After starting posting about Brittany in early season last week now some impressions about our trips exploring the neighborhood of Saint-Armel where we stayed, meaning mainly exploring the coast.
Saint-Armel lies at the Golfe du Morbihan and we made some boat trips as well as excursions w/ our car.
Early season means – unfortunately – that only few boat trips are running. If you read the timetables for any boat excursions you’ll notice that in July & August the number of offers as well as the number of destinations seem to explode.
Nevertheless …
We made a day trip from Port Navalo to L`Île aux Moines & enjoyed the blue sky, the sun & the glittering water. Our boat was spacious because of early season: there weren’t so many people milling around. We took a walk around the island & ended up later at the port chilling outside under sunshades w/ some nice fresh beer.
The island is quiet w/ some long beaches. There are alleyways in the center w/ lots of opportunities for taking photos. There are restaurants for all tastes although some were still closed because of early season. We noticed quite a row of shops renting out bicycles at the harbour: I think during July & August the island is floated w/ cyclists.
We also made a boat trip – a short one – to Locmariaquer (see above on the left). It’s a small village w/ a small harbour … the entry, after a short walk, to Site de megalithes de Locmariaquer – more about these later.
We also did some trips along the coast of the Golfe du Morbihan, walking along the coastline … at low tide & at high tide. It was always very quiet & relaxing.
At the southern coast you’ll meet the Atlantic Ocean. There are sandy beaches, ragged rocks … and deep blue seas. You may also encounter some small chapels …
Finally we found Suscinio, a medieval fortress and château founded in the 13th century, very near to the coastline. It’s a nice walk around … outside beyond the moat, inside in the courtyard & along the defense walls as well as exploring the chambers & halls. All has been restored during the last decades.
I was really impressed by some meticulously unearthed & restored floor mosaics, also from the 13th century, which once covered the floors of a private chapel of the Dukes of Brittany who lived in Suscinio.
Of course there is also some entertainment – mainly for kids, but who knows – relating Suscinio to King Arthur and his Round Table, the Holy Grail etc. etc.
Another castle at the coastline is Château Turpault in Quiberon. It’s private property – no sightseeing.
Quiberon is a small seaside resort w/ a wide beach – almost deserted in early season. It’s a relaxing walk along the promenade around the bay – at least in early season.
We ended up at Quiberon when visiting some more neolithic sites w/ long rows of stones painstakingly adjusted, menhirs, dolmen … more about this later in another post. These relics from neolithic age are scattered all over Brittany.
Let’s close this post w/ an impression of the promenade at Quiberon.
(Watch out for the next post about our Brittany adventure!)
