Josselin

There can be few more photogenic spots on the planet than Josselin, with its views of the medieval castle overlooking the Brest-Nantes river/canal basin. A new information site tries to spoil it by telling you of the suffering of the men, women and children who slaved over 9 years to compete the waterway in the Napoleonic era. Well worth the sacrifice I say to allow one to stroll down the river on a beautiful sunny day. See for yourself.

Now one odd feature here is that we were virtually the only walkers along this stretch to enjoy the butterflies and dragonflies fluttering about the verges. Yes quite a few cyclists passed us, and even a few joggers, but no one just walking. Indeed the peacefulness of the place was oustanding. If one compares it to an equivalent Saturday at say Windsor or Stratford the place would be thronged. But there was just one boat on the river owned by a German couple, and a few kids on canoes just under the castle walls. But otherwise nothing. We did come across one remarkably substantial, and ugly, footbridge, way too large for its purpose and clearly barely used, but proudly stating that it had been built with EU funds. As clearly no-one else would have bothered to waste the money.

The town above the castle is very attractive too, although the fine timbered houses are rather obscured by the pizzerias, souvenir shops and estate agents that now occupy their ground floors. Still, can't complain too much as at least they are being used and maintained, and we ate lunch at one of the creperies!

And finally to round off my week we headed down to Quiberon, a peninsula on the South Coast popular with water sports enthusiasts. On one side is the Cote Sauvage, a series of indented dune clad cliffs. Great place for a walk, especially on a bright warm day like this, with the fresh breeze coming off the Atlantic. Lots of little beaches here, some offering easy bathing for families, others down steep cliffs that would offer great privacy but probably need climbing equipment to reach. We stood and watched the surfers for a while. Better them than me. Suspect the water was cold. I will stick to the tropics if I want a dip.