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Published: April 25th 2014
Tuesday, 22nd April 2014 After a quiet morning where we did some washing and housekeeping we set off to St-JeanTroliman, a little village about 12kms from here where the restaurant Vent de l'Quest is. This was recommended by Mariette who knows the owner, Claude. It is in a large hall, with tables, a bar and a band area for social occasions.
This restaurant is only open for lunches, and caters for the local workers. It has a buffet set up for entrees and desserts, with a choice of main courses as set out on a blackboard. We introduced ourselves to Claude who then explained what was on the menu. The choices were a squid and rice dish, a local sausage with chips, and steak and chips. The ladies had the first dish, Rags the second, Mark settling for the steak. Very tasty, although the sausage was not to everyone's taste. Was a little like sausage filled with offal, Rags eating it all but he would not choose it again.
Claude offered an extra for dessert, Peach Melba, a caramel icecream with fruit and a cream topping. Elna & Rags jumped at this, both
enjoying it very much. Meringue with custard and chocolate slice with custard were the other two choices.
By the time we had finished we had all eaten more than enough, in fact we expect to eat little at home this evening. All of the above, plus an included bottle of wine, a bottle of water and a coffee to finish had the bill at 11 euros each! We will certainly be coming back to this place again, joining the large group of locals.
The Carrefour Market in the nearby village of Plomeur was the next stop. Here the four of us prowled amongst the aisles buying the few things we had on the shopping list, plus a quite few extras. In fact, we ended up with 3 full baskets of supplies such a as meat, bread, fruit and vegetables, and of course wine. Judy also bought a small portable hairdryer, the ladies finding it a little cold to go out with wet hair. As it has dual voltage we should be able to use it at home also.
On returning to the house we unpacked and Mark & Helena got stuck into work. As Judy had done
a lot this morning she was free for a while, because of the time difference most of her students were fast asleep. Instead, we went for a walk along the beach. The tide was out and in the distance we saw land yachts racing up and down on the hard sand. On reaching them we marvelled at the speeds they were travelling at, both of us willing to have a try at this if we get a chance in the future.
The rest of the afternoon was spent as we usually do until at about 1930 Mark & Helena decided to go for their walk. The weather had cleared, this morning it was dull and windy, now it was still with not a cloud in the sky. What we still have to get used to is that the sun is still shining brightly and even then it was about where our sun would be at about 1600. At about 14 degrees C though, it was still rather cool and we were glad for the fire we had lit just a short time ago.
Wednesday, 23rd April 2014 All plans for the day were
put on hold as the rain set in early this morning. As it was, we had a late start, (0900), and by the time everyone had their showers, breakfast etc it was well into the day.
The decision was made that we'd see how the weather turned out, past afternoons being much better than the morning preceding them.
Rags rang his mother using Skype, this being a clear, successful call, but an attempt to use Facetime to his daughter didn't succeed. This did work later and a short conversation was had.
After lunch the weather cleared so we decided to go to the town of Le Guilvinec, a fishing town about 20kms away. We found this to be a compact town centred on the port. After a short walk through the main street of town, where Judy found an interesting pair of earrings she 'had' to have, we made our way to the wharf to watch the unloading of a fishing boat. This boat was unloading a mixture of fish and crustaceans, all caught in the trawling net.
The Haliotika market is a fish market set up by the Chamber of Commerce and handles the sale
Unloading the boats at Le Guilvinec
Le Guilvinec is one of the leading fishing ports in France.of all catches. The catch is auctioned off at up to 3 auctions a day, the buyers being wholesalers, restaurant owners, fishmongers and supermarkets. The public is not authorised to buy.
All fish is sold electronically, by the “Dutch Auction” method. This is where each lot is put up for sale at a certain price, the price dropping until someone buys it. There is a minimum price set each year for each species, nothing sells below this. If passed in, the fish may be given to charity, animal food or fish food.
There are electronic boards on which you can see what fish, the quantity, the price, and eventually who bought it at the final price shown. Everything goes very quickly, lots selling and they on to the next one. As the lot is sold, a ticket showing the buyer is placed on it, the boxes are pulled to one side, and when there are enough, men shift them by front-end loaders to the respective buyer's coolroom.
At the market outlet products were for sale to the public, but on checking we found them to be more expensive than the supermarket prices. When we returned to the
town centre Judy & Elna went to a fishmonger and bought fillets of whiting and Haddock, plus a jar of fish soup at a much better price. The lady serving them was much friendlier and assisted them in making their choices.
A delicious local white wine, compliments of Marriete and Christophe, was enjoyed whilst we prepared our fish which was accompanied by fried potato, tomato and cabbage. A great meal, enjoyed by all, finished with a coffee.
The now compulsory games of Rumikub followed, after which we all went our own way with our normal chores. As it doesn't get dark until nearly 2200, we are tending to have late meals and going to sleep around midnight.
Thursday 24th April 2014
Nothing much was done this morning as it was raining lightly, almost constantly. Rags did Facetime his daughter Julie for her birthday, and had a few words with the grandkids. Technology is wonderful.
After lunch the sun came out so we decided to drive to St Guenole, a town on the coast just south of Pointe de la Torche. This bit of coast was very rocky, with cliffs in
some sections. warning signs were everywhere warning of the dangers. Our walk started at one end, where we left the car, and we walked along enjoying the rugged coast and admiring some of the old homes that faced the ocean.
As Judy and Elna wanted to keep walking along the coast, Mark and Rags returned to pick up the car and meet them further along. This eventuated, Judy easy to pick out in her new lime green jacket, and we strolled along toward the port where the path ended before we turned back again toward the car. Next stop was the centre of the town of St Pierre where we looked at a few displays in a warehouse before ending up in one of 'those' shops. As it was, Rags was the one to purchase something, a corduroy cap. It wasn't exactly what he was looking for but the look is growing on him and it does keep the sun off the bald spots and keep his head warm!
Phare de'Eckmuhl, the lighthouse at the point was the highlight of the day. For a paltry 2.5 Euros you had the privilege of climbing 307 steps up a spiral
staircase to the ledge just under the lights. Rags just gasped as he looked out over the town which looked almost unreal in the late afternoon light. It is set out very neatly, all the roofs of the houses were grey slate, nearly all the uniform white, with just a couple of cream and yellow houses standing out. We spent some time up there taking in the scenery, so pleased to have experienced it. This was our last stop, before heading home via the supermarket. So it was after 1900 before we arrived home.
Rags had the job of cooking dinner tonight as he had offered to make a stirfry using some of the pork we'd bought. This was followed by chocolate coated icecreams and meringues with coffee!
More Rummikub but some prefer to forget- not Judy- who scored the hat trick!
Friday, 25th April 2014 After our usual sleep in Rags packed up some bread, cheese, sausage and pate for lunch along with a few other goodies while those who had to check work related things did so and Elna put a load of wash
in which was hung out before we left.
Our destination today was the huge bridge near Benedot, here we had spied a walk through the forest which appealed to us. We took off at a brisk pace enjoying the views back over the bridge and towards the mouth of the inlet where many boats were moored.
Before we knew it we found ourself in the delightful port town of Saint Marine which hugs the tip of the peninsula. We found some adorable cafes on the marina but we had brought our thermoses of coffee so we wandered on until we found some seats. Here we sat, chatted and generally enjoyed the scenery while drinking our coffee AND eating the tasty little meringues the boys had found at the supermarket. They have found kindred sweet tooths so hunt out the chocolate and other sweets together.
We strolled along the narrow path that edged the coast, a couple of times having to ignore the barriers warning of falling. It seemed quite safe, although one part had fallen away and needed fixing. Around every corner we found something different apart from the delightful views of Benedot on the opposite bank.
There were many stately homes built years ago by the well to do, many of which also had expansive gardens full of flowers. As it is spring there were flowers everywhere and Judy decided to try to photograph them all or it seemed like it!
Around one corner we found a sailing school, around the next a light house built in 1885 and then a fort. This housed an expo of paintings but wouldn't open until 2.30 so we decided to move on and have some lunch before returning. Not far away, right on the point we found a couple of picnic tables in the sunshine - just perfect for our spread of food. We are eating well and loving the cheeses, meat smallgoods and pates. Not to mention the chocolate and sweet apples to complete the repast.
Back to the painting expo in the fort which was built by Napoleon 3rd in 1862 as a defensive post. It was interesting to see inside the fort, now modernised for its contemporary use as an exhibition hall for paintings. Elna remarked that the expo appeared to be of high school type paintings. Walking back to town we found a
few other art galleries which contained much more sophisticated pieces.
As always, the walk back to the car was much quicker and before we knew it we were once again in the car and on the way back to Plovan which we reached before 4.30pm.
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Sharyn and Neil
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Trip
Lucky people. It all looks amazing. You are doing some fabulous stuff. Thank you for sharing it with us.xx