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? 

 

Pink Granite Therapy - June 5th

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...  

  

Exploring l'Île Grande

It's been a long, grey. wet winter hasn't it?

And now we have the corona virus to stress us.

I freely admit to not thriving during the winter months and that at the first sign of anything even close to spring, I head for the coast to inhale some sea air and to soak in sea water.

But it can't always be Trégastel. Well, it could, there's no reason why I shouldn't keep returning to my favourite town. It's just that there are so many other wonderful places here that it would be a shame not to explore them, wouldn't it?

So a couple of months ago, before France entered its strict lockdown,  I headed for l'Île Grande in the commune of Pleumeur-Bodou...

I had printed the details of a walking tour of the island but it's 7 km and I was concerned that Tashi might not cope well with such a distance and as I would not be able to carry him back to the car should he suffer another stroke, we settled for a more manageable walk.

Here's the link to the walk 

After driving onto the island we turned left and found a car park with, happily, the convenience of public toilets, and set off on a path between the dunes towards the sea...

And this is what we found ... les dunes de Toul Gwenn 

L'est de I'Ile Grande, abrité, est caractérisé par les dunes de Toul Gwen. Ces dunes bordent la baie de Keryvon et font face à la légendaire Ile D'Aval. Le contraste entre la marée basse et la maeée haute est saissant et illustre bien le phénomène des marées.
(http://www.bretagne-cotedegranitrose.com/)

I say it every time, this coastline is so beautiful I am never tempted to go anywhere else.

The sand is smooth and clean, although closer to the water it's of that sinky spongy consistency that makes me worry that I'll lose my shoes or, worse still, sink to my knees, but it's a perfect place to walk a dog...

In the distance I could see some waves so we headed back to the car to drive further up the coast in search of some surf.

The video doesn't really do justice to the strength of the sea. Those waves were at least 5 feet but I couldn't resists at least attempting to capture the power of nature.

I'd thought I might swim. I'd donned my swimsuit, just in case, because I've learned during the last three years that it's best to be prepared in case the urge to dive in is too strong to resist. Yes, I swim even in winter. But the wind was too strong and the tide too high and the waves too wild...

Even I, famous for having fought several strong currents and once, in a kayak, having to battle against a rip tide, even I would not risk those waves...

We stopped following the path when we reached this guy.

From a distance I thought it was a fellow walker pausing to rest on a bench but no,  it's a sculpture to recognise the hard work of the people who worked here cutting granite from the cliffs.  

As this sign explained...

this rusty old wheel was part of the mechanism for hauling the granite from the cliffs

A sign warning people not to steal the pebbles.
They are very pretty pebbles and I am quite keen to use them to decorate my house and to remind me of days on the beach but here they protect the coastline.

A Breton house. This is a style much loved in this part of France.

We left l'Île Grande in search of a nearby menhir, which deserves its own post. That will have to wait, today I am heading to Locquirec to explore a new beach and, I hope, to enjoy a long, cold swim.

Beaches of Brittany - Trestrignel

One of the benefits of being a freelancer is that I can, to some extent, decide how to spend my days. And in summer that means checking out the beaches in Brittany.

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...

Is it a hotel?  We wondered.
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.

Maybe we will manage one last summer day at the beach before the winter sets in, although if the weather is stormy and wild that would be equally acceptable 😉.

Shall we have a final Maurice Denis?
I think it's very fitting.