Golfe de Morbihan Boat Cruise

June 22, 2019

What can I say about a tourist boat cruise? It wasn't expensive (26€ for the whole day and we went about 50 km) and seems to be one of the popular things to do in the area, given the numbers of tour boats and of people on them.

Locmariaquer was the starting point for this Angelus cruise, but the first stop was Port Navalo across the entrance to the Golfe de Morbihan. It's very close across the water but 65 km (I think I heard) by road. Then up the Rivière d'Auray to Bono, with the last bit up a tributary, Rivière du Bono. It was nice enough, but not spectacular. We returned to Locmariaquer where river-cruise-only passengers disembarked and gulf-cruise-only passengers boarded. Same again at Port Navalo.

Classic old suspension bridge, Bono. Classic sailboat too. I think I heard the captain say the bridge had been designed by Eiffel.

The classic boat. I saw another one like this the next day. I can't imagine what it would be like to sail on the open sea. Exhilarating, wet, and frightening come to mind.

The cruise in the Golfe de Morbihan was again, pleasant but not a don't-miss. Maybe I'm jaded because I've cycled so much coastline now... The way to explore this area would be by kayak, but I don't know where one would be able to land. I think it would have been better if I could follow the captain's commentary, but his rapid French combined with PA distortion and lack of clear context generally left me with understanding only the geographic points he was indicating. There were stories and jokes too, I think, judging from other passengers' reactions.

At 1230 we were dropped off on Île-aux-Moines, like (it seemed) all passengers from all harbour cruises. We could then take the 1345 or the 1545 sailing back to our port of origin. Don't miss that one!

The port on Île-aux-Moines is, of course, lined with restaurants. I picked one at random and decided to try moules once again. I'd had them in La Rochelle and they weren't that good, but Marie-Claire, a Breton, told me that was because it was too early and that season for moules doesn't begin until June. That might be the reason, but I had moules crème and they were fantastic! Now I understand why so many people around me at various restaurants were eating them (and maybe why they hadn't been so great when I had them in Vancouver).

I decided to stay for the later sailing since I had no plans back on "the continent". I went for a walk and saw yet more menhirs.

There was a tiny, free, museum too. I think this is the local traditional costume for women.

Also in the museum: Wooden shoes, plus platforms for the mud? Sort of like snowshoes...

The beach nearest the port, Île-aux-Moines. I always wonder what the rows of little huts are for. I've never seen them on Canadian beaches, only European ones.

Unprocessed version of photo above; to be removed when comments transferred.

Back at the port, it was still busy with boats dropping off and collecting passengers. The return trip was more of the same, except the wind had dropped. It had been quite windy in the morning so it had been comfortable (necessary!) to wear my microfleece, a good thing since sun plus wind generally equals a burn.

That's our boat coming in. The bigger one to the left is docked where we unloaded earlier.

The mussel beds at Locmariaquer are visible now at lower tide. The sticks in the background are for oysters. I think. Or maybe I'm totally confused and these are oysters?

Back in Locmariaquer, I checked out restaurants. Nothing that seemed any better than back at the campground. But, riding back to the campground, I spotted a hotel-bar-restaurant and went in to see if they served dinner. Remember, in Brittany, many restaurants only do a midday service. They did, so I reserved.

It was close enough to walk back for dinner and my table was waiting. I opted for the four-course menu, still under 20€. I had St-Jacques à la Breton (scallops in a creamy gratin), an "assiette de crudités" (veggies!), salmon in a butter sauce with steamed potatoes (the potatoes and sauce were delicious but the salmon was too undercooked for my liking), and "quartier-quart" or something like that for dessert (pound cake with caramel sauce and crème anglaise). All accompanied by a small pichet of white wine. Much better than last night's pizza and not much more expensive.

Today's ride: 4 km (2 miles)
Total: 3,057 km (1,898 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	4
Comment on this entry	Comment	0