La Faou
Scared of missing something, we did another short hop to La Faou. Once a large port in the bay of Brest, La Faou is another Petite Cites de Caractere! On the main street there are 16th century half-timbered & gabled houses. The Saint Sauveur church sits on the Steir Goz Ria, the old river.
Plouzane/Pointe Saint Mathieu
With no fixed abode for our next three nights we headed beyond the city of Brest towards Pointe Saint Mathieu, via a stop in Plouzane to see the lighthouse “Le Phare du Petit Minou” along with the fort which protected the waterway to Brest. By the time we arrived (satnav kindly sent us right through the city of Brest) the weather had improved. Walked around the headland to the fort & lighthouse, it was well worth the stop. We had lunch in the Ranch overlooking the sea before moving on to Pointe Saint Mathieu. What a stunning place. The lighthouse built in 1835 is next to the ruins of the 12th century abbey. Fortunately on the day we were there, we were able to walk up to the top. Only 163 steps, but a great view over the coastline & a birds eye view of the abbey.
Le Conquet/Plougonvelin
Plan A was to stay at Le Conquet overnight, however the parking had challenges! We’d need to seek out a blue parking disc, so that we didn’t have to leave by 9am. It seemed too challenging, so we headed there for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Apart from a small cluster of Islands Le Conquet is on the westernmost point of Brittany. A beautiful fishing port founded by Monks. The boats to visit the islands of Molene & Ushant, depart from here too. Due to the changeable weather we didn’t stay too long, however most definitely on the list to return. The islands are also on the list.
Managed to find an overnight stop at Plougonvelin, overlooking the coast & a short walk away from a beautiful beach for just £8.94 with electricity!
Sibiril
So now we were down to just four nights left of our European adventure. We had two booked in Saint Pol De Leon, so we were heading back toward Roscoff for the ferry home. As usual we were being umming & ahhing to make a decision, so we looked on the map & filtered out campsites without swimming pools. It left one in the area, so that was it! However on the way we visited the other two lighthouses on the peninsula. Kermorvan close to Le Conquet then on to Trezien further up the coast. Trezien is located inland about a half a mile from the coast, so we were able to take a photo of the Ranch next to it. Unfortunately as we were into September they only open at the weekends, so unable to visit them. After leaving Plouarzel we then headed north, this time skirting around Brest & up to Sibiril. We arrived shortly after 2pm & luckily managed to get a pitch for two nights. What a beautiful view from the pitch, overlooking the port of Mogueriec. The following day we cycled around the inlet & through crop fields of cabbages, Roscoff onions & recently harvested sunflower fields (which had been filled with pumpkins – we now know is called crop covering – to add nutrients back to the soil for the following year).
Saint Pol De Leon
For 14 years we have wanted to visit SPDL! We drove past the massive tower of the church back in 2011 for the first time & vowed to visit. What we didn’t know was the tower we had seen wasn’t on the cathedral but on the Notre-Dame du Kreisker chapel. Unfortunately on the day we visited the tower wasn’t open. A good excuse to return, when passing through next time. We found out that the cathedral has the Les Étagères de la Nuit (Shelves of the Night) – a collection of 31 boxed skulls dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Each box contains one human skull – read more here https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/les-etageres-de-la-nuit-shelves-of-the-night
For only the second time this trip, we needed to use the levelling ramps, we probably could have coped with the slight wonk, but the fridge was playing up so we wanted to ensure we were as level as possible. Another beautifully positioned site, overlooking the Bay of Morlaix. We were able to spend a few hours in the afternoon by the outdoor pool before rain stopped play. Weather had deteriorated again on our final day, fortunately the site also had an indoor pool with jacuzzi & loungers, so headed there to escape the van & dreary weather. By early evening the rain had passed, so we took a walk down to the beach & Isle of Sainte-Anne. Due to fridge problems & having to get rid of the contents, along with running down what we had in the cupboards, our dinner consisted of a tin of rice pudding we had brought with us from home. It saved the day. We would have eaten out, but the bar/restaurant on site was closed, along with the restaurants along the coast. We could have walked up to SPDL, but it was a 30 minute uphill walk!
