Treguier was an interesting place with a well preserved old town, impressive cathedral and some scenic walks. We enjoyed walking around the town and a local stroll to the river, but I’d have to concede that the walk we chose to do using information obtained from the Tourist Office was less successful. The walk itself was fine. It’s just that I hadn't taken into account how far we’d have to walk to the start of it and back from where it finished. It wouldn't have been a problem if they’d built some more bridges across the rivers but, well, they hadn't – and so our 3 mile walk turned into 11 miles! Good for the thighs Jo (and the stomach Rob!).
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| Treguier street |
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| Treguier Cathedral. Note holes in spire |
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| Renan's house to the right of picture |
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| That's Renan above. He had controversial views on Christianity and upset the Catholics... |
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| ... who erected this after being miffed by Renan's statue being put next to their Cathedral! |
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| Treguier's marina |
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| Pouldoran - you can't go any further up river than this! |
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| Lots of the walk was like this. Old cart tracks? |
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| Mud, mud, glorious mud! |
We stayed a day or so longer than intended because of the wind – too strong and from the wrong direction as usual. Then we set off (at dawn obviously) for Trebeurden, just over 30 miles to the west.
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| Le Sept Iles - or some of them - en route to Trebeurden |
I may have mentioned that there are a lot of rocks around here and the approach to Trebeurden is no exception. They’re all well charted though and make for attractive scenery.
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| Is it me, or is that Fred Flintstone's Sunseeker (motor boat) |
Trebeurden has better access than many marinas in this area but we still had to wait an hour or so on one of their buoys before there was sufficient water to enter. We chose to moor at the end of the pontoon nearest to the entrance gate which had its pluses and minuses. On the plus side, we had space all around us and something to watch from the orangery as the boats came and went from the marina. On the minus side, we had the wash from the boats entering and leaving the marina and the roar of the water cresting the sill just prior to the underwater gate opening. This was truly spectacular, waking me from a deep sleep (each night!) and squeezing Cyclone’s fenders hard against the pontoon. After 20 minutes it was all over!
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| Entrance to Trebeurden marina. Spot the turbulence as the water crests the underwater gate |
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| Turbulence by Cyclone. "Tide" reached 2.5 knots! |
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| Whirlpool by Cyclone. Art?!! |
The town of Trebeurden is nothing special but the scenery is really beautiful. We went walking a couple of times using the guides provided by the Tourist Office (with rather more success this time…). We enjoyed a 5 mile megalithe walk – there are lots around these parts, but then there are plenty of big rocks to stand up if you have the inclination. We also strolled (and climbed / scrambled over rocks; Jo wasn't so keen on that bit, especially after falling over and getting her clean jeans grubby!) a fair way along the beaches and up hills for decent views.
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| That's no lady.... (better add, that's my wife!) |
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| Oy! |
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| Lots of uphill. Looking down at the marina in the distance |
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| An ancient relic (the megalithe) |
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| Ancient burial site |
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| One of Trebeurden's many beaches / harbours |
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| More views around Trebeurden... |
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| ... and more... |
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| The marina entrance at low water |
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| Trebeurden marina |
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| Father Trebeurden |
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| Another Trebeurden beach |
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| Snake!! It was massive Ashley..... |
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| And yet another view of Trebeurden |
Feeling it was time to move on again, we left for L'Aber Wrac'h on 24th May (have a guess what time of day it was when we left!)..
Time for a rant, methinks. Just when we've left all the place names with hyphens behind, they've started putting apostrophes in them! Why for heaven’s sake? If there should be a letter there, then put it there. If not, leave it out. How do you pronounce an apostrophe in any case? Completely pointless…… And not only that, sometimes it’s spelled L'Aber Vrac'h. Make your minds up! Rant over.
L'Aber Wrac'h (or Vrac'h) is 50 miles west from Trebeurden and our trip went from motorsailing with gentle assistance from the wind, through motorsailing with quite a bit of assistance from the wind, to sailing at a fair old speed to thinking “Oh my word, I'm not looking forward to parking the boat with a force 6 crosswind"! I expected L’Aber Wrac’h to be well sheltered from the north and east but, as I type this with the wind whistling once again around the marina, I can confirm that the wind finds its way through admirably. At least there’s not much in the way of waves…
There’s not a lot of man-made stuff here – the nearest shop is a mile up the hill – but the scenery is once again breathtaking. Unfortunately the photos don’t do it justice, but if you like natural beauty and are wondering where to go for your summer holiday (Gerry?), the north coast of Brittany has much to recommend it.
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| Rocks to seaward en route to L'Aber Wrac'h |
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| Navigation marks on approach to L'Aber Wrac'h |
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| View of L'Aber Wrac'h |
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| And again. The photos don't do the place justice |
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| L'Aber Wrac'h oyster beds? |
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| L'Aber Wrac'h marina |
Weather permitting we’ll head around the corner to Camaret tomorrow. This is something of a landmark as it’s beyond Brest, which meant I had to extend the cruising area of my insurance policy!
This brought some good news though. Our insurers, GJW, advised me that they've changed their policy on 'out of the water' yacht surveys (a potentially expensive requirement to fulfil). Their old one meant that we’d need to have one done this coming October. Their new policy means we’re OK until 2020 which will save us hassle as well as several hundred pounds. Result!!
Thanks for reading.
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