2019 Tour of Brittany (France) Part 11 - Poulennou near Port Neuf - Lampaul Plouarzel

Thursday 8th August 2019 ⛅⛅⛆☂⛆☔⛅⛅
Mileage 41 from Poulennou to Kerros
Parking Co-ordinates 48.56651, -4.69887

This morning we left our Camping Car Park Aire with about 8 mins to spare!  We'd entered it on Monday at 11.15ish and left today at 11.03 so if our timing had been any worse we'd have gone into a 4th 24 hour period and been charged for another day😟!

Our next stop (after shopping and re fuelling) was an Aire in the town of Lilia which proved to be very popular, but other than for the fact that it was free we couldn't really see why!  Lilia is just another small French town and not one that was particularly appealing on this grey drizzly day.   However, it's one major claim to fame (apart from it's beaches) is that Europe's tallest lighthouse stands near it's shores.  It's sited on Ile Vierge which is an islet just over a mile out to sea, and not only is it the tallest in Europe at 271 feet, it's the tallest 'Traditional' lighthouse in the world, and although it's automated the site is still manned for 365 days of the year!

But after our wet walk getting a decent pic was almost impossible, and from where we stood it didn't really look very tall at all😕!  Therefore, just so we don't forget  I pinched one from Wiki!

Because of the rain and the forthcoming weather prediction (more wind and rain) we couldn't quite decide whether to stay put or move on, but as the town had little to offer we did the latter and ended up in a more sheltered (but still coastal) Aire at Prat Leac'h Kerros.  However at this point there was still plenty of day left so a cuppa was had and then we ventured out to see the anchor of the wrecked Amoco Cadiz.

Apparently there would have been 2 of these!

Unfortunately, there was no English info at the site but later Wiki informed us that

''On the 16th March 1978 in a southwesterly gale the Amoco Cadiz  passed Ushant at the western tip of Brittany heading for Lyme Bay in the UK.  At 9.46 am the tanker was north of Ushant and 16 nautical miles west of Portsall and she turned to avoid another ship and her rudder jammed full over to port.  The Captain shut down the engines and attempted to make repairs but they were not successful.  Meanwhile the wind was driving the ship towards the coast and by the time the tug boat 'Pacific' had attached a line the Amoco Cadiz had drifted another 6 miles closer to shore.  For 2 hours the tug struggled to slow the vessel's drift but then the cable snapped and the captain of Amoco Cadiz turned his engines on full astern and this helped to slow the ships drift.  At 7pm the captain shut down the engines so the tug could try again.  The tanker dropped one anchor but the flukes broke off and at this point the tanker was drifting towards Portsall Rocks.  A new tow line was attached but the Amoco Cadiz hit a rock soon after and began to leak oil.  At 9.30pm near the Corn-Carhai Lighthouse a rock ripped a hole in the ship and flooded the engine room and the severe weather resulted in the complete breakup of the ship before any of the oil could be pumped out resulting in the entire cargo of crude oil and 4,000 tons of fuel oil being spilt into the sea. The total spill amounted to 220,880 metric tonnes of oil''

A Pic from the info board showing the tanker sinking!

Friday 9th August 2019 - A very windy day!🌀🌀⛆⛅⛅🌞🌞
About 7 👣👣 miles


Because today proved to be a wild and windy one we decided to stay put and enjoy another coastal walk - but it was certainly one where you needed to hold onto your hat!!

So really I haven't got much else to say because over my last few posts I think I've already exhausted all the adjectives I know concerning the beauty of Brittany's well kept secrets.  However, it seems that the French are well aware of them because I recently read a survey that told how given the choice between here and the Cote d'Azur (South of France)  many would choose Brittany.  But even with that thought in mind and the fact that we're in the main holiday season, we've still enjoyed vast swaths of loveliness where there hasn't been another person in sight!

And at coffee time we were even lucky enough to find a comfy rock on a beach without even a seagull in sight😂😂😂!

Saturday 10th August 2019 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌀🌀
Mileage 15 from an Aire at Kerros to an Aire at Lampaul Plouarzel
Parking Co-ordinates 48.44765, -4.777

Today we've moved a little bit further up the coast to a magnificent Aire at Lampaul Plouarzel where for the very modest price of €7.20/night we've once again got lovely coastal views.

The View from our Windscreen

And looking back up from the Coastal Path.  T4rdis2 is the last van on the left!

From our perch we can just about see the island of Ushant (Ouessant) which is where the Amoco Cadiz drama started to unfold, and it seems that the waters around here are some of the most dangerous on the French coast with not only lethal rocks and reefs but also with some of the swiftest currents in Europe.  Therefore, maybe we shouldn't have been surprised when we strained our eyes to spy 2 lighthouses on the horizon but it seems there are several more, but all far to far away to take any pics.

Once settled in we nipped out for a short exploration of the area but because I've got a bit of a 'sore paw' (left foot) we made it into a bench walk!  It seems that all the benches on our walk could be located on the Maps Me App that John uses, and one was conveniently placed at about half mile intervals so we took full advantage of them and stopped to admire the crashing waves that were yomping ashore chucking  flumes or spray high into the air on the incoming tide.

Just one of our 4 benches😀

Sunday 11th August 2019 🌞🌞⛅⛆⛆🌞🌞🌞🌞🌀🌀
About 6  👣👣 miles

Today Barry White's 1972 single 'Walking in the Rain with the One I Love'  came to mind, and along with that we trekked to what, in by gone days, was known as 'the end of the known world', and also we picnicked above the spot where The English Channel (La Manche) and The Atlantic (L'Atlantique) meet!

Pointe de Corsen - the end of the known world (finis terrae)
The most westerly point in France 

When we checked the weather forecast this morning it had promised sunshine till about 4pm, but not unusually, it was wrong, and after we'd only been walking for about half an hour the heavens opened and we got drenched😕!  But hey ho - we'd got waterproofs and in  the very strong winds we were soon blown dry, and after that the sun managed to shine for most of the rest of the day!

Another bench stop 😂😂

Along our way, apart from the towering 150 feet high cliffs, we found a washing machine!!

A Lavoir

Apparently these 'tubs' were popular right up into the late 20th Century, and they were specifically put in place for people to wash their clothes.  They usually had a spring to feed them and they would slowly drain from the opposite side so the water was usually fairly clean.

And what I thought was maybe a grave for a very tall person!

But No 😂😂!  It was a kiln used for burning seaweed.  It would be filled with dried seaweed and fires would be kept burning around it for several days.  The end product was used as fertiliser for the fields or to feed animals but the smoke it produced used to fill the coastal bays with white smog.  However, in the 17th century a more novel use was discovered!  Algae were incinerated to obtain soda which is a basic component needed to make glass, and as the algae bestowed a green colour the glass produced was often used for wine bottles!

Our walk had been another there and back one but if anything our walk home was even more scenic (but much drier) because by that time the tide was almost fully in and we had the pleasure of seeing the waves crashing up the cliffs.    Additionally, when we got back to the van 'the sun had got his hat on and was out to play', so out came our chairs and we sat on our hill top looking out over the Aire and more distantly out to sea.  And while we were watching lots more vans were arriving - one parked on one side of us and then not much later another parked on the other side, and as they were both Italians John's comment was 'Bloody ell, it just feels as if we're the filling in a pizza now'😂😂😂!

Tomorrow will be another moving day but not far, and we'll see you when we get there!
😗😗

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