Friday 31 May 2019We headed north to Brittany, arriving there as we crossed the impressive bridge over the Loire at Saint-Nazaire. 
Bridge. Saint-Nazaire.
Our first stop in Brittany was the chic resort of La Baule - six miles of beaches fronted by modern hotels. The expanse of fine sand was lined with beach restaurants. Some older hotels survive, especially at west end for example The Hotel Royal.The occasional fin de siècle house remained, sandwiched between blocks of hotels. Behind the seafront there were pleasant streets of older houses set among trees and parades of elegant shops - no kiss-me-quick hats, but high fashion and jewellery. The beach. was the resort of Beautiful People slim and fit and playing volley-ball.
Hotel, La Baule
Beach, La Baule
Hotels, La Baule
Hotels, La Baule
Hotel Royal, La Baule
Promenade, La Baule
House, La Baule
Hotel, La Baule
Beach, La Baule
Beach, La Baule
We continued on to one of our favourite places, La Roche-Bernard. It is set on a rocky outcrop near the mouth of the River Vilaine, the longest river to pass through Brittany at 220Km long. The rock is topped by a rusting cannon and at its foot, by the river. Beneath the bridge lies our campsite. It is a small peaceful site and a contrast to the previous night.
Vilaine. River. Roche-Bernard.
Canon. Roche-Bernard.
Bridge. Campsite in foreground. Roche-Bernard.
Vilaine. River. Roche-Bernard.
Street. From port to town. Roche-Bernard.
Saturday 1 June 2019We decided to visit the coast which was not sensible. Weekend traffic was queuing at roundabouts and traffic gridlocked. Eventually we extracated ourselves and returned to La Roche-Bernard (we had at least reserved our place for the evening). We strolled round the town, enjoyed a beer on the main squarewhere we found many English tourists. Nearby was a wedding party with car horns sounding and people in fancy dress. Most eventually ended up in the river ending up in river.
Sunday 2 June 2019Next morning we moved inland away from the weekend crowds and the heat, arriving in Redon with its marina and network of canals. A book festival was in progress in the cloisters of the church, Les Mysteriales, devoted to fantasy, science fiction and all things other-worldly with a fair proportion of bandes dessinées. The main square is an interesting and successful attempt to link both sides of the railway tracks by an open space with a landscaped underpass. It also has a number of half-timbered buildings.
Marina. Redon.
Canal. Redon.
Mystériales. Book festival. In cloisters. Redon.
Cloisters. Redon.
Cloisters. Redon.
Cloisters. Capital. Redon.
Church. From square with railway line crossing. Redon.
Street. Half-timbered buildings. Redon.
Canal. Redon.
Our next port of call was Ploërmel.
House. James II stayed here December 1690. Ploërmel.
Half timbered building. Ploërmel.
House of dukes. Ploërmel.
Gateway. Ploërmel.
Astronomical clock. With orrery. Ploërmel. Josselin is a beautiful town with a great variety of things to admire. Dominating the helf-timbered houses is the castle high above the Canal de Nantes à Brest. which was started by Napoleon to avoid the blockades of France's sea-borne trade. It was only completed in 1830s after much heavy labour by convicts cutting through rocks. In the church there is the important tomb of Olivier de Clisson, Seigneur de Bretagne and Connétable de France (1336-1407).
Garden. Josselin.
Houses. Half-timbered. Josselin.
Castle. Main gate. Josselin.
Castle. With Canal de Nantes à Brest. Josselin.
Castle. With Canal de Nantes à Brest. Josselin.
Castle. With Canal de Nantes à Brest. Josselin.
Castle. With Canal de Nantes à Brest. Josselin.
Church. Spire. Josselin.
Church. Gargoyles. Josselin.
Olivier de Clisson. Tomb. Seigneur de Bretagne. Connétable de France 1336-1407. Josselin.
Monday 3 June 2019We left the campsite in Loudeac without visiting town and made for Quintin, another town with a wide range of sites, the old town with its half-timbered houses set high above a lake. The church of Notre-Dame-de-Délivrance has grand approaches and inside there is a reliquary of Our Lady's girdle, much visited by pregnant women. There is also the medieval effigy of Jean II Lord of Quintin which suffered the indignity of being turned upside down and used as a doorstep. The grounds of the castle - or rather castles - were in use for a gastronomy festival which unfortunately was in the process of being cleared away when we visited.
Lake. Quintin.
Half-timbered buildings. Quintin.
Notre-Dame-de-Délivrance. Church. Approach. Quintin.
Castle. Garden. Quintin.
Notre-Dame-de-Délivrance. Church. Approach. Quintin.
River. Quintin.
Notre-Dame-de-Délivrance. Church. Quintin.
Castle. With insect hotel. Quintin.
Castle. With lake. Quintin.
Ceinture de Notre Dame. Reliquary. Quintin.
John II Lord of Quintin. Monument. Used as doorstep. Quintin.
Church. Pulpit. Saint Mark. Quintin.
Fountain. Quintin.
Church. Quintin.
Castle. Gateway. Gastronomy festival. Quintin. 
General view. Châtelaudrin.
We discovered an idyllic campsite in Pabu by an old linen mill on River Trieux. Run by Englishman and French wife who had taken it over from the municipal campsite. It was their first year running it as an ACSI campsite. They were sadly disappointed as it had not attracted the hoped for crowds. For us it was idylic however, and offset our disappointment with the site at Lelan Lapaju. They'd had a slow start to the season which meant they are unlikely to recoup the expensive fee for ACSI listing them (1100 Euros!). They'd had less interest from British visitors in view of the uncertainty over Brexit. He told us he would be taking out French citizenship and said he found it disappointing that Britain was turning away from the Continent it had fought so bravely to liberate 75 years ago. He had undertaken extensive research in French archives to prove ownership of picturesque weir beside the Milin Kerhe linen mill to prevent it from being dismantled and had been able to prove the mill mentioned in 1652 and so pre-dated the Revolution, which clarified his ownership. Much restoration waiting to be done by the commune and himself. They had ideas for redevelopment (gallery etc) but at present it served as a log store and home to colony of hundreds of Daubenton's bats. 
Chickens. Pabu.
Geese. Pabu.
Geese. Pabu.
Chickens. With Jill. Pabu.
Chickens. With Jill. Pabu.
Milin Kerhe. Linen mill. Pabu.
From a phonecall to Jill's siter Julie we learned that she was badly ill with bronchitis and being cared for by our daughter Kate. We decided to keep our weekend appointment with Joel but bring forward our return from 14th to 12th as Kate and family had a planned travel arrangement.
Tuesday 4 June 2019We madde our way to Roscoff in case we needed to pre-book our ferry stopping for a rainy walk around Morlaix.
Maison de Duchesse Anne. House. Morlaix.
Viaduct behind. Morlaix.
Viaduct behind. Morlaix.
Half-timbered houses. Morlaix.
Eglise des Jacobins. Church. Morlaix. We found the campsite we had used the last time we passed through Roscoff, on the northern outskirts of Saint Saint-Pol-de-Léon beside the sea within view of the ferry port and opposite the Rocher Sainte-Anne, an island connected to the mainland by a causeway with Carantec on the shore on the other side of the Penzé estuary.
Rocher Sainte-Anne. Island. Carantec beyond. Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
Rocher Sainte-Anne. Island. Carantec beyond. Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
Ferry port. From Saint-Pol-de-Léon. Roscoff.
Rocher Sainte-Anne. Island. Carantec beyond. Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
Wednesday 5 June 2019We made our usual visit to see what had happened to the house of Kate's clarinet teacher of many years ago. The house is in a tiny hamlet which it shares with a former ossuary, now converted into a holiday residence.
House. Mespaul.
House. Mespaul.
Ossuary. Mespaul. Lampaul-Guimiliau gained its wealth from tanneries - no less than 146 are recorded in the area in 1780. Although only a daughter-parish of Guimilieu its wealth enabled the community to erect a church with an extremely sumptuous and elaborate interior. Saint Miliau is less honoured than Saint Paul Aurelian, the first bishop of Leon. Its steeple at 75 metres high rivalled the mother church at St Pol-de-Léon, until it was struck by lightning in 1809. Dating from 1667 the ossuary is in pure classical style. The entombment is the work of a sculptor for the Navy in Brest (1676) it was originally housed in the ossuary.
Calvary. With steeple. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Ossuary. Door carving. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. North entrance. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. Saint Pol-de-Leon. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. Reredos. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. Stalls. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. Reredos. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. Virgin Mary?Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. Rood. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. Descent from the cross. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. Entombment. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. Interior. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. Baptistry. Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Church. Saint Pol-de-Leon. Lampaul-Guimiliau. Just a couple of kilometres down the road lies Guimilau itself, with at the entrance the Fontaine Saint Miliau, a holy well. Inside the church the Saint Miliau reredos shows various scenes from his life, praying with his family, his head in his hands after his martyrdom, his wife supporting him, distributing bread, encouraging the reapers and so on. A charming modern sculpture in a medieval style is La Fuite en Eqypte by Michel Quéré wh died in 1993.
Fontaine Saint Miliau. Holy well. Guimiliau.
Enclos. Guimiliau.
Calvary. Guimiliau.
Church. Sculpture. Guimiliau.
Saint Miliau reredos. Church. Reredos. Guimiliau.
Church. Beams. Guimiliau.
Fuite en Eqypte. Sculpture. By Michel Quéré. Guimiliau.
Calvary. Saint-Thégonnec.
Enclos. Saint-Thégonnec.
Ossuary. Saint-Thégonnec.
Church. Reredos. Saint-Thégonnec.
Church. Reredos. Saint-Thégonnec.
Church. Saint Pol-de-Leon. Saint-Thégonnec.
Church. Expulsion from Eden. Saint-Thégonnec.
Ossuary. Entombment. Saint-Thégonnec. In the late afternoon we visited the island of Rocher Sainte-Anne. On the way across the causeway we noticed a group of rambers who were somewhat out of their depth - the result of placing too much reliance on a sat-nav perhaps.
Rocher Sainte-Anne. Island. Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
Rocher Sainte-Anne. Island. Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
Rocher Sainte-Anne. Island. Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
Rocher Sainte-Anne. Island. Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
Rocher Sainte-Anne. Island. Saint-Pol-de-Léon. The third calvary in the classic enclos triangle is at Saint-Thégonnec.
Rocher Sainte-Anne. Island. Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
Thursday 6 June 2019To Roscoff to buy tickets for Sunday 9th ferry after problems with website. Genevieve sent reports of watching d-Day commemorations:
Les grandes commémorations du débarquement ont commencé hier à Portsmouth et aujourd'hui c'est en Normandie. Il y a, comme d'habitude beaucoup de cérémonies dans les cimetières, au Mémorial, et beaucoup de vétérans, anglais, américains, français aussi et énormement de "touristes", y compris des belges et hollandais.
Aujourd'hui jeudi, impossible de circuler à Caen et sur le périphérique, la vie est arrêtée dans la ville, les magasins sont fermés, et les caennais sont invités à ne pas aller travailler ... mais les écoles ne sont pas fermées, pourtant le trafic des bus est ralenti. Il faut dire que Trump et Macron déjeunent à la préfecture et un autre grand repas est prévu au Mémorial avec les autres chefs d'Etat (dont Teresa May qui ne démissionnera que demain de son poste).
On entend les hélicoptères (certains passent au dessus de mon jardin pour rejoindre le mémorial), les voitures de police, les sirènes , etc.
Et c'est ainsi depuis 3 semaines, un tel événement suppose évidemment beaucoup de préparatifs, surtout avec la venue de Trump qui, depuis son arrivée, ne cesse de dire des choses désagréables (même aux anglais). Il est évident qu'il vient ici pour son image électorale plus que pour promouvoir la paix et saluer les combattants.
Hier, j'ai regardé les cérémonies à Portsmouth, c'était très bien et les vétérans étaient vraiment à l'honneur et ont eu l'occasion d'exprimer leurs souvenirs et leurs émotions en rendant hommage à leurs compagnons tombés au combat. La Reine était là dans un délicieux tailleur rose (ainsi que le chapeau) et Téresa May en tailleur vert clair avec un chapeau chic, plus prévu pour une tenue de soirée que pour une telle cérémonie (cela m'a paru étrange) parmi tous les hommes en costume sombre ou en tenue militaire. Exception faite d'Angela Merkel serrée dans une de ses innombrables vestes - toujours un peu les mêmes - et sans chapeau. J'ai ri toute seule en essayant de l'imaginer dans les tailleurs rose et vert avec chapeau de cérémonie ... Non vraiment impossible de l'imaginer .... Il faudrait que vous regardiez les photos de cette cérémonie, à moins que vous ne l'ayez déjà fait, ce qui serait bien possible.
Le propos de la Reine était très court, mais très bien, tous les journaux ce matin en font l'éloge. Vive les Anglais!
We can add that the French reports of the ceremonies we have seen were very moving, so many veterans, mostly in their nineties, gathered together for the last time.
On our way westwards we stopped at Kerfissen, a remote headland surrounded by rocks and with a kiln for burning kelp (vraic in the Channel Islands) surrounded by flowers near the water's edge. These kilns were generally built on headlands exposed to the winds and were used to burn the kelp. This was usually done between May and October and the operation lasted an entire day, giving off a yellowish smoke. The end product was blocks of soda from which iodine could be extracted for pharmaceutical use. Five tonnes of green seaweed were needed to produce one tonne of dry vraic and five tonnes of vraic were needed to produce one ton of soda from which the factory could extract 5 to 15 Kg of iodine. The kilns were in the form of a trench about 10 meters long, 50 cm wide and 50cm deep divided into 20 compartments by stone slabs so that the blocks of soda, each of which weighed about 100 Kg could be extracted. It was in use until 1955 when the local factory closed.
Coastal view. Kerfissien.
Vrac kiln. Kerfissien.
Wild flowers. Kerfissien.
Thrift. Kerfissien. Just before Guissény lies Plouescat where we stopped to look at the recently restored market hall.
Market hall. Plouescat.
Friday 7 June 2019Overnight at Camping Le Vougot near Guisseny started to rain heavily and continuously. Woke to find ourselves surrounded by puddles of water. Waited for it to stop but about 11.30 managed to get Modestine under way. Able to email Joel who told us to come this evening. No point in exploring the beautiful coastline. Made for the LeClerc in Le Folguët, cafeteria and shopping for return and contribution towards our time with Joel. Joel had an appointment to play his bagpipes at a friend's house this evening. On arrival when demonstrating how to use the television while he was away Joel, a keen fisherman, was stunned to learn that three lifeboat men had lost their lives off Sables-d'Olonne as a result of storm Miguel, the worst summer storm for forty years. Like the RNLI the SNSM in France is funded by donations and run by volunteers - latter-day heroes 75 years on.
Lifeboats. Disaster report. Guissény.
Saturday 8 June 2019
Corbin. Wine label. Guissény. 
Seny. Saint. Legend. Text. Guissény.
Quillimadec. Beach. Jill beachcombing. Guissény.
Quillimadec. Beach. Jill beachcombing. Guissény.
Barrachou. Mission cross. 1860s. Guissény.
Barrachou. Rocks. Guissény.
Barrachou. Mission cross. 1860s. Guissény.
Sunday 9 June 2019
Visited Emanuel on way to port. Recently returned from taking school trip to England. This time found more xenophobia than on previous visits, V signs and hostile looks, For first time refused entry to a pub - could be bouncers advising that customers drunk and could cause trouble.
Emmanuel. Teacher. Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
Emmanuel. Teacher. Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
