{"id":549,"date":"2018-10-11T18:07:09","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T18:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=549"},"modified":"2026-08-18T20:54:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T20:54:50","slug":"euro-travellers-2018-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=549","title":{"rendered":"EURO-TRAVELLERS 2018. 17"},"content":{"rendered":"

17\u00a0 SARZEAU AND HOME<\/strong><\/p>\n

I guess this will the last missive in this series.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you will be delighted to hear this news! Ecstatic, even!\u00a0 Unless we miss the ferry, of course!<\/p>\n

Yesterday we did indeed find another shady spot to read our books.\u00a0 To be fair, it wasn’t new to us.\u00a0 We’d admired the slow ebb and flood of the tide over the flats from this vantage point in previous years.\u00a0 Before settling down we managed a couple of miles around the mini-peninsula.\u00a0 The coast path took us past The Passage. This hamlet is well described by it’s name sitting, as it does, on the narrowest point between the North and South coasts of the Gulf.\u00a0 There is a small foot-ferry which crosses the passage.\u00a0 It has “variable” hours of operation so we have never ventured to cross.\u00a0 It would be a hell of a walk back around the eastern end of the Gulf should Monsieur Le Ferry-Homme decided to knock off for a four hour lunch-break or worse still, go home early!<\/p>\n

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The Passage and nearby islet.<\/span><\/p>\n

While we were reading our books, I was keeping a discreet watch on the score in the England vs Sweden World Cup quarter-finals.\u00a0 In fact, we got home in time to see the last 10 minutes of the game.\u00a0 Apparently it’s been 28 years since we made the semis and of course nearly 260 years since we won the competition!\u00a0 Keep dreaming!<\/p>\n

We had planned to take our chairs and a bottle of wine down to the beach for the “last of the evening sun”.\u00a0 (I think we could consider making a TV show by that name!)\u00a0 But in the event, we spent the time chatting with some OSPs.\u00a0 Hilton and Liz from Lyme Regis and Guitar Mick and Pam from Birmingham.<\/p>\n

We woke early on Sunday morning (05.30) with a plan to walk more of the coastal path in the cool.\u00a0 Well, one of us did! I was all for staying asleep for a bit.\u00a0 In the event, by mid-morning, the full walk around the Brissac headland was going to be too long and too hot so we did half and retreated to the car.\u00a0 The village of Brissac is another pretty little place on the gulf shore. It comes complete with its own in-town menhir and lots of Hollyhocks.<\/p>\n

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Walking around Brissac complete with menhir.<\/span><\/p>\n

After, we headed to St Jacques for a coffee on the beach.\u00a0 Since our last visit, the road along the sea-front has been narrowed, the parking restricted (from maybe 70 spaces to five) and the cafes gentrified (along with their prices!).\u00a0 At least the local officials have managed to avoid Club Micky installations on the plages!\u00a0 And they have added a couple of off-street car parks.\u00a0 So, well done for that!<\/p>\n

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The beach at St Jaques<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem locally looks far more to do with second homes.\u00a0 I would say that in some places un-occupied houses account for 95-100% of the accommodation.\u00a0 And, bearing in mind we are now in the second week of July, it must be absolutely deserted in Winter.<\/p>\n

It was so hot that we retreated to the beach after starting a walk from St Jaques towards St Guildas de Rhuys.\u00a0 We must have got all of 100 metres before turning the expedition into a theoretical one!\u00a0 This could be controlled from our deck chairs while lounging in the shade on St Jaques’ prom!\u00a0 And as we are well into multi-tasking, we were able to read our books and eat ice-creams at the same time.<\/p>\n

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Our “walk” at St Jaques.<\/span><\/p>\n

All was peaceful until about 100 members of the Rhuys Peninsula Rambling Club stopped at our lookout to go for a paddle, have a packed lunch, take a breather, play a game of Scrabble, catch up on the day’s gossip… (in various combinations and orders).\u00a0 In the late afternoon (our last of this trip) we relocated yet again.\u00a0 This time to our “local” beach as it was so hot.\u00a0 There was a pair of us sheltering under a golfing umbrella attached to Glenda’s chair – trying to look and feel cool.\u00a0 Several swims in the sea helped with the latter – especially as I was wearing my recently purchased “budgie smugglers”.\u00a0 Delightful!\u00a0 I mean the beach and swim were delightful, clearly!\u00a0 We stayed almost until sunset as the temperature plummeted to a pleasant 20ish degrees.<\/p>\n

That brings us to today.\u00a0 Monday.\u00a0 Ferry Day.\u00a0 Obviously we were going to start early and drive non-stop to Roscoff.\u00a0 Where we would join the queue in poll position.\u00a0 Obviously!\u00a0 Well, we got moving by about 9 am which wasn’t at all bad for us.\u00a0 And, apart from a little tension on the N165 round Vannes when the traffic came to a standstill.\u00a0 The emergency services were removing a car which appeared to have rolled over in the outside lane.\u00a0 A bit of panic consideration about a detour by the navigator proved un-necessary as there was no exit before the accident.\u00a0 Luckily, only a 10 minute delay.<\/p>\n

We decided not to stop at the cafe where last year we dillied and dallied long enough to extend our stay by a day.\u00a0 However, we needed a coffee and spotted a closed, dormant looking place – Le Relais des Montagnes Noires – on the side of the road north from Lorient. Sadly, the coffee was cold and they had no hot milk. However, they did have a very attractive lunch which was starting in half an hour.\u00a0 Sadly, we don’t really have a spare 30 minutes.\u00a0 However, le patron said he’d get cooking immediately for a quick lunch!<\/p>\n

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Our last buffet starters of the trip.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, it would have been churlish to decline – so we didn’t!\u00a0 Another multi-component buffet for starters.\u00a0 Then a choice of steak, guinea fowl or loup de mer followed by cheese and a choice of desserts.\u00a0 Unlimited wine and coffee were included for the bargain price of \u20ac13.\u00a0 This reduced our time at The Red Bus (wine shop) to 15 minutes – but at least we made the ferry queue on time.<\/p>\n

So there you have it!\u00a0 Le tour de France (and Spain and Portugal).\u00a0 The sea was flat calm again and the crossing very routine.\u00a0 Nobody fell overboard – although the clown got close to being thrown over the rails for his bad jokes.\u00a0 Only one car – a Range Rover – hobbled off the ferry at Plymouth with its tyre removed from the rim – presumably by one of the truck anchoring points.<\/p>\n

Home.\u00a0 Clearing up.\u00a0 Gardening.\u00a0 Washing.\u00a0 Mail.\u00a0 Appointments.\u00a0 Need another holiday already!<\/p>\n

Our Route looked a bit like this!\u00a0 Obviously we didn’t go in straight lines though…<\/p>\n\t