High tide at Trégastel was early yesterday, and the weather forecast was not promising, but nine weeks of lock down had made me determined to carpe diem and with a very high tide promised....
I was awake early and the sun was almost shining through a cover of thin cloud and so I made as flask of coffee, fed the cat, roused the slumbering dog and set off for the coast.
We drove on roads that were totally empty.
It's not unusual for there to be little traffic on the dual carriageways here, in fact congestion is very rare and usually confined to the approaches to cities like St Brieuc and Lannion during rush hour, but even so it was strange not to see any other cars.
When we pulled up at the beach the weather was indeed unwelcoming, but the tide was definitely high.
As I stripped to my swimsuit and it started to rain so I returned to my car to wait it out which may seem strange, since I was going to get wet anyway, but I do not swim in the rain.
As soon as the shower passed I was in the sea.
And it was cold but, I reminded myself, not as cold as that day in January when I took a dip from the beach at Trestraou, so I swam...
I swam out to the first buoy which seemed a long way in such a high tide.
I swam to the area at the left that I call my 'tropical bay' because it's sheltered by the pink granite rocks and the sea is calmer and warmer there.
I swam for thirty minutes and while I swam the clouds were swept aside and the sun came out and the weather was perfect for Tashi's walk.
We walked quite a long way and left the track to wander through fields before finding our way back to the beach.
Since it was still early, I drove to Ploumanac'h to see check out Le Mao.
I've missed my lunches at Le Mao. They closed at the end of the summer season, put away all the outdoor tables and chairs, took down the strings of lights and the staff went off to their winter jobs in warmer places, so I'd been eagerly awaiting their re-opening in April but the lock down meant that their doors remained firmly closed.
But here in France the lock down has now been lifted a little and restaurants have been allowed to re-open, albeit with some restrictions o I was hopeful.
And, yes, there were people there preparing for their re-opening on Tuesday.
I asked if I should book a table?
No, they were expecting to see me.
Which was the cherry on my cake...
