New Adventures

 I said goodbye to my beach buddy on Saturday. 

Tashi 31/10/2005 - 15/01/2022  

For the last couple of years he'd been blind, slightly affected by the stroke he suffered in 2019 but still living a good life with me as his guide-human and devoted carer. But the time had come.

Yesterday I decided I should go to my playground to have a new adventure.

Without a dog it was a whole different experience. Sad, poignant, and there were tears, but there were also some highlights. For instance, being able to climb the pink granite boulders, crawl into semi-caves and explore places I've never been able to access before.

And rock creatures I'd never been able to get close enough to touch before...

And rock pools whose worlds I'd never been able to sit and observe before

I walked along the slippery path, up the steep steps, over the scary bridge to the lighthouse...

And discovered new places there also...

It's amazing what you find when you take a different path.

By one o'clock I was ready to risk a swim. 

Sadly, the tide had retreated too far at Tourony...

Tant pis.

I drove to Trestrignel instead where I had the entire beach and sea to myself.

It was cold, but I've known colder seas so I braved it and swam for thirty minutes.

All in all, and given the sadness of being 'sans chien' for the first time in sixteen years, it was a good day. A very good day indeed.

  

Le Bain du Nouvel An - Trestraou

"Un peu plus de 150 baigneurs ont célébré l’entrée dans l’année 2022, samedi en fin de matinée, à Trestraou. Seul, en famille, entre amis, jeunes ou moins jeunes, déguisé ou simplement vêtu d’un maillot de bain. Quinze degrés dans l’air, une eau autour de 10 degrés, un premier bain aux saveurs de printemps plutôt que d’automne qui a attiré son lot de spectateurs bien moins nombreux que lors de la dernière édition qui a eu lieu en 2020, l’édition 2021 ayant été annulée."

(https://www.letelegramme.fr/cotes-darmor/perros-guirec)

My first New Year's Day swim...

I don't look very happy but I was. It was lovely. 

A tad cold when I emerged after 30 minutes, and getting dressed with numb fingers and shivering limbs was not easy but it was worth it to have swum on New Year's Day.

The pictures give the impression that it was a cold, grey day. Au contraire, for most of the time the sun shone and it felt quite spring-like.

We were hoping to enjoy a vin chaud, or a hot chocolate but there were none in sight, so we drove to Trégastel and had coffee and a very sticky chocolate and caramel kouign amman instead.

Not a bad way to start 2022, was it?