Visiting Bretagne
I always forget how big France is and thus how varied the landscape is. Which is silly really because England is miniscule and completely diverse. So, in Brittany, instead of provincial lavender fields or towering Alps, much of the landscape, at least where I was, consisted of brilliant granite beaches, oyster cages and artichoke farms. The house we stayed in belonged to my Aunt and her husband and they don’t let it (though they should- it has such a fantastic location) but the village, Aber Wrac’h, gets fairly good tourism due to its water sport potential.
Here’s what we did:
A walk from Aber Wrac’h along the coast towards Kermengui. The scenery was so beautiful, white sand beaches, bright pink flowers, turquoise sea. I’m actually not sure how far exactly we walked to but my Aunt said that Jane Birkin had a house there. So if you know where Jane Birkin’s Bretagne house is then you know where we walked to.
A visit to a reconstructed fishing village called Ménéham. This was not only really interesting in terms of local history but it was literally stunning- I’ve never seen an area like it: grassy flats interrupted with huge boulders that you can climb to look out across the incredible sea view.
Pont du Diable which is a stoney seaweedy bridge crossing the river. Legend has it that a miller made a deal with the devil to build a bridge so he didn’t have to travel up one side and down the other side of the river to sell his wares. The devil agreed on the condition that he could keep the first soul that crossed the bridge. So, when the bridge was complete, the miller sent his cat over ahead of him, tricking the devil into accepting the cat’s soul rather than that of a human.
A walk round a market in a town… but I can’t remember the name. It was a food market though which was brilliant and exciting; I loved seeing the different produce.
Our ferry arrived in and left from Roscoff. We walked around a bit and up to a wee church and back round the streets. It was a nice, pretty town with big buildings built on fishing money and a still successful fishing industry and, an onion museum.
There is a beach that you can walk on at low tide to reach a light house. I fail to remember the name of the light house, but it was a nice walk and again, the scenery was pretty incredible.
Here’s what we ate:
Obviously, lots of delicious butter and croissants but more importantly: a truly incredible meal at a restaurant in Aber Wrac’h called La Vioben. I ate: a garlicly foamy soupy thing with a mollet egg and smoked plaice on tiny toast. A buttery creamy seafood stew. A melty gorgeous chocolate pudding and some local cheeses which were tres bon. Is it just me or does everyone who visits France really and truly love and appreciate the free flowing bread situation at the dinner table?
We had a nice meal at a fish restaurant on Roscoff too but it was nowhere near as good as La Vioben.
Here’s how we got there:
It was a long journey but it involved very little driving. First, we took a train to Plymouth and then walked through the town to the ferry port to board as foot passengers. Should you ever find yourself in a similar spot, there is a nice restaurant on the marina by the port called the Dock Café. We had prawn sandwiches. Then, we travelled by ferry- a 6 hour journey- to Roscoff. There my Aunt picked us up and at the end of the trip, she dropped us off again too. The ferry on the way back travelled over night so we had a cabin. I personally don’t think I slept a single wink the whole night but it was all still pretty exciting. Travelling by ferry is fun! (Once you get past the sea sickness…) There is: shopping, restaurants, a bar, cinemas, you can wander around, there was a quiz and there was a cabaret performance which made the journeys really enjoyable.
Best of all, I got to hang out with just me and my mum for a good few days for the first time in an extremely long time.
Anyone else visited Brittany recently. What did you all get up to? How did you get there? Most importantly; what did you eat?!
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