Day 23 - Catch of the Day

Sometimes unplanned days turn out to be the best days.

My bladder woke me up at 3.23am. I was quite happy to get out of the tent for more sky gazing. Sadly there were a few clouds in the sky and Uranus and Venus were nowhere to be seen.

We both later got up around 8.30am to a grey sky. The forecast was for mixed weather so we decided to explore the locality after a breakfast of just one slice of toast each.

We drove for 15 minutes to a recommended beach known as Plage des Sables Blancs. It was a lovely looking beach, but not sufficiently different to our own. I had planned to drive on to Bénodet, but the sun was out and luring Jackie back to our beach.

We needed additional provisions, so we stopped at the local Super U, which turned out to be a cracking big supermarket.

We bought way too many provisions, totalling €170 for just 6 more nights in France. Even the check-out girl enquired if we thought that our shopping was expensive. The purchases did however include 16 litres of wine, which alone would have cost nearly that back home!!

We returned to camp and had a typically French lunch of baguette with pate and Jackie had seafood. We finished with a slice of Breton gateau with raspberry jam, which resembled a Bakewell tart without the almonds.

The weather was still patchy and breezy so we abandoned the idea of going to the beach. Instead at 3pm, we set off on a hike to Guilvinec to watch the fishing boats return with their catch of the day. We took the coastal path, which I have read is the most famous of the Grande Randonnée long-distance footpaths!

‘It’s a route steeped in history, salt and sea spray. This is the preferred long-distance footpath of the French: welcome to the Customs Officers’ path! It snakes along the coastline of Brittany for over 2,000 km, from Mont-Saint-Michel to the bridge of Saint-Nazaire’.

We arrived in Guilvinec an hour later and located two fishing boats parking up. We went over to them and found the crew were repairing their nets. This was not as exciting as I had imagined.

After about 10 minutes of this non-event, I noticed that there plenty of fishing boats entering the harbour, but then doing a hard left turn. We went off to investigate and ultimately found a busy spectators viewing platform above the dock where all the returning fishing boats were unloading their wares.

The dock was about 100 metres long, just enough room for 4 fishing boats to dock at the same time. There were four cranes evenly spaced along the dock, which were lifting the catch on to trolleys for them to be wheeled away.

It was a very slick operation. The fishermen had already sorted their catch onto stacking yellow trays at sea. The stacked trays of fish were craned off and replaced with a similar amount of empty yellow trays. The fishing boats would then depart the dock and park up further in the harbour and ready themselves for a repeat fishing trip the following day.

We identified langoustines, crab, lobster, octopus, cod, plaice and mackerel amongst the catch. We didn’t knowingly see any Sandeels, that are subject of a fishing ban in British waters to protect the dwindling population.

The ban, initially implemented in early 2024, has been upheld by a court ruling, rejecting a challenge from the European Union. Sandeels are a crucial part of the marine ecosystem, serving as a vital food source for seabirds, marine mammals, and other fish.

After an hour of excitement watching around 20 fishing boats unload their catch we had worked up quite a thirst. We walked back around the harbour to a little bar called Les Brisants. We were lucky enough to secure a front row outside table. We ordered a pint of lager each, then followed them up with a large bottle of local cider as we watched the world go by.

Les Brisants is a quaint little bar with pleasant staff. It was teeming with locals and tourists alike, providing a nice friendly atmosphere.

It should have been the perfect end to the afternoon of a great day. Unfortunately we still had a long walk home. We took the shorter inland route arriving back at camp just after 8pm having walked over 6 miles according to my watch.

After coffee and finishing off the baguette and pâté it was time for an early night.

Song of the Day - Fisherman’s Blues by The Waterboys.Weiterlesen