30. Feels like summer

La Forêt-Fouesnant, Finistère

Campside 200m behind top of snap

Beside the estuary

Trente jours on the road today.  No mortal wounds inflicted (I missed), all present and accounted for.  Yesterday's delight was a email from our removals company stating that as we won't be living in NZ when our personal effects (junk) arrives back in NZ on the twenty third, said junk will be valued and we will be charged GST and any duties applicable on the total value. Wonderful, it never ends.  Seems the only solution is to export wife as well..... Stand by for updates on that one.  As I only read the email, Friday evening I will have to wait to evaluate options when Kiwi and Pommie offices open on Monday.

Single handers

High tide was at one thirty today so I popped down the road a couple of times prior to see if I could sail from the village, walking the boat from the camp.  Doable but limited sailing, two hours either side of high tide.  Also did some research on Wifi repeaters as the current system on having only one device at a time is driving me nuts.  Looks like this one is a good option.  Readers opinions and advice appreciated.

Family explore on bikes, having a look around the estuary.  Today felt like summer, twenty two degrees and that lovely summer smell in the air, warm trees, grass etc.  Lovely bike track skirting the edge of the estuary to stumble upon one of the biggest marinas I have ever seen, including, what I assume are Vendée Globe boats - very impressive.

We biked to the coast and were absolutely dumfounded - beautiful, with a gentle warm breeze.  After an hour we biked home, via the patesserie and returned with togs and beach paraphernalia, staying till six.  Certainly was a treat as we weren't expecting beach life till way further south.  Many boats sailing, keen to join them.  Watched a couple of 49ers making a hash of it but then they are dreadful boats. Helped drag them up the beach, couldn't believe the weight.

We have two more nights here then we might try the beachside camp.

Watched Darling Buds of May tonight, children totally charmed by Ma and Pa Larkin.

27. Successful invasion, four hundred years later

Camaret-sur-Mer - Coast Atlantic - Oct 11, 2017

View of Camaret from the Giantavan

Sidewalk cycling

Dismantled half the living area of the Giantavan trying to work out why the hot/cold pumps were not working. Not as easy to trace as a car as there is no ground in a caravan so it takes a bit of thinking to work out what is missing. Long story short, J’s umbrella in the back of the wardrobe had knocked a terminal off a retro fitted fuse box that I didn’t know about. That left us with a midday start. Weather looked favourable so we biked the four kilometres into Camaret-sur-Mer village. The climb was reasonably consistent with a steepish decent into town which was nerve wracking for the shepherds. Audrey set the record by biking in front of cars while looking the other way, three times 😱

The town is a sailing mecca with lots of hire boats, big and small, mostly Hobie 16s but still fitted with twin trapeze which is pleasing. Most things shut for the offseason. Itching to get our dinghy out. Loved biking through the deserted little streets. Going by the number of artisan shops, even in the back alleys the place must be absolutely heaving in the summer. Lunch a a great little patisserie we were the only customers and the proprietor was happy to run a slate so she had a steady flow of business.

Loved biking out on the break-water with the now abandoned fishing boats from when the lobster fishery collapsed in the 1960s. They were never stripped as it was expected that the fishery would recover. One thing Europe has sorted is the rape of the fisheries. I shudder to thing what will happen in the North Sea in two years time.

Camaret-sur-Mer was one of the busiest fishing ports in France and the chapel, built to seat two hundred, is delightful. The alters and fittings had clearly been built shipshape by sea folk.

On our way home we got sucked into a nautical shop and I got a waterproof duffel bag which I am very pleased with and a classic french marine shirt (boat GAS*).

Optis with Bermuda rigs on standard masts

Took the walking track home avoiding the bulk of the road climb which gave us a gentle off road experience.

Pauls Planet Explorer App tells us that we are on Camaret Bay, the beach that the British failed to take four hundred years ago. Had a run around on the beautiful beach. Phone was flat so no snaps. Roman stood in a rock pool learning the hard way that still waters run deep. Only got his shoes wet but that was not popular as they are his leather shoes.

Wore my raincoat for the first time this trip, mostly to keep the wind out.

*Gear Acquisition Syndrome

eh

13. Fraternising with the enemy

German War Cemetery of Langemark

Discovered one of the showers has an extractor - joy.

Mid morning the air was filled with the gentle hum of modern farm machinery.  The maze field adjacent to us was harvested with remarkable speed and efficiency.  Proved nice to have our horizons lowered.

Our bakery order was delivered also so it was pain du chocolats for the non celiacs.  Fresh baguettes for lunch with local brie and tomatoes - fantastic.

First stop of the day was the staggering German War Cemetery.

Plaques yet to be installed.  Laminated info sheets taped to the concrete

Outside a beautiful new peace memorial has been added, all very politically correct, modern and beautiful but, in my opinion, it does detract from the start beauty of the previously infrequently visited cemetery.  I will add the information as a comment below.

It is my third visit and the German Cemetery stuns the senses; three thousand schoolboys desperately pressed into service take only a small area.  Disappointingly the mass grave (thirty thousand in the area less than a tennis court) has been altered, the end walled off and the Four Mourners have been moved.  Hard to reason why?  I asked a tour guide that was there and he didn't know why but agreed that it diminishes the impact.

We ended up staying a long time and it was great to be able to do so.

Each grave may have up to 20 names / bodies

On the way home we called in at the beautiful Canadian Memorial on the site of the first gas attack where so many died horribly at St Julian.

The Brooding Soldier is facing the German lines from where the gas came.