Plouguerneau and St-Pabu

After the trip up from Nantes we decided to explore the local tour routes for the area. Before we began our trip, we watched the tide go out. It was high tide about two hours before sunrise (8 a.m.), and just after sunrise large areas of the sea floor were high and dry. The Little Egrett was one of the first to take advantage of the newly replenished supply of sea animals stranded by the lower water. It found the track used by the rescue boat to be a perfect place to feed.

On all of our trips through the countryside, we noticed that it looked a lot like Door County if we stayed way from the coast. There were wind generators, cows, corn and orchards. We were joking that we had to get a photo of some cows in front of a corn field. That scene was repeated over and over, but there was never a place we could slow down enough to shoot the photo. The little openings between the trees didn't allow enough time to shoot. Later I did get a photo of a cow. This one is not the Holsteen favored by most farmers in this part of Britanny.

The very first point of interest on the loop around Plouguerneau was the chapel of Notre Dame du Traon. This chapel was constructed in the 16th century and reconstructed in the 18th century. The sacred fountain with two basins for washing linens was a beautiful little garden. After we left the chapel we lost the scenic route in Plouguerneau.

Catamarans leave 'aber Wrac'h
Little Egrett on the rescue boat track.	Wind generators

The chapel of Notre Dame du Traon from the road	The linen washing area behind the chapel	Entrance gate for the chapel
The chapel

We did find the route again in Lilia, but it dead ended with no turn around but the beach. At least the top of beach was paved with grooved cement. We did find a place to park toward the end of the peninsula and there was a great view of the lighthouses on Ile Vierge and also of the rocks just off shore, fishing boats stranded at low tide and fishermen bringing in seafood from the shallow ponds.

Fishing boat at Lilia

The rocks at Lilia

Fisherman and boats at Lilia

From Lilia, we went toward the area known as St. Michel which has a chapel and wonderful rocks. There was a large parking lot at the chapel and we parked and walked out on the dune overlooking the beach. There were a number of people walking their dogs along the dune, but judging by what I had read, not anywhere near as many as during the summer. It was another warm day, but the clouds probably discouraged some walkers.

As we walked to the beach there were a number of rock monuments. I never realized at the time that these were more megaliths dating back to the bronze age. When we got to the beach, we spotted the famous rock formations of the area, part of which is call the old man. Of course one of us had to stand guard on the old man so he wouldn't fall over.

Rock formation containing the "Old Man" (right)	Jan inspecting the rocks to make sure they would last a little longer
The "Old Man"

The chapel at St. Michel was not as interesting as Notre Dame du Traon. It was locked as was Notre Dame du Traon, but as we were leaving a bus tour was coming to look at the chapel. We might have slipped into the group, but it was almost lunch time and we had to get something for lunch and food for dinner. On the way back to the appartment we stopped at a Le Clerc supermarket, got a sandwich and the ingredients for Salad Niçoise for a quick supper later.

After lunch we traveled West, but there weren't that many things to see over there.