I
have just been walking on the Ile de Groix, 10 kms off the south
Brittany coast. Tex (issued with his own ticket!) and I got an early
morning boat from Lorient and after a quick coffee/
pain au chocolat
in my favourite port café, set off westwards towards the
Cote sauvage.
At first this was re-tracing my steps of last year when I came in
search of the roots of Breton poet Jean-Pierre Calloch, who was killed
in WWI. His statue on a gorsey headland was just as moving on a second
visit. Then off into the loneliest part of the island - in fact I didn't
see a single other walker all this first day, just a small group of
bird-watchers on the nature reserve - and it proved a very long, very
hot walk with some spectacular scenery, like the Iron Age fort Camp des
Gaulois, and some infuriatingly poor signage adding extra kilometres. A
local kindly then provided a lift to the villlage in the interior for
our overnight stop, and a really pleasant experience this turned out to
be (thank you Christiane). Walked into the
bourg of Loctudy to pick up food and then both dog and I very happy to lie down for the rest of the evening.
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| Hot dog under a megalith |
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| Garnet-encrusted rocks |
The
next day we started off early for the Trou d'Enfer, before continuing
along the south coast to a welcome stop at the bar in Locmaria before
following the sea past the Viking burial spot to the geologically famous
section with its blue and green rocks, many studded with garnets, and
everywhere the micaschiste shimmering like silver and gold. It was even
hotter than the first day and I decided to change the plan and take a
long rest on a beautiful beach with some welcome cooling of the feet
(all six of them) in the sea before striking off inland. Unlike many of
the Breton islands, the interior of Groix is quite varied and
interesting. I was surprised to discover a good-sized lake, luckily with
a shady seat. After a long slog back to the bourg and a brief ice-cream
stop, we went down to the port and waited for the boat back.
So that's the summer holiday over. Just as well there's the World Cup, Wimbledon and the Tour de France to keep me occupied...
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