At last we had breakfast sitting in the sun in the cockpit! On our travelling days we just have poached fruit, muesli and yoghurt, followed by toast and tea, but today we could enjoy orange juice (fabulous navels from Spain now) plus bacon, eggs and tomatoes. Mostly it is more enjoyable just to be able to take our time and chat over our tea and coffee. (What would I do without my Nespresso machine!)
The outer harbour here has the marina for visiting boats and the inner harbour is moorings for the local boats, most of which are sitting on the hard when the tide goes out. Together they form a large circle, with the town built around it in a sweeping arc. An enormous wall has been built to form a protection for both harbours. Some of the local boats have props that are put over the side when they come into port on a high tide, so that the boat is perched on the props rather than leaning over on one side. Boat usage is restricted because they need to go out and in on high tides, or rising tides at least. We are on the outer-most arm of the marina where the deepest water is so it is a long walk to the cafes and shops - great exercise. We walked around the entire harbour circle today because the chandlery was at the end and of course we must look at the chandlery.
The fort and a beautiful old church, plus a graveyard of huge wooden fishing boats, are located at the start of our walk, overlooking the sea on one side and the harbour on the other. Bus loads of tourists come to see them because of their historical significance. Although this particular church is only 300 years old, the previous ones on that site date back to the 10th century. The town was famous for boat building at the start of the 20th C because firstly boats were needed for a huge trade in sardine fishing then when they were over -fished the boats were needed for lobster fishing. Of course they were over-fished too. There is a small fishing industry here now, with EU restrictions on everything. The town is also famous for the site of megaliths, a row of 68 stones placed here in 2500 BC; there were many more of them destroyed before the site was declared historically important.
With so many visitors coming here in the summer, the first row of the town arc around the harbour is mostly cafes and restaurants, all with outside seating, plus the obligatory boulangerie and patisserie for buying the daily baguettes and pastries. There are also many artists' galleries because so many painters and writers have come to this area of the Brittany coast to paint and describe the beauty of the area. We noticed that the houses are built differently in this part of Brittany - they are rendered and painted, mostly cream or white, with some in pastel shades, and have dormer windows. The stone houses of northern Brittany are much more attractive and interesting.
We stopped for an espresso at one of the cafes, enjoying the sunshine with locals and other visitors, all appreciating the view over the harbour, but we lunched on board because it was so pleasant at the table in the cockpit. We had a simple dinner on board to have an early night, ready for our 6.00 am start in the morning.