Blogs from Brittany , France, Europe - page 17

Camaret is the perfect landfall – not too large of a town, but large enough to have all that is needed – nice restaurants, a good grocery store, lots of places to hike and bike, and a couple of buses to take you to nearby towns. But most importantly it looks and feels so different from Spain and Portugal. It is located in Brittany, France and is a semi-autonomous cultural region located in north-west France. It was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Lesser or Little Britain as it is considered one of the 6 Celtic nations. Here you find there is a strong connection to the Celtic heritage. The Briton flag is flown everywhere and is far more common than the French flag. ... read more

Our original plan had been to sail across the Bay of Biscay and arrive southeast of where we are currently located. Unfortunately we had spent so much time waiting for good weather in Spain that we decided we needed to move along if we were ever going to make it to Holland this season. We decided if we could not sail to these areas we would grab a bus and do some overland traveling. Our first trip was to a town called Quimper. Not sure what to expect, we took the approximately one hour bus ride and got off at the top of the town. We arrived there quite early, 8 AM (we found the French are not what one would call morning people) and the town was very quiet. Thinking we’d stop for a coffee ... read more

Nearly forgot about this blog! Our final stop in France was Roscoff from where we took the ferry over to Plymouth. The drive there took a couple of hours and the weather wasn't great so Trish was left worrying about how rough the crossing was going to be. She needn't have worried. As we drove into Roscoff we were surprised by the number of wine and beer supermarkets. These are quite normal in places like Calais with just a short ferry ride back to the UK, but for some reason we didn't expect it to be so in Brittany with much longer voyages. Still, we were already well supplied so instead of looking for bargains we parked up and had a wander around the town. First up was the rocky outcrop above which sits the chapel ... read more

We write this entry from no fixed abode other than train seats 21&22 in Coach 19 of TGV 8612 as we are spirited across the countryside towards Paris. This journey marks the end of our time in Brittany, and brings with it an increasing awareness of the imminent end of our holiday, although we quickly dispel any such thoughts when they arise (yes, call it denial if you will). The massive sense of decompression that we experienced at Quimper in the far west of Brittany has been progressively reversed in each of our east bound staging points that bring us again closer to Paris. Our first stop was Vannes, a town of similar size to Quimper but with a very different feel. While it too had an intriguing old town centre with half-timbered houses tilting at ... read more

ON THE PRINSENDAM TO ST. MALO, FRANCE Seven days on sea from Hamilton, Bermuda to St. Malo, France may seem like a long time, but the activities on board and the companionship of new acquaintances and friends along with well planned activities and entertainment make everything smooth and easy. St. Malo is on the English Channel and dates from the sixth century. It is the home of Jacques Cartier and others. It was also home to many privateers. When we went ashore this morning, everything was fouled up for a while because of the weather, but, after a delay of greater than an hour, transfer to shore on tenders went OK and I got on my scheduled bus. The adventure began. My first stop was Dinan, an amazing village with buildings dating back to the 1500’s. ... read more