Pléneuf Val André to Hillion

Well, sort of...
Pléneuf Val André was very nice and I slept well - everywhere is so quiet, no traffic noise, no all night party-ers.
Breakfast was simple but delicious - croissants, bread, jam, muesli and yoghurt. I was ready for my somewhat shortened day.
Taking a leaf out of the Kiwi ladies' book, and staying in the hotel last night (which made it much easier), I decided to cut today's 26.5km 'walk' down to 11km. I ordered a taxi for this morning which took me to Morieux, a small village not far from the GR34 route. The taxi driver spoke excellent English, so I gave up trying to communicate in French and we talked about her visits to the 🇬🇧 and my walks... She dropped me next to a lovely church and it was easy to follow the road to the Pont Rolland, a junction on the GR34. I'd expected the bridge to be something spectacular, but no, although there was a rather fabulous building on the banks of the river the bridge had crossed.
The route climbed (quelle suprise) after the bridge but it was a gentle and enjoyable climb through woodland and across headlands, which continued for the rest of the route, obviously with the descents as well as the inclines. I came across a 'gate' where I had to take my backpack off to get through - I'm not sure what they would allow through the gap - small giraffes, llamas?
The scenery was, as ever, spectacular, but I was pleased I'd chosen to wear my trousers and long-sleeved top today. The sun was shining, but it wasn't massively warm, and many of the paths I followed were bordered by grasses as tall as me!
At one point, I passed mussel factories, closed today because it's Saturday. This area is the major mussel and scallop farming area of Brittany. 90% of Brittany's (and 50% of France's) scallops are harvested in this area from October to April each year.
The route continued and, of course, the last few kilometres seemed to be the longest. The wind had dropped by now so I donned my hat and continued on, past the 'beach' at Hillion and into town. I'm not sure what the people on the beach were doing. Collecting cockles, maybe?
Hillion is a smallish town but, praise be, it has a small supermarket! It also has a boucher and a boulanger. No candle stick maker - maybe i ought to think of a new career?😂
The buildings in the centre of the town are all built of stone, but the house I'm staying in is a lovely new-build on an estate on the edge of this obviously growing town. The owner is clearly a camino pilgrim - there are many clues (books, photos) but I'm afraid my French isn't good enough to risk a conversation (even though I can bore for England on the topic of the camino de Santiago!😬😂)
I've shopped and made sure I have provisions for this evening as well as tomorrow (Sunday, so who knows what I'll find?) I'm really looking forward to a Petit Salé for supper, with bread and cheese to follow. Then I have bread and cheese as a lunch tomorrow 😋. Whilst I was walking to the supermarket, a lady greeted me like I was an old friend! I didn't know what to do, but just said "je suis Anglaise". She rambled on, and I think she might've been saying something like, "but I saw you back there and we had a conversation!" I said, "j'ai une twin!" (not knowing the French for 'twin', Jan!) at which she apologised profusely and we both walked off, giggling!
It's a 17km day to St Laurent tomorrow, but a lot of it is on the level. I can't wait to stride out 😂.Meer informatie