Tapp's Travels

We’ve heard there’s a lot of French folk literally making money while the sun shines!  We are off to check out this scam.  It sounds too good to be true!  It probably is!  But first, we are back in La Turballe.  Heading south along the coast, the road deteriorates into what is really just a beach access lane.  We are driving to Pen Bron.  There just happens to be a naturist beach on the way.  I really didn’t know that!  Honestly!  We didn’t even visit the beach at this point, although there might well have been a volley ball match going on down there.

At the end of the road there was a closed barrier as the route transmogrified into the grounds of a hotel.  A huge hotel.  We approached the barrier preparing to do a 180° turn.  Glenda hopped out, read all the instructions but hadn’t a clue what to do.  No “call for help” button.  She started pressing random buttons.  Our house alarm code seemed to do the trick and the barrier started to open.  OK,  big brother is watching us.  There was a huge notice with some useful numbers.  Who to call for assistance with luggage.  Where to find the defibrillator.  The date of the next service in the chapel (June 2021).  Directions to the ferry.  Information indicating the ferry was not operating.  But no instructions on who to call to let us out again.  Living dangerously, we overlooked that last point, drove in and parked under the shade of an enormous pine tree.  We walked the last couple of hundred metres past some of the hotel buildings.  The place was absolutely enormous, but the carpark was totally empty.

We were hoping for a coffee or a beer or two.  But there was nowhere open.  In fact the whole place was shut up and beginning to look sadly un-loved.  There was a degree of institutional decrepitude in the air.

Well, getting out could be more of a problem than we first thought!  There will be no one with whom to debate our position!  Our map (courtesy of Mr Google) indicated there was a chapel in the hotel grounds.  Unusual, but maybe that will be useful when praying to be allowed out!!!  Oh well, we are in here now, let’s explore.  Walking as far south as we could (away from the naturist volley ball match, obviously).  We passed the defunct (at least temporarily) ferry landing quay.  And there just ahead of us was the town of Le Croisic.  About 200 m away.  Loads of coffee shops and bars almost within touching distance.  Had the ferry been running!

With no ferry, it’s a 25 km trip by road through the Marais Salants de Guérande …  and we’ve still got to get past that pesky barrier!

Subsequent research about the chapel revealed that the “hotel” had, in fact, been a sanitorium!  Here’s a photo showing what the chapel and sanitorium looked like prior to it’s closure.

It was constructed there in 1887 “to treat tuberculous children with sun-therapy and sea-water bathing”.  It was later used as a rehab centre and finally closed its doors in 2017.

In the event, our nemesis opened for us as we got close.  No worries!  We decided to skip coffees in Le Croisic, but we wanted to visit Guérande.  The road through the marshes was very narrow and twiddley.  Meandering past the millions of salt pans.  This brings us to the money-making scheme!

Seawater and sunshine – and hey presto salt!

Salt has historically served as a form of currency in various cultures due to its essential nature for food preservation and seasoning, and its relative scarcity in some regions.  The word “salary” itself is derived from the Latin word “salarium,” which referred to the allowance of salt provided to Roman soldiers, highlighting the significance of salt as a valuable commodity.  While not a universal currency, salt has been used in barter systems, as a medium of exchange, and even as a unit of accounting in some societies.  Salt bars could be broken into smaller pieces for smaller transactions, making it suitable for various exchange purposes.

And here’s a local rich man!  The trouble with this currency is that it can’t be hidden under the bed, it’s hard to hide from the tax man and it devalues in heavy rain!

At this point we should note that, in Spain, we had bought some pretty tasteless, but very spreadable  mantaquilla.  (Spanish butter to you and me.)  As soon as we hit France, we bought some “Buerre avec sel de Guérande”.  Very tasty – with salt crystals.  Probably as bad for you as you can get on the butter counter.  Fat AND salt!  But as I said – very tasty.  We’ve still got the Spanish mantaquilla in the fridge more than two weeks after we arrived home but, the salty stuff is long since finished!

We eventually got to Guérande which was in party mode apparently because of a cat.

A very pretty town, with lots of historical buildings and the compulsory church.  And some of our first French crèpes.

Now, back to the cat.  The “Chat Déambule” – the “Wandering Cat”.

He’s famous, apparently.  Personally, I’ve never heard of him (or her).  This summer, the world of Philippe Geluck is taking root around the ramparts of Guérande.  From June to September, the town is hosting an exhibition of the famous bronze statues of the Cat, an iconic character from Belgian comics.  These are set up outdoors around the ramparts for a stroll that’s said to be as funny as it is philosophical.  Here is one of the bronzes, “The God of the Stadium “.

Well, that’s naturist volley ball, salt, money and wandering cats covered.  Before we headed home, we had a short coastal walk at Lérat near Piriac.  I’ve picked up a bottle of sea water as an investment!

[As an aside, as I write this bit on 16 July, I’ve discovered it’s National Snake day today!  So many useless facts!]

Time to move further north – to Matignon not a million kilometres from Dinan.  That’s another story of fabulous beaches, golf courses, castles and lighthouses.

But we can’t have an episode without reference to sirens of one sort or another.  (And I’m discounting tales of naked volley ball players here!).  I’ve just heard that mobile phones across the UK will emit a loud, unavoidable siren at 3 pm on Sunday, September 7.  This is part of a nationwide test of the UK Government’s emergency alert system.  The alarm, which will sound for around 10 seconds even if phones are on silent.  This is part of a drill to prepare for real-life emergencies. A warning message will flash on screens, clearly stating it’s just a test, and users can simply swipe it away or press ‘OK’.  Maybe!  I foresee chaos!  Obviously “President” Starmer has agreed more than he’s been admitting to with President Macron and the EU!