Quimper and Concarneau

Saturday 8^th Off to Quimper (Brest) and Concarneau 

Quimper is one of the main cities in Finistére, the main one is Brest, Linda kept getting them mixed up, so of course we took the micky out of her.

After getting the camper down from the blocks, taking down the front foil, disconnecting the electrics and emptying the chem toilet off we jolly well went to pick up Reiner. We weaved our way through the streets to his house and picked him up. He was actually ready and waiting, thus we were promptly on the road to Quimper with the exception of a small detour (I misinterpreted our Sat Nav) we arrived safe and sound in Quimper. They have a dedicated parking lot for Camping Cars, it is situated quite close to the city Centre. 

The weather was nice and sunny, so lightly attired we set of across the one of the bridges that span the river, we wandered along a small tributary and soon saw the first market stall on the Quai de Steir.

We wandered from stall to stall, tasting a bit of cheese here a bit of wurst there, looking for nothing in particular and everything in general. We decided that we would buy a roast chicken with some of those smashing small roast potatoes that are oozing from the chicken juices. We reached the end so we wandered back, at the end are Les Halles, the covered market, we decided as we had come to see the market we may as well pop in and see what was on the go. 

After leaving the market we thought, what about the Cathedral, we found the entrance only to be turned away, closed until 13:30 tut, tut, not even the Godly can get away from the French midday meal times. The other two decided to take a little refreshment, while I browsed the souvenir shops for a pin for my hat.

The Merry-go-round in front of the Town Hall

We then had a nice walk through pretty gardens, lots of nice flowers and shrubs from all over the world. 

We wandered back through the streets towards the camper, Reiner saw us safely on board we said our fare the wells, it had been a wonderful week in Penmarsc´h, thank you for your hospitality and hope to see you again soon in Stockelsdorf.

Concarneau

We headed out of Quimper and towards the town of Concarneau, this a very nice port, that I last visited in 2001, while touring this part of the world. I remember it as a very nice well-kept town, with wonderful fortifications and lots of nice fish restaurants, things had changed, but for the better. We found our campsite with no bother, it was a little out of the town, but 1€ was the cost of a charabanc ticket, though we walked there and got the bus back. We took the long way into town, down to the beach and into town via the waterfront, very pleasant but a long way.

The next morning, we walked into town via a very pleasant walk that lead through a nice glade path and this brought us out near the harbour a much shorter walk. We walked to the covered market, then had a coffee and bought a few things at a small. We then crossed the short causeway and into the bastion, that guards the entry into the port. It is a very nice part of town with souvenir shops, restaurants, cafes and lots of walks along the fortifications and quayside, there is a fishing museum and a retired fishing trawler that you can go onboard and have a look around, we didn’t. But we did have lunch in a very nice restaurant called La Porte au Vin, I think that the restaurant got its name because it is right beside the archway that leads to the quay. Therefore with a little deduction I came to the conclusion that at one time this was either where wine was loaded or discharged onto boats. We heard the pipes, not Scottish, not Uillian, not even the best of them all Northumbrian small pipes, it was in fact Brittonian pipes and a chanter. There was a folk dance competition taking place, this lead us to sit and watch as they did a few jigs and reels, I must say “though  Linda may disagree” that there was a bit more movement than in Irish straight up and down dancing, but not as much as in Geordie Clog dancing.

We headed back along the leafy trail to our campsite, we had such an enjoyable and large lunch that we didn’t need anything else to eat so it was night-night. Tomorrow we were leaving and going first to the market and heading out along the coast to Vanne.

Vanne

Next day was a public holiday, but it still had a market, we loaded up and headed into town, the city council has been very clever and setup a RV park at the disused Railway Station, perfect just a short walk into town and there it was a reasonable size not as large as some, Kiel, but much larger than Lübeck. We walked around bought a few dried sausages and other victuals before heading back to the van stopping on the way at a Boulangerie to buy a filled Pan Complete to eat in the van before heading off to Vanne.

We were staying two nights in Vanne, though the site took a bit of finding it was worth it in the end, it was situated at the head of a tidal inlet, that attracted all manner of waders at low tide. Also, there was a regular bus service into town from just outside the campsite gates.

Unfortunately, the weather was lousy, it drizzled on and off all day, this didn’t stop us breakfasting in the covered market, walking down to the harbour, walked to the Tourist Office, inevitably closed for lunch, we decided to go for lunch, first one we tried, it did look inviting, sorry full, I suppose the reason was that it did look very inviting. Never mind we walked a little further and found a one that was willing to accept our custom. We did enjoy our meal and both agreed it was very good value for money. We both ordered the same, a warm paté starter on a bed of caramelised onions and a small salad. This was followed by a Brandade, a salt cod and potato dish covered with bread-crumbs and browned under the grill. We washed it down with a nice glass of white.

Lunch finished and the weather showing no signs of clearing up, we headed back to the Post Office and caught the bus back to camp.