Apart from a brief visit to St Malo on our way to Spain in 2016 I have not visited Brittany since the mid 1960’s when my parents took us on holiday to a place called Le Pouldu. I recall names of places we visited such as Concarneau and Quimperlé but nothing else. Perhaps my sister has some old faded black and white photographs somewhere. Was that really almost 60 years ago? Time does fly.

With so many potential places to visit, Anne has been diligently researching to pick a few of the many gems for us to see in our time in Brittany. Our first stop is Vannes, an old walled town en route to our first campsite. While the local shops seem more tourist focused for my liking, it is good to see that many businesses have survived COVID and hopefully are thriving again. The buildings are beautifully preserved and the town is worth a visit.

While we enjoy the riding, it is also important for us to walk each day, and not just in our riding gear! We are staying at a campsite on the beach outside Lamor-Barden, a small village with two restaurants and one ship – a campsite conveniently located between Vannes and Carnac, with costal walking paths starting from just outside the campsite. The weather forecast was not looking so good over the next few days, so we opted for a small pod instead of putting the tent up. After the first night and first breakfast of freshly baked and delivered flaky croissants (for Anne only) to the campsite reception, we decide to extend our stay by another day.

Today’s destinations, June 29th, are first Auray then Carnac. Auray is another picturesque old town. The Battle of Auray on 29 September 1364 was the last battle of the Breton War of Succession. Nestled at the bottom of an estuary, Saint-Goustan port takes you back in time with its cobbled streets, stone bridge, half-timbered houses and bustling quays. The most picturesque side of the river is reached by crossing the four-arched stone bridge that dates back to the 13th century.

After a lovely lunch on the port, we head off to Carnac.

Built 1,000 years before the famed English site of Stonehenge, the Alignements de Carnac’s 3,000 perfectly aligned pre-historic megalithic stones continue to baffle historians and is one of the most important megalithic sites in Europe. The photographs do not do the site justice mainly because you can’t capture it all in one photo.

As tomorrow looks very wet again, we decide to stay a third night and explore the area further but on foot only. Today’s 12km walk takes us west of the campsite, along the coast line, past numerous oyster farms and back through a forest. Anne was not game enough to try this vending machine: it offered everything from oysters, lemon and rosé. What more do you need?!

We have averaged 8kms a day walking this month – we both feel we need these walks to balance all the good food and local cider we’ve been having.

Only when I started planning routes in Brittany did I realise that there is no such thing as a coastline road to follow. Rivers, estuaries and a rugged coastline all cut deeply into the interior along the southern coast. One could spend weeks exploring a tiny area. So many beaches, so many wild coves, so many quaint photogenic villages. We are just seeing a fraction of what there is to offer here.

Anne’s next chosen destination is just outside Crozon. It turns our that our campsite is popular with young surfing Germans – there are lots of kids, lots of groups of campers together, even a happy clappy group of about 30, 3 year olds still being breastfed – we’ve suddenly brought the average age of the campsite residents up it seems. But we have scored well with a perfect spot right at the end of a lane. The weather is grey again but perfect for another long walk with lunch of moules frittes (mussels and chips) and a litre of local cider. We’re not sure whether eating moules is like eating celery: the effort expended in eating them is more than the nutrient value gained.

Our priority on leaving our Crozon campsite is to go to the local hardware store for shoe glue. Yes, we have yet another equipment fail. One of Anthony’s squeeky Sidi boots is now quacking: the sole is completely detached at the back. We have attempted to glue it back together with Russian glue we acquired on one of our trips but will it hold? As I write this, 4 days later, so far so good and we haven’t used the new glue yet.

I had pinned so many stops in Brittany, but with the weather forecast not on our side, staying put for 2 or 3 nights at a time seemed to make more sense. While we have waited for the weather to clear enough for our walks, we have studied the various weather apps. Is it wise to stick with our original plan to visit Ireland considering the rain forecast or should we re-route? Various places in France that we contemplate are either getting drenched or scorched. Spain, Portugal then maybe? Oh to feel a bit of warmth again! Going south appeals, but Ireland has been calling for many years now.

We decide to still head for Roscoff where our ferry to Cork leaves from. We can still cancel our tickets (and get a 75% refund) up to 4 hours prior to departure. We can decide later so off we head to Roscoff.

– Anne & Anthony