Trestrignel
(www.plages.tv)
We (friends from the village and I) arrived in time for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beach, it's not hard to find, there is only one and it is located on the corner next to the (free) car park, the one with the striking agapanthus and beautiful hydrangeas that are in full bloom in July.
There is a captivating view from the car park...
This agapanthus is almost the same colour as the sea...
These pink granite balls line many of the roads to stop people from parking on the pavements.
I'd like to buy a few for my courtyard, they'd have to be delivered, they're too heavy for my car...
So, fortified by fish and chips and a glass of Kir cassis, we made our way down to the beach and selected a nice spot near the rocks for the afternoon.
As is our way, we admired the houses built on the cliffs behind us...
Me, I always view a property with the needs of the writer/reader/student in mind, i.e. is it in a peaceful place, an inspiring location, with gardens in which to wander, windows from which to gaze, many rooms in which to store books and friends, a turret in which to work...
I think this one fits the bill, although not the budget...
And this one caught my eye...
Looks like a monastery. I thought
I like its straight lines and symmetry.
When we got home I researched it on the Internet and this is what I found:
The house (La Villa Silencio) was designed at the end of the 19th century by the architects Pierre-Henri Gelis-Didot et Théodore Lambert, at the request of the comedienne Macrcelle Josset, and bought by the painter Maurice Denis for family seaside holidays, and for his painting.
In a letter dated August 2nd 1908 he wrote: « Je ne pensais guère, en vous écrivant de Bretagne il y a un mois que ce voyage serait si décisif. Peu de jours après, mon enthousiasme s'accrochait à un écriteau, « A vendre », suspendu au mur d'une charmante villa bâtie par un élève de Viollet Le Duc, pour une actrice aujourd'hui ruinée et dans la plus belle vue du monde, non (cela vous chagrinerait trop), mettons de Bretagne.
Aujourd'hui, cette maison est à moi. Ma femme et mes enfants y sont installés, ils sont ravis ; ils ont un bois de pins extrêmement touffu et la plage au pied de la terrasse. »
The house remains the property of his descendants.
Link to Maurice Denis on Wikipedia
Link to Musée Départemental Maurice Denis
Here's a photo of the man.
I admit to never having heard of him until I coveted his former holiday home but he appears to have been quite an artist, and teacher, and writer and all round interesting chap...
He obviously found Trestrignel inspiring...
Here's Polyphemus (1907), now in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow
and Wave, 1917
and Bacchus and Ariadne (1907), the Hermitage, Moscow
I could go on about Maurice Denis, but this post is about a beach,
Where were we?
Ah yes, on the beach. And a very fine beach it is too with soft sand and smooth rocks and turquoise waters. A person could be forgiven for thinking they are in the tropics on a sunny day at Trestrignel.
This picture from tourisme.perros-guirec.com shows what I mean.
and this one from graniterose-tour.com gives me ideas for wandering with the dog on a day when he is permitted to play on the beach (usually from October to May, but it's worth checking first).
On the website http://evolution-paysage.bretagne-environnement.org I found a page devoted to the development of Trestrignel during the last century.
This was how it looked in 1915...
I think I prefer it with a few more houses...
and the restaurant.
This is the Le Manoir du Sphinx, a hotel that, according to the pictures on the website, has rooms with huge windows and magnificent sea views.
Since I can't stay in La Villa Silencio, I've booked a room here for a night with Tashi in October, when, hopefully, the sea will still be warm enough for swimming and the beach will be open for dogs.
Shall we have a final Maurice Denis?
I think it's very fitting.
