BRETAGNE – FINISTERRE

LATE MAY/EARLY JUNE 2017

After leaving La Ferme de Lann Hoedic near Sarzeau I moved on, first to Querrien and then to St-Pol-de-Léon near Roscoff.

QUERRIEN 

I first met Doug, Sarah and their first-born in 2003 when we sailed and anchored in company from Panama to the Galapagos and Marquesa Islands – all as recorded in Grandpa's Voyages.

Being much younger than I they had to limit their time at sea and moved to Yorkshire not far from Sarah's parents.     I once visited them there, probably in 2006,  by which time a second daughter had been born.

Thereafter I lost touch until receiving a Christmas Greeting in 2016 when I learned among other things they now had four children and had bought a rather run down farm in Brittany they had been working hard and successfully to restore to a well-kept state.        It was natural therefore to contact them and arrange a visit in 2017.

I had a wonderful 10 days staying on the farm but didn't do much cycling because I preferred the unaccustomed social benefits of spending time with other people.      I did get out one day for a couple of short laps on the dead-end lane serving their farm and a few other properties but the area was pretty hilly and even the smaller roads had quite a lot of fast cars zooming along them.

Doug and Sarah cultivate their land using traditional methods including crop rotation and leaving fields fallow from time to time, but necessarily use tractors that consume large volumes of diesel. They are dedicated to organic methods eschewing the chemical fertilisers and pesticides some of their neighbours prefer to use to obtain higher yields at the expense of environmental damage.

Here are a couple of photos to illustrate the beautiful result of the enormously hard work that keeps Doug super-fit and allows Sarah to use her veterinary knowledge and skills on the cows, sheep, and hens raised on the farm – not forgetting the bees though I doubt much surgery is performed on them!

Extensive fields

Curious cows with crops and sheep in the fields beyond

Another consequence of adopting this lifestyle is that the entire family is self-supporting in food and generates a surplus of all products that is sold to a now-established customer list.

It was great to be able to share this pastoral life during my visit.

Another interesting expedition came about because the two youngest children belonged to a group that had been practicing song and dance performances in traditional Breton costumes for an annual festival held during my visit at the seaside town of Pont l'Abbé just south of Quimper. 

Teams from other villages and towns all over Brittany take part and parade through the town streets before performing in a large local hall. In fact there were so many entrants there were two halls in use for most of the afternoon.

The performers assemble

And Parade through the town

SAINT-POL-DE-LÉON

I chose to return to England on the Roscoff -Plymouth route for another social reason.      John, who sailed on Alchemi in South Africa and Panama/Ecuador (Grandpa's Voyages 2007 and 2010), and his wife Pam live near Plymouth and I had arranged to call on them on the way to my home in Kent.

I found a very conveniently located campsite at Saint-Pol-de-Léon just 4 or 5 miles from the Ferry Terminal at Roscoff.     This site is perched quite high on a cliff at the edge of the Bay of Morlaix with splendid views across the water and overlooking the small Ilot Sainte Anne and its causeway.

Ilot Sainte Anne

Looking East over the Bay of Morlaix

The pitches were rather small, and relatively expensive, but it certainly provided a very convenient spot at which to stay for a few days whilst waiting for the ferry . 

 But I have to add that though there is a formally designated cycle path from Roscoff to the interior I didn't fancy using it because there was far too much traffic for my type of bike riding to be enjoyable (but the cycle path is used by many cross-channel cycle tourists arriving or leaving with their bikes on the ferry).

BRETAGNE – MORBIHAN

MAY 2017

GOLFE DU MORBIHAN

The eastern end of the southern coast of Brittany lies in the Département of Morbihan and has an extensive inland sea called the Golfe du Morbihan formed by the near approach of the tips of two peninsulae. (Wikipedia tells us the single word Morbihan is a better designation as it is derived from the Breton “Ar Mor Bihan”, very similar to the Welsh equivalent with both meaning “Little Sea”)

For the most part the sea is very shallow but there is a deep water channel at the entrance where currents reach over 9 knots at times. Nevertheless, with careful timing, boats have passed between Morbihan and the Atlantic Ocean for thousands of years.

The region was inhabited in neolithic times and there are large numbers of megaliths created by people from that period with some dating back beyond 3,000 BC and thus being older than Stonehenge.     They are not so impressive in size but there are many more of them and they cover a much larger area.

Vannes is the main city on the Gulf's coast and is named after the Veneti tribe of Celtic people who traded by sea with Great Britain for many years before the birth of Christ. They were defeated and killed or enslaved by Julius Ceasar in 56 BC whose troops founded the city of Darioritum at the confluence of two rivers where they debouched into the Gulf. The present name was adapted from the Celtic for the city to become known as Vannes when the Roman occupation ended around 300-400 AD. Soon after a Christian Cathedral with its own Bishop was created.

Today, Vannes is a modern large city with far too much traffic.

Sarzeau, towards the end of the southern peninsula is much smaller but at the centre of what has become a popular region for holiday homes and entertainments of all sorts. Those include several campsites and I chose one called Camping La Ferme de Lann Hoedic about three miles south of Sarzeau and one mile from the Atlantic Beaches to the south.

This provided easy access to the tip of the peninsula near Arzon whence ferries and excursion boats leave for Vannes and the islands in the Gulf, and to both the flat land around the Gulf's southern coast and the somewhat hillier land of the Atlantic coast.

I made my own excursions by car and by bike and sometimes using both.

One of the most interesting (and long) rides was to Penvins via the Chateau de Suscinio.

Construction of the Chateau began in the early 1200s on the order of Pierre de Dreux, the Duke of Brittany ruling at the time. At first it was designed to be a country retreat at which the court could entertain themselves with hunting in the lands around filled with Game of all sorts.

But it was progressively fortified over the next 300 years as first tensions and then outright warfare arose between Brittany and France until they were formally unified as a single State in 1532.

Duke Francis II of Brittany played an important role in the history of England for 12 years in the late 15th Century by accommodating Henry Tudor, later Henry VII, and his uncle Jasper, with about 500 of their Lancastrian supporters and soldiers in the castle and surrounding villages.The Castle escaped most of the damage and destruction afflicting many other medieval fortresses and modern restoration has sought to reproduce its late 15th Century condition as closely as possible.  

It certainly makes an impressive sight from all sides, though it is difficult to get a good photo of the Gatehouse and Towers due to public access and views being obstructed by other private property opposite.

Suscinio castle entrance and gatehouse tower

Another view

The north east wall

Western walls

South western gatehouse tower

My ride continued along minor roads past holiday homes, campsites and small villages until I reached the Pointe de Penvins with its Yacht Cub and Promenade.

The seabed here slopes very gently so although there is a significant rise and fall of tide the water is either near or far from the high tide mark – a factor that meant dinghy sailors sometimes had a long trek to make over sand, and weed-covered rocks in order to reach their craft.

Beach at Pointe Penvins

A long way to reach the water at low tide.

There was easier riding on the southern shore of the Gulf once far enough away from the built-up area north and east of Sarzeau. Here there was flat land, small villages, salt marshes with walkers' paths crossing them and shallow bays, again with a great distance between high and low water marks.

Shallow Bays Abound

Moored Craft at Pointe de Passage

The manageress at the campsite was very helpful and friendly so when I told her something of my earlier life she promptly insisted on taking a couple of photographs of me relaxing with a book outside my caravan.

Relaxing after a hard day's ride

Little did I guess this would appear on her Facebook Page

BRETAGNE

MORBIHAN – ROCHEFORT-EN-TERRE

APRIL 2017

After leaving Dinan I crossed the Départemental boundary to enter Morbihan and stayed at the small and ancient town of Rochefort-en-Terre about 20 miles west of Redon which is itself in the south west corner of Ille et Villaine.

ROCHEFORT-EN-TERRE

Fortifications on a high cliff overlooking the narrow valley of the river Gueuzon were built here in Roman times and adapted in the 1100s and 1200s to become the castle of a powerful local Seigneur whose successors then modified it further in later centuries.   A medieval town grew up around the castle and is mentioned in records dating back to 1260.

Over the next 500 years the town grew to become the most important centre for many miles around but its former parishes of Limerzel, Questembert, Malansac and others have now eclipsed it in size and commercial importance but not as tourist attractions. 

On 16 March 1793 the town was captured by thousands of peasants revolting against compulsory conscription into the revolutionary army with the loss of three republican lives.    Ten days later professional republican soldiers recaptured it and several hundred peasants were killed or wounded - many of these were executed by firing squad.

During these battles the castle was looted and then left to deteriorate until it was acquired by the Juhel family in 1843. They converted the old stables into living quarters but sold the property in 1907 to the painter Alfred Klots, born in Paris to American parents.

Klots had a Renaissance-Style Manor House built within the battlements and encouraged local residents to decorate their buildings with flowers thus beginning an ethos of beautification that as been much expanded since.

The Manor House

The Chateau and House was used as a hospital for wounded American soldiers during both World Wars and ownership was acquired by the town from Klots daughter-in-law Isabel after she died in 2013 at the age of 96.

The Manor House is not open to the public but a museum has been established in the grounds and contains several paintings by Alfred and his son Trafford in whose names Isabel founded an “International Program for Artists” in 1989 that is administered by the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). MICA awards grants and runs residential courses at Rochefort and Léhon (see previous post).

Rochefort-en-Terre has made the most of its Chateau, its Medieval Buildings and Streets, and these artistic precedents to promote itself as a ”Petite Cité de Caractère” and has won many tourist awards as one of the ten most attractive towns in France. Its a little too commercialised for my taste though.

Slate quarrying and shaping has been a local industry for a long time with the product being used in both the Chateau and Town buildings.

Fancy a New Roof?

Main Street

THE RIVER OUST AND THE NANTES-BREST CANAL

Napoleon ordered construction of the Nantes-Brest Canal to overcome the English Blockade of the Port at Brest and a brief history of its construction is given in the February 2017 post of my stay at Le Roc St André during September 2016. Here again is a map of my rides during that visit.

Rides in 2016

One of my reasons for coming to Rochefort-en-Terre this year was to pick up riding the tow path again at St Congard which was the farthest point on the waterway that I reached during the earlier visit.       This I was able to do in three stages, leaving the car for the first two at St Martin-sur-Oust and for the third at Peillac.

In these rides I covered another 25-30 miles in each direction making a total of 50-60 between Josselin and Redon during the two visits.

Rides in 2017

First Ride

The first expedition was from St Martin to St Congard and back.

Rental boats at St Martin-sur-Oust

This ride was quite short being only about 5 miles in each direction with not a lot remarkable to photograph along the way except perhaps that the river was getting noticeably wider.

The river is getting wider

What was also noticeable was the state of the surface which was more like a field track than a cycle path for quite a distance with largish loose stones and many bumps and hollows. That was relatively uncomfortable and made the rise seem longer than its measured length.

Second Ride

The second expedition also started at St Martin and followed the river as far as a road-crossing near Peillac. The village itself is up a long and quite steep hill but fortunately La Ciboulette Restaurant is located at the foot of the hill immediately adjacent to a road bridge over the river and of course to the tow path.

This establishment had an attractive verandah outside at which I would have liked to be seated but instead I was shown to a small table set for two in the interior after the hostess had a short conversation with some-one I couldn't see.

The reason for that became apparent when a young man carrying a plate of salami and other appetisers came and sat opposite me at the same table. He flashed a quick smile when I said “Bonjour et 'merci de me permettre vous rejoindre'” (Thank you for allowing me to join you) but made no reply and said nothing before leaving when he flashed another quick smile.   He was clearly a workman with a short lunch-break.

After my arrival other tables were soon filled with people who were obviously expected.     Mostly they were elderly and almost certainly locals who enjoyed a gossip with one another and friends.

The meal itself was another of the 'wholesome fare' variety consisting of a simple and cold 'help yourself' starter, a plate of chicken and chips with a creamy sauce and a piece of 'Tarte de Pomme' as dessert.       I also had 25 cl of wine and a coffee and the whole lot only cost € 14 so I couldn't really complain though I would have preferred to be on the veranda where others had been accommodated by the time I left. 

Third Ride

The third ride was much longer and scenically more interesting than the first two.

To begin, I returned to the bridge near Peillac because there was a large car park there at which I could leave my car without fear of it being in any-one's way or of accidental damage for lack of room.

I set off east again, following a well-surfaced cycle track along the old tow-path and soon came to a lock and weir combination.

Lock and Weir near Peillac

After this change of level the river started meandering until it wandered so much the canal engineers had decided to take a short cut.

The canal takes a short-cut

The canal and river merged again some four miles later and a little farther on the valley narrowed as it passed between sizeable hills with rocky outcrops on either side. On one of these, on the right bank I was riding along, a commercial enterprise with the name “Escapades Verticales” had been created.

This looked to be great fun and very popular with several instructors and many young people clambering upon and standing at the foot of rocky outcrops festooned with fixed ropes, pegs and climbing aids.      I was a little puzzled when I saw a number of rather anxious-looking parent-figures with their backs to the rock face gazing up into trees  lining the path along which I was riding.

All became clear when a small figure came zooming out of the leaves on a “Flying Fox” and after a fair distance but short time ended up on a small ledge on the rock face perhaps 25 feet above ground level. Balance was restored with a few quick heaves on the suspension wire and safety established with transfer of a clipped-on security line from suspension wire to one fixed to the rock face. Thereafter descent to ground level proved to be a doddle.

What a great activity for young people!

After these excitements the rest of the outward ride was a bit of an anti-climax until nearing the large regional city of Redon. Here the canal ran beside a busy road but fortunately I was on the right bank away from the traffic fumes that must have descended on the opposite pathway.

Then, after passing a few factories on the opposite bank I found myself close to the city centre with a view of the Abbey Church's spire.

St Saveur Spire from the Canal

Only a few yards farther on I was indeed right in the centre of traffic entering the city as I found myself at one end of a rotating bridge over the canal originally built to permit both rail and canal traffic to enter the city. It is no longer in use but alongside there is a traffic-congested road bridge and to the right of that a large marina with a surprising number of sailing yachts moored to pontoons.

Marina at Redon

Neither at the time nor later was I strongly motivated to fight my way through the busy streets but my curiosity was aroused and to satisfy that I have since investigated on the internet and so can compile the last entry in this post.

REDON

The city is geographically significant as the place at which the rivers Oust and Vilaine meet whilst they are still some 30-40 miles from the Atlantic coast.

As early as 832 AD, Conwoion, a scion of a Romano-Gallic family, founded a hermitage at the confluence of the rivers that was soon attacked by Vikings coming upriver from the coast. He and his followers withdrew further inland and sought protection from the King of Brittany who supported them in the foundation of a Monastery that soon became known as that of Saint-Saveur.

The Monastery became the focal point of a town rapidly growing in size that seems to have escaped many of the ravages of war during the middle ages and to have prospered through trade with the interior as it effectively became an inland port by virtue of its direct connection to the ocean (that also explains the presence of masted yachts in the marina).

By good fortune or judgement of its civic leaders Redon also seems to have escaped most of the ill-consequences of the revolution. The local monks and nuns seem to have accepted instructions to adopt a secular life with much less resistance than in other parts of Brittany or the Vendée and thereby to have escaped the persecution and massacres that afflicted others. Perhaps an example of the philosophy that “If you can't beat them join them”.

A further development favouring Redon was its special situation at the crossroads first of the waterways in Brittany with completion of the Nantes-Brest and Ille-Rance Canals and then of similarly connecting railways.      In the 19^th and 20^th centuries these advantages resulted in Redon becoming an attractive place in which to invest capital in new factories for a variety of industries.

In the 21^st Centuries, these advantages are less significant than they used to be and some wonder whether Redon may be left behind as Globalisation of Industry creates poverty in once prosperous areas.

LA BRETAGNE

COTES D'ARMOR AND ILLE ET VILLAINE

MARCH/APRIL 2017

My Spring Expedition to France started with a Portsmouth – St Malo ferry and a short drive to Taden, a small village just outside Dinan, where there was a campsite that opened earlier in the season than others which didn't receive visitors until early April or even later. I stayed for a fortnight, arriving on 28 March and leaving on 10 April.

BRITTANY

The region has been occupied by humanoids for 500,000 years or so, first by Neanderthals, then 35,000 years ago, by modern man. 

The Celts became prominent around 400-500 BC but were defeated by Julius Caesar in 56 BC who named the region Armorica, meaning Coastal region.  Roman occupation lasted until about 400 AD.

Thereafter many Celtic immigrants arrived fleeing from the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Great Britain and these newcomers named the country Brittany, after their previous homeland.

Brittany became a unified independent country in the 9^th Century but a century later King Alan II paid homage to King Louis IV of France and the region thus became a Duchy (later a Province) of France roughly comprising all the land West of a line drawn between Mont St Michel and Nantes with the latter becoming the capital.

For the next 500 years or so sovereignty over the region was variously claimed and contested by and between the local ruling families and the Kings of England and France. In 1488, the Breton army was defeated by the French and in the ensuing Treaty, Francis II of Brittany was compelled to agree Charles VII of France could decide whom Francis's 11 year old daughter was to marry.

That was effectively the end of an Independent Kingdom of Brittany.    Francis died only one month after signing the Treaty and Anne became the nominally independent (and much revered) Duchesse de Bretagne but was compelled to marry, first Charles VIII and then, his successor Louis XII.    After Anne's death in 1514 the title went to her eldest daughter who then married Louis's successor thus initiating a formal union of France and Brittany.

In modern times historical boundaries have been replaced by new ones so Nantes is now capital of the Pays de la Loire Region with Rennes having become the capital of a reduced size Brittany comprising the four Départements shown on this map.

La Bretagne (Modern)

North Eastern Brittany

ST MALO

As a coastal city the people of St Malo have long had a close association with the sea. This became particularly pronounced after discovery of the New World with St Malo Merchants and seamen playing an important part in French Voyages of discovery and colonialism.

That led also to the city becoming a notorious base for Corsairs – private fighting ships and men holding a Lettre-de-Marque, also known as a Lettre-de-Course, authorising them to attack ships and cities of enemies with whom France was at war. The captain had to commit to paying the Crown a high proportion of any treasure captured but he then had authority (in France) to keep the remainder for himself and his crew, and a guarantee (in France) of not being prosecuted for piracy.

Other nations made similar arrangements of course and sometimes captured corsairs were treated as prisoners of war but on other occasions they were hanged as pirates. The ones based in St Malo were particularly active and the city became wealthy on the proceeds in the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

After the French Revolution things quietened down for a bit until in 1944 during World War II the city was destroyed by Allied bombing and assaults.         Much effort and time was expended on a reconstruction project over many years restoring the old town walls and buildings to their former state, and of course expanding the surrounding area.

I remember this well because in 1996, the year that Alchemi was delivered I sailed into St Malo on my first passage across the English Channel.    So I didn't attempt to visit the "Old City" this year and confined myself to a couple of visits by car to take advantage of modern big city facilities.

DINAN

Dinan is situated about 25 miles due south of St Malo on high cliffs overlooking the Lower Rance Valley.

Control of Dinan has been important for many centuries because of its location and strategic importance. One of the earliest examples of this is a record in the Bayeux Tapestry showing William the Conqueror accepting the keys of Dinan from a defeated Duke of Brittany in 1065 (aided at this time by Harold Godwinson who, for his pains, got an arrow in the eye one year later at the Battle of Hastings!).

Two hundred years later Dinan was also in the news when Thomas of Canterbury (brother of the famous archbishop) besieged the city; As no side could gain a decisive advantage history has it that Thomas and the local defender - Bertrand du Guescelin - agreed to settle the matter in single combat.      Du Guescelin won and is still celebrated as a hero with a statue in the town.

A few years later John, Duke of Brittany built a Castle and extensive Town Walls that still survive today and are one of the most well-known Medieval sights in Brittany.

In the late middle ages a Port was developed at Dinan on the River Rance to promote and serve increasing trade between the city and St Malo.

In modern times the city has expanded to absorb previously independent surrounding villages, promoted itself as a tourist destination and become choked with traffic and limited parking as a result. The old city still has many medieval buildings as well as the castle and ramparts to enjoy and the Port has developed as a centre for pleasure boating with many restaurants near the waterside.

Town Ramparts high on the hill and a modern road viaduct across the deep valley

The Old Bridge across the Rance

The River and Port from the Old Bridge

Medieval Street from Port to Town

THE LOWER RANCE VALLEY

The Rance reaches the sea at St Malo and in its lower reaches is of course tidal with the very large range experienced by all narrow waterways situated on a shallow continental shelf near the deep ocean.

Local inhabitants have been taking advantage of the particularly favourable range on the Rance for centuries – average range between 26 feet at Neaps and 44 feet at highest Spring Tides.

Hundreds of years ago the exploitation took the form of small lagoons filled by incoming seawater as the tide flowed in that was then released over water-wheels when the tide went out.

But this idea was developed to a different level between 1921 when first design and then construction in 1963 of the world's first Tidal Power Station was begun at a narrow section of the river near its mouth to the sea.

The Power Station was opened in 1966 and has a peak capacity of 240 MW (comparable to a medium size modern combined cycle gas turbine plant) but rarely generates at this level. That's because its mostly used in a dual flow manner generating on both the flood and ebb tides over a longer period than it would if the flood were stored and then released some time after the tide had turned.

There have been some adverse ecological effects on marine and bird life because of the knock-on consequences of changing natural flows and wetlands but most people seem to think those have been a price worth paying for the availability of power that is now even cheaper than that generated by Nuclear Stations (both types have in common high capital and low running costs in comparison with other methods of generation).

There is another barrage across the Rance higher up the valley at Vicomte-sur-Rance and this constitutes the boundary between salt and fresh water. Fortunately there is an ancient towpath, now converted to a cycle and walking path, that follows the left bank of the river for nearly four miles between Port Dinan and the end of the barrage opposite Vicomte.

One day I parked the car about half way along this path, rode into Dinan to have lunch at one of the riverside restaurants then afterwards downriver to the barrage and back again to the car.     It was a great outing during which I learned in conversation with a pair of elderly walkers that all pleasure craft upstream of the barrage were trapped for 3-4 months whilst maintenance work was carried out on the swinging bridge above the barrage!

The Lower Rance near Dinan

Marina upstream of the barrage at Vicomte-sur-Rance

THE ILLE-ET-RANCE CANAL

The small town of Léhon lies in the valley bottom just upstream from Port Dinan and is notable as the site of a very old castle that was destroyed and rebuilt several times during Viking raids and in the struggle for supremacy between Brittany, England and France.

South of Léhon the land rises quite quickly until the sides of the Rance Valley become much less steep and the riverbed itself has a shallower gradient.   As long ago as the 1500's the relatively flat land further south gave rise to the idea of constructing a canal to link this point on the Rance with the important inland city of Rennes.   At that time nothing came of the idea but by the late 1780's plans were made to construct the canal, and even more ambitiously, to extend it until it could join the river Vilaine. If that could be accomplished there would be a continuous waterway between St Malo in the English Cannel and a port on France's Atlantic Coast in the south of Brittany.

But the French Revolution put paid to those plans until Napoleon revived them, as he did with the Nantes Brest canal, seeing both as a means of circumventing the English blockade of French ports. Again like the Nantes Brest canal he did not live to see the results of his strategy because work on the Ille-et-Rance canal between Rennes and the hills above Léhon was not completed until 1832.

Like other canals of the same period it was initially used extensively but then challenged by the development of Railways and Roads until the construction of the Tidal Power Station in the 1960's spelled the end of its use for the transportation of goods. Also like other canals it then had a new lease of life as a leisure attraction for boaters, fishermen, walkers and cyclists!

The canal is 50 miles long in total and passes through many attractive little towns as it winds its way through extensively cultivated countryside.

Rides Beside The Canal

The nearest place on the high ground at which I could leave the car to ride the towpath was opposite a small settlement called Tressaint which nowadays is really just a suburb of the larger town of Lanvally on the far side of the valley opposite Dinan.

From here I made a return ride of about six miles in each direction to Évran where I had lunch in a local restaurant.

Picnic Area near Évran

Springtime by the canal

On another day I drove to Saint Domineuc for lunch then back to Évran where there was more secure parking before picking up where I had left on the previous ride and again following the towpath for about six miles in both directions to the bridge near my lunchtime restaurant.

Blossom Everywhere

Wild Primroses

Le Pecheur

These two rides were absolutely delightful matching the future I had in mind when first conceiving this way of spending my post-sailing life way back in 2010 in New Zealand. 

The two lunches were also a far cry from the touristic places along the waterfront in Dinan. Quite a few people still work the land in France, albeit using tractors and other machinery, and these country restaurants catered for them with simple but well cooked food at a very reasonable price – three course lunch with 25 cl of wine and coffee for € 12.