Day 60: St Samson to Lannion

May 25, 2018

In Brittany we have felt that while we are France it is enough different that it is not quite France. We did not feel that way in any of the other regions. And now, in Brittany, we have changed from crossing it south to north to bouncing along the coastline. And while we recognize that we are in Brittany, it does not feel at all like the Brittany we got used to over the past days.

The difference is that today we have been plunged into a marine environment. There are some big clues to this - like the beach and the sea, of course. The day also began with thick fog. Through the fog we could see the many small boats, grounded by low tide, and houses that are mainly white and reminiscent in shape of Cape Cod, or maybe our own Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

If we had wanted to quickly blow through to St Malo or Mont St Michel we could have struck out cross country and avoided the infinite number of ins and outs of the coastline. But we are here to do the Tour de Manche (Channel Tour) and that means following the coast. This means a lot of ups and downs, as the road descends to the beach and rises to headlands before descending again.

The "Manche" is out there in the fog, somewhere!

This is a maritime environment, unlike any others on this trip.

If we are down this low, we'll be climbing again immediately.

As we would look out across a bay at the buildings, they appeared to be almost entirely white. But lots of the building right beside us as we pedaled were almost impossibly quaint - and made of stone. The two styles are very different. Have a look:

Many of the white houses are really nice too.

We passed through places like Plougasnou and Locquirec, getting endless fun from saying these names to each other. A good moment came when we passed out of the Departement of Finisterre and into Cote d'Armor. That's because Cote d'Armor has a series of five maps covering the coastal cycle route, which they call "La Littorale". These show the coast in nice detail on one side, and describe things to see on the other. Being able to see where you are in detail but in an easy to see format really can increase the enjoyment of a route.

We rolled through Plestin and Saint Efflam on our new map, enjoying the beaches, stranded boats, quaint houses, etc. and patiently urging our bikes up the steep climbs. There were other sights too, like cows filing into a field after milking, and some small crops of artichokes.

Finally we came to Saint Michel en Greve. The town was just finishing its small Friday morning market , in front of the church, which faces the sea. On the beach below the church, many school children seemed to be participating in some sort of field day - or beach day. The church was interesting, with a yard of tombs facing the sea, and with a unique steeple design. We were in time to notice one of the market vendors pulling their extension cord from an outlet in the church yard, and that gave us the idea of plugging our bikes in there. So we did that, securing the bikes only with their cafe locks, and sallied gaily off to the restaurant across the street for their plat du jour.

The plat du jour was "souris d'agneau", which I thought was going to be medallions of lamb, but which turned out to be maybe a front shoulder, on the bone. It was very good, and better for me because I was able to get it with "frites"!

Saint Michel en Greve with school kids on the beach.

A rare maritime graveyard. These are family tombs, with more than one person often represented. The little granite plaques seem to either designate additional family members laid to rest, or are kind of off the shelf memorials with inscriptions like "To my dear aunt"

A rather bloodthirsty statue above the main altar

From Saint Michel we headed inland, using for a while a rail trail from a line that once went all the way to Lannion. Once just a little away from the coast, the character of the land and the ride changed back to what it had been in previous days, except hillier. It was fine, but did not have the zip of always being in sight of the sea.

Lannion is a quite big town, and also contained our destination for the day. We had time to look around a bit, and started with the Saint Jean du Baly church. At least we tried, but could not find a way in. It's a 16th century structure with a multicoloured ceiling, apparently. We settled for one exterior photo.

Our next stop was some also 16th century structures, in the form of some unique houses on one of the main squares of the town. I had also been hoping to find some more kouign aman, and Dodie went into one bakery on the square in search of it. No luck. She had to come out only with one chocolate tarte and one apple tarte. Cycle touring can sometimes be very harsh!

The houses, though, were great. We even spied one apparent hobbit working on one. At least, he had the right hat.

The town had some other streets, but not so many, that also were worth a photo:

The final church offering could be seen high on a hill. This was Eglise de Brelevenez. This is a 12th century construction, that has both Roman and Gothic stylings. It has some beautiful 17th century altarpieces, and a reliquary and ossuary from the 15th century. These facts come from the description in the tourist information pamphlet. But when I went inside I was underwhelmed. After visiting so many dozens of churches, I must need some flashy stained glass, bloodthirsty statue, giant paintings, frescoes, or other glitz to get my attention. Dodie was not at all impressed by my lack of erudition when I came out with my "no big deal" report.

Brelevenez church's main feature, I said, was how high its hill was.

A really good feature of the church, according to me, was its proximity to our stopping place for the night. This was a Chambre d'Hote called Chez Ngoc. We had chosen this place because the family appeared to be Vietnamese and because they had the option of an authentic Vietnamese supper.

At the house we first met Ngoc. We learned that that is her first name, and spent some time learning about how to pronounce it. We also met the thoroughly delightful 3 1/2 year old Elizabeth. While Ngoc does speak some English and some French in addition to Vietnamese, Elizabeth speaks French (and Vietnamese). She chatted with us on a variety of subjects - butterflies in the garden, her toy cell phone (does not work), how we are not to move the stuffed bears on the table in our room, how I should have on my slippers, the boo boo on my leg - vs. hers on her knee -, and many other subjects. I whined that I needed a bandaid (but have not been able to get Dodie to agree) and Elizabeth informed me that if she was getting by without one, so could I.

Later we met Hughes, who is not Vietnamese but French. He met Ngoc on a trip to Vietnam (and the rest is history!). Hughes is an electrical engineer working for the communications company Orange. In this job he needs to speak English, and he had also studied in Quebec, so communication was quite easy.

Two other French people came to stay at the B&B, so we all gathered at the supper table to enjoy what Ngoc had prepared. It was very pleasant sitting and chatting with Ngoc and Hughes and the two others. But this time Elizabeth was out of it, hypnotised by Peppa Pig on Youtube!

We are looking forward to breakfast tomorrow as well. In every other B&B experience the hosts have served up the food but not joined us. Sitting at a family table is more fun than being served. That's why we liked sitting with George, in Mur de Bretagne, and we will be interested to see what subjects Elizabeth comes up with tomorrow.

Dodie and Elizabeth discuss cell phones and watch a video.

Hughes and Ngoc. Baby photos of Elizabeth in the background. She discussed each one with us.

Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 4,021 km (2,497 miles)

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