Plage du Moulin, encore une fois

Yesterday I returned to Plage du Moulin for lunch with friends.

The sky was overcast but the sea temperature was perfect.
At least it was for a person who swims all year.
My friends found it a tad nippy.

As usual, I was first in, last out.
If I could, I'd spent 10 hours a day immersed in sea water.

We dined at a table outside and with our toes in the sand, which was what I'd requested when I called to make the researvation.
A kir cassis, fish and chips and ice cream, followed by coffee.
Parfait.

And then I collected the sea shells that I only ever find at that beach. I managed to accumulate a whole shoe full of shells, but on walking back across the beach I met a little girl who was digging furiously in the sand:
"Salut, qu-est-ce que tu cherches?' I asked.
"Salut. Rien, je fais simplement un trou."
"Un grand trou?" I asked.
"Je sais pas, je vais voir ce qui se passe..."
"Bonne idée. Tu veux un coquille?" I asked.
"Quelles belles coquilles! Oui s’il vous plaît !"

 
After I'd also handed out shells to her sisters, brother and her teenage cousin, my shoe was a lot lighter. But so was my heart. :)

When I caught up with my friends they asked why I was smiling.
"No reason, just that I love French kids," I told them.

 

 

Les Pécheurs du Plage du Moulin

Easter Sunday, and our first lunch at Plage du Moulin. 

I'd called to make a reservation, une table extérieure, les pieds dans le sable, which was a wise move because the restaurant was very busy. We sipped our Kir cassis and nibbled on a shared platter of meat and cheese appetisers, and smiled and said how lucky we are to live in Brittany, and how we never cease to appreciate our lives here...     

(https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066774700175)

And as we finished eating and were licking the last of the salted caramel ice cream from our glasses/plates/bowls, we were amazed to see hundreds of people descend on the beach armed with buckets, nets and little forks. 

People of all ages: alone, in groups and families. 

Those on the sand were looking for cockles...

Those in the sea were searching for scallops...

And the harvests were bountiful.

I tried hunting for cockles and discovered that it's easy: look for a small hole in the sand and dig down, but I'm not a fan of fruits de mer so all that I found I buried again. 

No, we were searching for seashells and little living creatures which can only be seen among the rocks and in the rock pools at low tide. 

Sue spotted this treasure: "Look," she said, "how this little piece of seaweed appears to be walking." 

We watched and realised, yes, it was walking. How curious. Sue scooped it up so we could examine it closely. The clump of seaweed was a cleverly camouflaged crab.

A little spider crab. 

"With 700 or more species of spider crab, it may be hard to explain each species. While most have spiny exoskeletons, very long legs, and a long body, there are some which don’t look much different than other kinds of crab. All spider crab do, however, have 10 legs with the first two tipped in claws. Many use the spines and hooks on their backs to purposefully attach seaweed, dead creatures, and other debris to them for extra camouflage. These species can be found all over the world, with some even being discovered in the depths of the Antarctic." 

(https://www.allthingsnature.org/what-is-a-spider-crab.htm)

I've met them before on a beach further up the coast but those guys were playing hide-and-seek in the sand, not dipping into the dressing-up box. 

Here's one I found which didn't live long and prosper...

It turns out Sue is really good at finding things: like this tiny ghost-like starfish...

I found some hermit crabs in pretty shells. Hermit crabs should be handled them with care: if they feel threatened they have been known to leap from the shell and scuttle, naked, away. 

Probably not the best form of defence? Streaking across the sand.

And some fascinating fucus: This one looked like a sea creature. We had to touch it to be sure it wasn't a lobster in disguise and when we stroked its 'back' it opened up like a fan.  

We clocked up a surprising 5 km walking on the beach and down to the shoreline at such a low tide. 

I had hoped to swim but there were too many pécheurs in the water and the sea was too low, even for a person of smaller height. And, actually, just wandering and observing and finding new things was enough fun for a change. 

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? 

 

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.

Chilling out on the Sentier des Douaniers

When the skies are Breton-blue and the wind is flexing its muscles, the best place to be is the Sentier des Douaniers...