Kenavo (Goodbye) 2014

  This is my first post for some time. No, we have not fallen out of love with Finistere, it's just that real life got in the way both in terms of spending time here and having the free time to spend on the photographs.
  So what's been happening? Well we moved house in England from Mansfield to a wonderful town in Derbyshire called Buxton and were very busy making our home there. We came over to Finistere in the summer but exhausted after the move I slept when we weren't out and about. Autumn brought a trip to Dublin to Josephine's baptism followed, unfortunately by a month in hospital and spinal surgery for me. My recovery was speedy and so we were able to go to Australia for a month. Christmas and New Year were spent in Buxton.
  So kenavo 2014. I have got some lovely photographs which I will put up on this post in due course, and meanwhile Bloavezh 2015 Mad - Happy 2015!

An Evening Walk in the Monts d'Arree

  We set off walking towards the end of the afternoon It had been a beautiful day and the sun was still very bright in the sky. The views were stunning, the atmosphere was peaceful,  simultaneously wild yet calm. We walked until we could see the Lac du Drennec in the distance and saw the sun begin its descent until it was almost hidden from view. We noticed the mists in the valleys below. Then we turned and retraced our steps. The sun had gone and in its place came the mists. Peacefully. Into this wilderness.



Huelgoat Forest

   On the morning of 15th March I went for a stroll in the forest with Ally. I just enjoyed all the different shapes, colours and patterns. Some were still, others were moving. So beautiful.

 



Le Conquet and Pointe Saint-Mathieu

   After spending the night at Danny and Jacques at Lanildut we drove on to the port of Le Conquet which is a working port.

   It is a charming place with some nice restaurants.  From there we drove to the Pointe Saint-Mathieu and had a coastal walk (in the direction of Brest) and spent some time sitting in the sun. Paul and Ally preferred to lie down.



   The views were great!

 

  There are regular reminders of wartime activities as this is a strategic spot. They always make me feel sad.

 

   The buildings on the point, the lighthouse chapel and memorial are stunning though.

 

   The memorial is an incredibly powerful piece of sculpture. It does what good art should do and speaks of situations and feelings to which words cannot do any justice.

















Lanildut with Danny and Jacques

Danny and Jacques invited us over to Lanildut. It was lovely to see them again and we had a

wonderful time. We had a great walk in the afternoon and then they prepared us a delicious meal. We stayed the night and left the next day.



Brignogan Plages

   We went over to Brignogan Plages on the north coast. It's a lovely place and I've got very happy memories of it from the 1970s with Bernadette and Jacques, and also from 2009 when Paul and I went there just a few weeks after we were married.



Huelgoat Lake

  

   The sun was out again the next day and the temperature really started warming up! Although I have photographed the lake many times already, the contrast in its colour with that of the last few weeks left me with no choice but to photograph it again!

Huelgoat Forest

 

   Wow. Early spring day, 7th March.  Brilliant light. Birds singing. The stream singing.





Le Yaodet



   Le Yaodet is a beautiful place on the north coast to the west of Saint Efflam The views are stunning and there is a very interesting church...

 







Above the altar Our Lady lies in a double bed with  the infant Jesus, Saint Joseph is sitting at the foot of the bed and the Holy Spirit is above. I have never seen anything like this, and am wondering if there any other such examples of the Holy Family portrayed so intimately.

Saint Efflam

 

   We went up to Saint Efflam on the North coast to the west of Saint Sampson. This is an amazing beach and we had a wonderful walk.

 





High in the Monts d'Arree

   The mists came down. The winds howled . Souls were crying out. We were at that place between  le monde visible, et le monde invisible....

 



A Sunny Day!!!

Blue Sky, a Rare Occurrence this Winter

   This winter has been the wettest on record in this part of the world, so when the sun came out we headed up to the north coast without wasting any time!

   We started on the beach at Saint Sampson and walked south along the coast. We walked past the Pierre Double (the Double Stone) and saw some interesting rock formations which reminded me of the Giants' Causeway in Northern Ireland. The sea was crashing against the rocks, you could taste the salt on your lips and it was fantastic...
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Le Cloitre-St-Thegonnec, Book Fair and Walk in the Wild Country (Les Landes du Cragou)

  

 We went up to the book fair and saw Wendy, who had a stall there. It was impressive to see so many writers in one place! .

   We had a picnic together, then Paul and I went walking in the Landes du Cragou. This is the last part of Brittany where wolves roamed, and we wanted to visit the wolf museum but it wasn't open. Anyway, we had a lovely walk and the sun came out!

 



 



Baie d'Audierne

 

We took a drive to the south west of Finistere to visit the Baie d'Audierne. It was our first visit to this part of the Finistere coastline, as usual the roads were good and the journey was very easy. The coastline is very different here, it is totally flat. Evidence of the force of the winter storms was very obvious with much coastal erosion and a lot of jetsam over the nearby paths.



We always enjoy exploring a new place and there were many lovely things to look at along our walk.



Menhir de Kerampeulven



  This amazing menhir (standing stone), which measures over 5 meters in height, is only a few minutes walk away from our house. It's set in a lovely little grassy area close to the forest and we often walk by it. How lucky is that!

 

 

Degemer mat: Welcome 2014 - A Storm at Le Dossen

  After a stormy couple of months in the UK we came back to Finistere - to more storms. Our first trip was up to Le Dossen again. It was a bright day with a bracing wind - just what we needed!

 

  Le Dossen is a stunning beach, really long. We walked for about an hour admiring all the (very fit) enthusiasts doing their water sports, when the sky suddenly turned very black and the heavens opened, pelting us with hail and rain. Within seconds we were drenched so the walk back was very wet. The storm itself only lasted for about 10 minutes or so and then the sun came out again. Yet another part of the drama which is the Brittany coastline!

 





Last trip of 2013 - Le Dossen

  Our final trip before setting off back to the UK was to Ally's favourite beach.....  Le Dossen!



Crozon Peninsula

  A great day on Crozon at the end of November. Beautiful weather and scenery contrasting with the memories of the horror of war....



Les Monts D'Arree and Mougau Bihan

  At the end of November we went for a glorious walk with stunning views in the Monts D'Arree
!



  After that we dropped down to the Mougau Bihan which is an "allee couverte", a huge monument which dates from 3,000 BCE. It's absolutely amazing to have something like this almost on the doorstep. More information can be found by searching at www.megalithic.co.uk . I particularly liked looking at the carvings.



My Birthday - Roscoff and the ile de Batz

   I had a very different sort of birthday this year, it's the first time I've spent it in Finistere! Paul suggested that we went up to Roscoff and had lunch there, so we went to the Auberge du Quai and it was sooo nice - the fish was outstanding - well actually everything was.
  We decided to get a boat over to the Ile de Batz and walk round the island. It was great, there's something about the islands, the small towns which instantly give way to farmland, and the coast, the coast and more coast. The island was very quiet with very few people there which was a contrast to the gentle crowds of summer. We got the last boat back at 6pm and it was interesting to see that the boat had brought back some islanders  who evidently work or go to school on the mainland. What a truly blissful commute!

 

   And my birthday was wonderful, one I shall always remember.