Like last year we rented a mobile-home, this time for two weeks. Thus we had more time which was necessary because we wanted to go a lot further.
We started our trip at the Mont-Saint-Michel, the place where we ended our journey last year. We didn't spent a lot of time there, on to Brittany!
We used some travel-guides to plan our journey. This way we knew there were some really nice things to see in Brittany. The first curiosity we visited were the sculptured rocks of Rothéneuf. Here a 19th century priest carved a lot of figures out of the rocks. It's the most beautiful example of work like that in the whole world.
One of the next highlights was the Côte de Granit Rose. First we stopped in Perros-Guirec. (If you don't want to be recognised as tourist, say 'Perros'). The picture below is token from the Pointe du Château, which is a little more to the north. There are a lot of panorama's like that to be seen in the area.
As we continued our trip we noticed a park with some sculptures made out of pink granite. It's that kind of stone after which the area is named. We especially liked the pink dog so Toby and Terry were portraited next to it.
In Ploumanac'h our fascination for the Côte de Granit Rose really began. Saying the coast here is a feast for the eyes, is an understatement. It's a magic world, formed by impressive blocks of granite in an unworldly balance. On top of that we were lucky the weather was fine so we had the chance to walk with our dogs along this beautiful coast.
We didn't feel like going away from this nice place. But Brittany is big and there was so much more to see...
In the evening we found a big sand-beach in Saint-Efflam! Toby and Terry could run around like crazy here. And because we spend the night there, the next morning they were crazy once again.
Something that is very typical for Brittany are the so called crusifixes. In Plougastel-Daoulas one can find the most beautiful of Brittany. It was raised in 1589 to exorcize a plague-epidemic. It's decorated with over 180 sculptured figures representing different biblical scenes. And if all this is not restaured soon, it won't be there for another four hundred years... What a pity.
Next we went to Pont-Aven for the art and cookies. There are a lot of art galleries in this charming town, while the most important economical activity is the manufactury of cookies. (While I type this, I eat a delicious 'galette de Pont-Aven'. Mmmm, tastes nice).
The westcoast of the peninsula Quiberon is marked on maps as 'Côte sauvage' and yes indeed, it really is a wild coast. There's a road along the whole coast from where the view on the many teared rocks and bottomless cracks in which the sound of the waves resonates is really impressive. Once every while one has to come out of the car + don't forget the camera.
Right next to Quiberron, Carnac is situated. This place is worldfamous for the rows of menhirs found here. These are large stones that were put upright about 7000 years ago. They are scattered in the landscape over a distance of about 4 km and alltogether there are about 2400 of them. Like the famous circle of megaliths found in Stonehenge - England, the rows are pointed exactly to the direction of the sunrise during the midsummer equinox.
After the stones, the salt-marshes near Le Croisic. The aim of these artificial salt-lakes is getting a very little bit of seawater onto a very big area. This way the water can evaporate leaving the salt behind. It's a very complex system of canals and locks. The picture below shows only one of the hundreds of salt-lakes in the area.
We had another chance to walk on the beach in La baule. The coast was also called 'Côte sauvage', but that wasn't the case. Toby and Terry had to wait a few minutes for the picture below. We saw a little boat near the horizon that just dissapeared behind the rock is the background. So we waited until it was visible (a little left of center) and then we took the picture. The result wasn't that great after all...
And then finaly... the national center of the Poitou-donkey in Dampierre-sur-Boutonne!!! We found out there was a rather rare donkey-breed with a coat kind of like the corded coat of Pulis. And we had the chance to see that breed on our trip. We had to drive a long way to the south but we were so close that didn't matter. The center itself was closed due to building activities, but fortunately the donkeys were there to see. On the picture below the nicest one (considering corded coat) is seen on the left, a lot of them are sheared. It are big donkeys, they used to be famous and wanted for their power.
Because we were very southward, we also went to Île de Ré, an isle that is connected with the continent via a bridge. The isle on itself is worth a whole vacation, but we didn't have that much time left. We did climb the Phare des Baleines, a lighthouse on the far westcoast of the isle. The nice spiral stairs with 250 stone steps looks like a huge snail-shell when seen from above. The stairs bring you to a height of 55 m, from where the view is absolutely worth the climbing.
And then we had to start our way back home. Such a pity, we could have stayed in Brittany for another couple of weeks. But there was no other option so we drove via the highways. We also had a traffic jam in Paris. After a short visit to Cap Gris Nez and Cap Blanc Nez, Toby and Terry found their own benches...
Bye, 'till the next time!
