. There was a small
camping-car parking area to the west of the town with signs in English:
"This is not a campsite - no exterior materials allowed", but as there
were picnic tables, we risked getting our chairs out! We enjoyed a
couple of clifftop walks from here into the main town where we came across a very tall bicycle but didn't see any giants!
a tall bicycle
The
next morning we
stopped at Sarzeau for their Art en la Rue event, with many stalls
selling paintings, ceramics and crafts. We decided to head further west
and joined
the main road to bypass Vannes and Lorient, before turning off to Le
Pouldu, another small resort with motorhome parking, free in low season,
by a large sandy beach and more pleasant cliff walking. From the size of
the car parks and the large closed campsites these beaches must be
very different in the high season.
Evening near Le Pouldu
Another
wet morning followed as we drove along to Pont-Aven, an artists' town
with many expensive galleries but no customers. We walked around the
few gift shops that were open then continued along the main road to
Concarneau and pulled into Camping les Sables Blanc, to the west of
the town. Luckily the weather improved so we were able to walk along
the seafront to the impressive old town on its fortified island. We
ignored the tacky gift shops and restaurants but were tempted by the
icecream parlour with an inviting display of many flavours.
Concarneau
Heading
west we drove into the small fishing port of Loctudy, and came across an
aire but no borne at Les Sables Blanc, a massive empty beach backed by
dunes and empty campsites, where an old caravan was being broken up - a
sad end, we thought, to what must have been an enjoyable holiday home
for families in the past. After a brisk walk along the
empty beach
we drove on through small villages to Penmarch, where
there are three phares (lighthouses) with the Germanic name of Eckmühl.
Unfortunately the largest one and the museum was closed on Tuesdays so
we headed up the coast to the extremely windy Pointe de la Torche, where
we watched the kite- and wind-surfers. Nearby was the ancient
weatherworn Calvary at Nôtre Dame de Tronoën, the first of many we
were to come across in Brittany.
We
continued north to Pont Croix then turned west to the aire at Cléden
Cap-Sizun, peaceful by the cemetery until the school buses parked there
started up at 6.30 in the morning. From there it was a short drive to
the headland of the Pointe du Van, where other motorhomes had stayed
overnight and then past a couple of restored windmills and the Baie des
Trépassés, to Plogoff (and Plogon on the roadsigns), and the Pointe du Raz, the most westerly place in
France. Once past the exhibition and gift shops, a bit smarter than our
Land's End, it was a short level walk through a carpet of wild flowers,
to the lighthouse and cliffs to look at the strong tidal races around
the rocks and the very flat Île de Sein on the horizon.
wild flowers at Pointe du Raz
From there we drove back to Plogoff and across the headland to the
Reserve du Cap Sizun, on the cliffs near Goulien, where we saw only
kittiwakes and crows. Did our word capsize come from here we wondered?
(from online dictionaries -
capsize: origin uncertain 1780-90)