Brittany | Hand Luggage.

Farewell Brittany

Posted on February 2, 2017 by collymarples

Well folks we’ve come to the end of the whirlwind stomp through the beautiful Brittany.

One of the final stops is Audierne, a charming Breton harbour town with bustling quays and historic narrow streets.

We’re law abiding folks – if the sign says wait here, then wait we will!

This colourful restaurant display catches my eye with its vivid flags and colourful flowers.

I particularly enjoy this vivid blue bike draped in colourful flowers.

Audierne has some detailed street art that is just begging to be snapped . . .

A bustling little street market lures us in with colourful postcards, squashes and other produce.

Naturally the man gravitates towards the patisserie and coffee stalls . . .

There’splenty of traditional architecture to be found from delightful wooden shutters to a floral cornucopia.

Then it’s onto the next town as our holiday clock counts down its final hours.

We make a brief stop at the picturesque village of Le Faou is towards the western end of Brittany.

It is listed among the most beautiful villages in France and falls within the boundaries of the Armorique Regional Natural Parc.

Although Le Faou is small the buildings in the centre are very interesting, with many of them built in stone and others half-timbered with their wooden facades covered in vertically placed slates.

Houses where the upper stories protrude over the ground floor in this way are called ‘maisons à encorbellement’ and can be seen in many places in France with intact medieval centres.

In Le Faou most of these ‘maisons en pan de bois’ houses are grouped together along the main street in the village centre and date from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, although the method of construction was banned in 1561 because of the fire risk.

Our final stop is the beach – no pictures of that so instead enjoy this snap of a colourful concrete shed as the final image of the trip!

Well that’s it for Brittany everyone. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Now it’s onto possibly THE MOST EXCITING TRIP EVER!!!!!!!!!! . . . .. . .

Loctudy evening

Posted on January 21, 2017 by collymarples

One of my favourite things when on holiday is the proximity to the beach – at any time of day.

Our lovely Bretton gite was no exception as we were 10 minutes walk away from a sweet little stretch of sand.

The man and I enjoyed an evening stroll to the little harbour to watch the sun set on another jam packed day.

I love the golden honey of the evening sun as it coats everything in a cosy, warm glow.

It’s a wonderful end to yet another fantastic Bretton day.

Locronan

Posted on December 18, 2016 by collymarples

Our next Breton stop is the beautiful little village of Locronan. A shame it’s a drizzly day.

This exquisite village in west Finistère occupies a long-sacred spot named after a revered Irishman who settled here in the Dark Ages.

Saint Ronan is greatly venerated in Brittany. He was an Irish Christian missionary of the 6th century who came to the region to teach the people. As his association with Locronan is close, some of his relics are kept in the parish church.

From the late Middle Ages, sail-making brought prosperity, and an exceptionally handsome architectural legacy.

The village’s beauty stems from the success of local weavers and merchants, who supplied fine sails not just to the French navy, but also to English and Spanish clients.

Locronan’s grandest houses, with their remarkable dormer windows, are mainly 18th century.

The solid Renaissance houses with traditional roofs and cobbled streets ooze history and will transport you back to the past.

Some of the stunning old buildings house beautiful boutique shops and retailers including this mouth watering chocolatiers.

The village’s name means the “hermitage of Ronan”, from the Breton lok which means hermitage, and after its founder Saint Ronan. It has previously been known as Saint-René-du-Bois.

Locronan is a member, unsurprisingly, of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (“The most beautiful villages of France”) association.

This tiny, picture postcard village has just 800 residents.But this swells in summer with an endless influx of tourists, all after a glimpse of its charms.

One of the shops is jam packed full of traditional produce from the local region.

There’s honey, tinned fish and sweets.

You can also pick from a plethora of ales, beers and speciality brews.

All over the village are a wealth of gorgeous little details such as this quirky shop sign.

Next we explore the wonderful old church and the rest of the village, all while dodging the incessant drizzle!.

Les Sables Blanc

Posted on December 9, 2016 by collymarples

This post is mainly dedicated to the lovely Les Sable Blanc (white sands) beach close to our gite in Loctudy.

To the west of Loctudy, on the limit of Lesconil, the beach of Sables Blancs is the most beautiful beach of Loctudy and the biggest one.

It’s vast – stretching for about 750 meters, in an arc of circle, composed of white sand and lined with dunes, it offers a magnificent view of Lesconil.