Woken this morning with the sound of hot air balloon outside the window - not to worry - an early start needed today as St Aignan to Le Merdy, Brittany is quite a distance and we were not sure how much traffic we would encounter.
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| Early morning view from my window - St Aignan |
As it turned out the A85 autoroute through to Nantes was pretty cruisy and not at all busy. It is quite agricultural all through the Pays de Loire - the usual sunflowers, corn and hayfields - a very pleasant drive. Fortunately we were able to bypass the cities of Angers and Nantes without any traffic issues and we then began driving northwest towards Brittany. Most of the highway here is lined with a tall, thick border of trees so it is a bit uninteresting. Our lunchtime stop was in Vannes, one of the larger towns of Brittany, on the Golfe de Morbihan. The old city part of Vannes is built at the end of an inlet which is now a yacht harbour so we didn't actually see the ocean here. Vannes was pretty crowded and we drove about for a while looking for a car park, finally finding one a bit of a walk from the restaurants. The weather here, after a sunny morning, had become overcast and gloomy so we had a tasty brasserie lunch, a quick look and some of the half-timbered old buildings and then decided to carry on towards our destination.
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Vannes
The highway from Vannes to Lorient was very busy and it was quite slow going. As we neared Quimper the rain began to come down very heavily which slowed our progress as well. Fortunately Le Merdy was very easy to find and the rain eased by the time we arrived. First daytime rain of the trip! Le Merdy, which means "the big house" is a hamlet close to the seaside town of Douarnenez and has 9 permanent residents. It is in the middle of a working farm. Chris and Rowena Onions were on hand to greet us and we were thrilled at our lovely accommodation in a beautifully restored farmhouse. Chris and Rowena live here part time in an annexe at one end of the house - they are from Cornwall.
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| Le Merdy |
We found a small supermarket close by and after dinner drove into Douarnenez as the evening had brightened up considerably. Douarnenez is a sardine fishing port, a yachties' paradise and a summer holiday destination (nice beaches close by). There are a variety of restaurants along the river and the harbour and the main town is on the hill above the port. There is a huge bay surrounded by green farmlands and low hills with little white houses dotting the countryside. Can't wait to see it in the sunshine!
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| Douarnenez Port |
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| Douarnenez from Treboul |
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