Tuesday, March 10, 2015

A Walk By The Sea In Erquy, Brittany

Wandering Aorund Cottage - March 2015 Edition


I'd love to tell you that I've had time to go to a new place and take pictures for you, but this isn't the case, I'll tell you why in the usual PSs.

J'aimerais vous dire qu'avec le retour des beaux jours, je suis partie en promenade faire de nouvelles photos pour vous, mais ce n'est pas le cas, je vous dis tout dans les PS habituels.

Still, I went through my archives and I can take you some place that is new for you, hopefully, while I stay warm at home.

Cependant, en plongeant dans mes archives, j'ai trouvé où vous emmener tout en restant au chaud à la maison.


Due to my brain being in a thick fog right now, I chose a place that didn't require too much historical research for me...

Last summer, my childhood friend came to the Cottage to spend a week in Brittany. On the Sunday she was there, I told her there was a big "vide-grenier" that day on a pretty seaside town called Erquy: I could do some thrifting while she walked on the beach. The picture was of course taken blurry on purpose so that the faces of sellers and thrifters couldn't be seen. I'm that good... or that was my lucky day of the year.


L'été dernier, une amie d'enfance est venue me rendre visite en Bretagne. Le dimanche, j'ai dû lui avouer que je n'allais pas passer à côté d'un vide-grenier d'été. J'ai choisi de faire celui d'Erquy car il est le long de la plage: je pouvais donc chiner pendant que mon amie se promenait sur la plage. C'était apparemment  une bonne décision car c'est un vide-grenier dans lequel j'ai trouvé beaucoup de choses... Tellement que j'ai finalement décidé de laisser un objet qui m'avait pourtant tapé dans l’œil... Mais j'étais déjà tellement chargée!


Actually, I think it was my lucky day of the year... I found many, many things during that "vide-grenier". There was also one item that caught my eye and that I didn't buy. Unfortunately, it was rather cloudy and rather chilly, which was surprising as we had had the warmest summer... The clouds weren't very inviting, so my friend and I decided to just eat in a nice restaurant I know in this town and then drive back home.


Le vide-grenier s'était déroulé sous un ciel menaçant et mon amie et moi décidâmes donc de manger au chaud dans un restaurant d'Erquy que j'aime bien avant de rentrer au Cottage.  Je me demandais secrètement si en repartant, je ne prendrais pas cet objet que j'avais laissé au vendeur...

View from the restaurant

After lunch, it still wasn't raining and we could spot a few rays of sunshine, so we agreed on a little walk. I was already regretting not buying that little item, but I couldn't ask my friend to go back to the "vide-grenier", could I?

Mais en sortant du restaurant, il ne pleuvait toujours pas et on pouvait même percevoir quelques rayons de soleil et nous avons donc décidé de faire une petite promenade... Je n'ai pas osé suggérer un petit détour par le vide-grenier à mon amie, dont ce n'est vraiment pas le truc!


So we climbed the steep streets to see the harbour from above.


On a donc grimpé les rues pentues de la ville pour voir le port d'en-haut.


The town of Erquy is now famous for being the capital of the great scallop. To be fair, it's not exactly the only town to claim that title around Cottage...

La ville d'Erquy est aujourd'hui connue pour être la capitale de la coquille Saint-Jacques. Ce n'est pas exactement la seule ville à prétendre à ce titre autour de Cottage, je dois bien l'avouer...

Image via Saint-Brieuc ma ville's website

But before that, the town was also famous because from its hills was extracted some pretty pink granite. This granite was used to pave Paris' streets... Think about it next time you visit Paris: you're walking on paves that come from that paradise-like place. The hole that was made by taking the granite away is now a pond overlooking the sea.


Mais auparavant, Erquy était aussi célèbre pour ses carrières de granit, qui ont notamment fourni en pavés la ville de Paris. Pensez-y quand vous arpentez les rues de la capitale: vous marchez peut-être sur des pavés qui viennent de cet endroit paradisiaque. Aujourd'hui, le trou laissé par la carrière est un étang qui surplombe la mer.


After we passed the pond, it still wasn't raining, so my friend suggested we took the very famous "GR34", the footpath I already talked to you about, that follow the coast of Brittany, all around the peninsula.


Après avoir dépassé l'étang, il ne pleuvait toujours pas et nous avons donc poussé un peu plus sur le GR34, ce sentier côtier qui fait le tour de la Bretagne, pour aller jusqu'au cap d'Erquy.


As we followed the coast path, we were mesmerised by the changing colours of the flowers, but also of the sky and the sea as the clouds weregoing away.


En suivant le sentier de côte, nous étions fascinées par les couleurs changeantes: celles des fleurs, mais aussi celles du ciel et de la mer au fur et à mesure de la fuite des nuages.


Without even noticing it, we walked to the "Cap d'Erquy" which is a lovely headland.


I took every risk that was needed to get beautiful pictures for you, climbing on rocks...

Picture courtesy to my friend

J'ai pris des risques considérables pour prendre de belles photos, grimpant sur les rochers...


But the risks that day weren't where I expected them to be... They were not on the rocks overlooking the sea, they were right on the footpath...

Mais les risques ne sont pas toujours là où on les attend... Ce jour-là, le danger était sur le chemin pourtant très fréquenté...


What? Don't you see anything ominous? Let me ask him (her?) to pose for you.

Comment? Vous ne voyez rien? Attendez, il (elle?) va prendre la pose pour vous.


Really it was rather small, but even if I was willing to take a few risks, I wasn't brave enough to put my finger next to the snake to show you a scale... 

Sérieusement, il était tout petit, mais je n'ai quand même pas eu le courage de mettre ma main à côté pour vous donner une échelle!

I told you it was my lucky day: I was wearing good walking shoes when I met the snake, unlike the young man in front of me who was walking bearfoot!

J'étais bien contente de porter mes chaussures de marche plutôt que d'être pieds-nus comme le jeune homme devant moi!

But that's not all! As we walked back to the car from the "Cap d'Erquy", we had to go through the "vide-grenier" once more. Everybody was putting the unsold stuff back in their car and calling it a day... And there was the item I had hesitated to buy, still waiting for me. So of course, it went back to the Cottage with me... I'm showing it  to you in the next post!

Après cette belle promenade qui s'est achevée sous un grand soleil, nous avons quitté le cap d'Erquy et nous avons repris la direction de la voiture en arpentant les petites rues de la ville... Mais pour rejoindre le parking, impossible de ne pas retraverser le vide-grenier. A cette heure-là, tout le monde était en train de ranger, bien-sûr... Mais qu'est-ce que j'ai vu qui m'attendait? L'objet repéré le matin... Il est reparti avec moi au Cottage, bien entendu. Je vous le montre dans le prochain article.

See you soon,

A bientôt,

PS1: This post is dedicated to my hot pink hoodie I lost at some point during the walk!

PS1: Je dédie cet article à mon gilet rose, perdu à un moment de la promenade.

PS2: I have the flu, so forgive me if I don't visit your blogs these days: the lines are just dancing in front of my eyes. That's also the reason I had to go through my archives.

PS2: J'ai la grippe et c'est pour cette raison que j'ai plongé dans mes photos d'archives alors même que le printemps devrait m'encourager à faire des nouvelles randonnées.

PS3: I'm sharing this post with some of my favourite blogs (if I don't spend the next days sleeping off the flu).

http://travelphotodiscovery.com/luxury-stay-in-peschiera-del-garda/       http://www.thoughtsfromalice.com/2015/03/sundays-at-home-no-50-weekly-link-party.html          Dwellings-the Heart of You Home

 ARTL316           

41 comments:

  1. That brought back some lovely memories, particularly of vide greniers by the water.
    So sorry you aren't well, rest and get better quickly.

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  2. How beautiful!! Thank you for the tour - and get some rest! xox

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  3. I can see why you love to be near the sea. Every time you post a tour of France, I learn so much. Take care and drink lots of tea and honey and rest. Kathleen in Az

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    1. I'm drinking a lot of tea and hot lemon and honey, but being back to work and having to talk with the kids all day doesn't help my voice sounding better ;)

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  4. Prompt rétablissement chère Magali ! À bientôt, Flopsy

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  5. How lovely, thank you for taking such risks to bring us visual enjoyment!!! Hope you are better, the flu is not fun......

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    1. The flu is very slowly fading away, leaving a few headaches here and there as sweet memories ;)

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  6. Thank you for the lovely seaside tour of the picturesque little village, Magali! The harbor is so pretty with all the sailboats floating in the water, and the hillsides with their wildflowers, too. I can't wait to see what you bought!

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  7. What a lovely blogpost!The sea, the lighthouse, the views, the flowers, the thrifting!Ok not the snake!Get well soon!AriadnefromGreece!

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  8. Feel better soon! I was sick last we so I empathize. I am anxious to see what you bought, though.

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  9. Enjoyed the walk with you today! What beautiful views. Sure hope you are feeling better.

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  10. Such a nice place to be visited. The dish looks so yummy!

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  11. Thank you for the gorgeous tour...love the views (except for the snake, lol). I am so sorry to hear you have the flu. Rest up and be well!

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  12. Snakes!! Why'd it have to be snakes?!?!?! Of course I saw that nasty bugger...right away! I was chased by a snake in my youth, it wanted to devour me. I do not love snakes. I do love this beautiful countryside, though. Can't wait until my daughters take me to France and speak for me except when I chime in with my excellent linguistic skills....un sandwich de jamon s'il vous plait y trois macaron. Mercy. ;) I am desperate to try making macarons except...they seem very difficult and time consuming. Do you have an easy method for me?

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  13. Great tour. Beautiful photos. The photo of the people with blurred faces, reminded me of Seurat's Un dimanche apres-midi

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  14. Jolie promenade.
    Tu as l'art du suspense, Magali !! on a hâte...

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  15. Bless your heart dear Magalia I am so sorry that the bug had got you. Thank you so much for the lovely post of this darling little town. It is so beautiful. I would have been thrilled to have run into a little snake like that. I use to chase my brothers around with little guarder snakes when I was a girl. LOL Rest and take care of yourself, and I will keep you in my prayers friend. Sincerely, Jo

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  16. Merci pour cette belle promenade ! J'ai hâte de voir quel est cet objet... Quelle chance tu as eu qu'il soit toujours là, à t'attendre, en fin de journée.
    Bon rétablissement, suis passée par là aussi...
    Nathalie

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  17. Bonjour, Magali! The colors you have captured here of the ocean....an almost MINT GREEN effect! So lovely and refreshing is this! To live by the sea, what a wonder and a gift. I hope all is going well with the cottage, but it must be nice to take a break from your labors.

    HAPPY DAY! Anita

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  18. Hi..i wondered where you were..now i know..sorry you're so sick..i hope you're feeling much better very soon..looks an sounds like that was a great day for sure..an the snake..i dislike those only second to a clown..doesn't matter if it's no bigger then a no. 2 pencil..your photos were beautiful..some reminded me of here..cape cod for one..all the boats lined up..an that one shot with them in such nice rows..there isn't anyplace nicer to me then being by the water..can't wait to see what that fabulous find was..it's like kismet when you find something that way..once i had a picture of a mirror in my head..an i found the exact mirror one day..so gratifying..again i hope you're better soon..

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  19. Stunning pictures! Worth all the risks you took Magali. Looking forward to seeing what treasure you scored...and just think, you didn't have to carry the secret item on your entire hike. That was lucky!

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  20. Soigne toi bien.
    Chez moi il n'y a jamais de vide grenier sur les plages, par contre il y en a sur certains parkings de ports & ça a quand même du charme.
    J'ai hâte de voir ce que tu as ramené.
    Caresses aux poilus. Bises. Babette

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  21. Thank you so much for the lovely pictures and hope you start getting better. Sleep,sleep and sleep and maybe chicken soup.

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  22. Wishing you a quick recovery to wellness. 🌺. xo Patty

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  23. si tu me prends par les sentiments .....Erquy c'était mes plages d'enfance , que de beaux souvenirs ! les sables d'or ....mais à l'époque j'étais trop petite pour faire les vides -greniers !!
    soigne-bien ta grippe , bon courage .
    Demain je pars pour Saint-Malo , stage de tricot islandais, je me réjouis.
    bisou,
    Marry Poppins

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    1. Bon stage en Bretagne! Saint-Malo est une ville tellement étonnante.

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    2. et hors saison ,elle est encore plus belle ! Je suis fan !

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  24. Thank you for the lovely day trip! The pictures are magnificent. Can't wait to see what you bought...lucky it was waiting for you. Get well! Lisa @ Sweet Tea N' Salty Air

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  25. So I know what you bought, and it was definitely worth going back for......lucky that it was still there.
    You certainly got some wonderful shots to show us but your post has me dreaming of visiting French flea markets and boot fairs, and finding wonderful French treasures.

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  26. Hi, Magali! I'm stopping here at your blog from the "Sundays at Home" link party. I hope by now that you are feeling much better. Having the flu isn't pleasant. Bless your heart, you still found an old favorite to post.Love the pictures and story - all, except for the snake! Not a fan of them! Thanks for sharing.
    Ann @ Cairn Cottage - http://cairncottage.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a kind comment!

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  27. Sorry to hear you have the flu, keep warm and get well soon. Dying to know what you bought!!

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  28. I love walks like this especially with wildflowers and magnificent views, wow!

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  29. I always enjoy when you show us around Brittany! Those photos of the boats are gorgeous! And that snake? EEEKK! Feel better soon!

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  30. Breathtaking photos of a beautiful Brittany!!

    Poppy
    P.S.: Hope you're feeling better!

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