Called in at the exotic garden in Roscoff, which was full of southern hemisphere plants; most impressive were the cacti, arranged along a tunnel, & the view from atop the 78 stepped rock. The whole project, run by volunteers since 1986, was charming.

Then down to the multi-port Douarnenez, which looks better on postcards than in the flesh. Had a superb meal in La Capitainairie restaurant where the chefs & diligent waiting team were all under 35.

We have a huge bedded room overlooking the beach & a car charging at less than snail pace, but foc, right outside the hotel’s flash front entrance.

Down to La Pointe du Raz today, the most westerly part of France. A bit like Land’s End, everything is geared towards selling stuff to tourists, while gorgeous gorse runs amok along the cliff tops.

Had a sun bathe afterwards at the adjacent Plage de la Baie des Trepasses, renowned for wiping out surfers with its consistently big waves.

Visited the third harbour of Douarnenez this evening in the sun, then back to the hotel to learn 18 euros is the price to use their swimming pool, etc. Not be doing that then.

Vannes

Further west & further into Celtic territory: more z’s, k’s & ph’s in place names add to Kernow feel. Transpires Breizh means Breton in local language. Didn’t know that.

On the way here, we declined a boat trip to Ile Brehat, but had a gander at the port – the coast is just littered with islands of all sizes. Fascinating. We also looked around a disused monastery in the car park of which we captured this gorgeous Beetle.

This afternoon we have a boat trip around Les Sept Isles. Managed to lose my debit card in a hole in the wall bank machine this morning. Bank not open ’til tomorrow but it took the £50 ‘though the money never came out of the machine. So no debit card, no cash. Grrr.

The coast going westward from here is called La Cote Armor & comprises pink granite. In many places it looks like an assembled art piece of boulders. It is astonishing. Partnered with the many islands, there is some magic around. Merlin?

Walked the Sentier des Douaniers this morning, around the coast from Perros Guirec to Pluminac’h, a very busy exercise way passing some massive examples of the pink granite.

On the way back we called in at the Parc des sculptures Christian Gad et Daniel Chhe, with over nine exhibits from international artists. Some were impressive ….

Our last night in this town will be spent in one/some of the establishments adjacent one of the town’s two beaches. Last night (Monday) the town centre was completely dead by 8.30pm. Felt like the people tide had gone out.

Did manage to get my debit card back from the bank today. Charming member of staff sorted it; reminder of how banks in the UK used to be.

Douarnenez

Cancale is world famous for its oysters & the port area is that dream. You can choose grades 1 (the best) to 6; a dozen grade 1 costs about £5.50. I had 5 grade 2, Kath had one. Couldn’t find a croissant, though, so had bread & jam for breakfast  before oyster lunch.

Then to Rennes for two nights, with one of the largest collection of medieval buildings in regular use. Well, most of the buildings. The station is brand new & fine, ‘organic’ architecture.

The old quarter buzzes with street action. Two beautiful parks, an interesting exhibition (& building) celebrating Celtic cultures & a grungy music bar made for having fun. A visit to Le Gaumont topped it off with Fantastic Beasts (2) – in English with French subtitles.

Most fun, however, was taking the car down to the basement level 3 car park – felt like a James Bond movie, with shiny walled car lift & squealing tyres moving around tight spaces.

Managed to fit in the second (after Lille) largest food market running only on Sat mornings. Never seen so much vegetable. And all finished off with an hour’s complementary spa facility – tiny swim pool but brill steam room (called hamam, which means being tough massaged as well to me). Yep, loved our Rennes hotel, too.

Perros-Guirec

Today we walked to Dinard, crossing over the barrage on the River Rance which also is a tidal turbine power station, currently one of only two in the world & built in 1964. With the Severn estuary having the second highest tidal difference in the world, it is time for this technology to be used nearer home.

We caught the ferry back to Saint-Malo, a journey of 10 minutes. The walk took us 2.5 hours!

Tonight we ate in the Michelin starred Comptoir Breizh Cafe

Amazing buckwheat crepes, taking creperies to a new level. I reckon the pizza &  creperies take up about 50% of the food offers in the town. Tomorrow is time to leave the city’s protective walls & strike out for Rennes via Cancale (famed for its oysters).

Oysterville

Saint-Malo, as in the old town, dates from medieval times, but as beautifully ancient as it looks today, it is the result of a massive reconstruction after General Patton ordered its obliteration in 1944 before the occupying German forces surrendered; approximately 80% was rebuilt in the 1950s/60si. Even allowing for that it appears to be a huge homage to French heritage. A town of pirates – the locals diplomatically refer to them as Corsaires – the town wielded independent clout with no royal official prepared to make any challenge well into the 19th century. The old town is, indeed, an architectural dreamland. Oh, also a tourist honey pot….

The beaches stretch far away from the walled town, to the west with various coves, to the east with a huge beach when the tide is out. Today KT & I did that walk, & back. For such a long run, it is amazing that there are buildings – hotels, cafes, blocks of flats, houses – bordering it all. Many are shuttered, bringing to mind Tenby’s 2nd homes challenges. The sun was shaded behind clouds for most of the day, which probably means my face is overdone already. Most strikingly, there were water sports taking place everywhere & for all ages.

Also, they have used whole tree trunks as protection against the buffeting waves along a considerable run of the promenade. Tenby Golf Club / PCNPA should come take a look.

The day ended with another superb French dinner, in a contemporary style, again recommended by our hosts. Delightful to have cultured hotel hosts …..

Another Monster Walk

After the pandemic that was Covid, except we’re in the (we hope) late knockings, we’re on the road again.

Bank holiday Monday 2nd May & we’re on a Brittany Ferries boat to Saint-Malo; we’ve told our nearest & dearest we won’t be back until second week of June. Another road trip then. And we are very excited to start reliving the gap years dream. We even had a repeat of the start of our last, Sri Lankan holiday some 27 months ago (when Chris left his bank card in a cash dispenser at Columbo airport). Kath jammed her Visa card in a Portsmouth car park ticket machine; one kind passer-by showed amazing finger strength to pull it out.

May 3rd we arrive at 8.15 (EST) in France to celebrate Kath’s 65th. Checked into a charming small hotel, Le Quic-en-Groigne, within the old walled town. Today we have walked the town walls – very wide walkways circumventing about 95% of the town, as well as walking out to Le Grand & Petit Be islands, accessible at low tides. Also found the tidal swimming pool Kath is going to test tomorrow.

Tonight, meanwhile & on our host’s advice, we went to a traditional French restaurant which was perfect for birthday girl (& me).

A Walk on the Beach

A fabulous dinner in gorgeous surrounds, outside but roofed, fan-ventilated, surrounded by artwork and welcomed by a pool of black (& one white) koi carp was The Gallery Cafe. A good way to say g’bye to Colombo.

The next day was a train ride to Kandy – 3.5 hours of luscious surrounds ascending into jungle clad mountains, giving way to tea plantations. Kandy is the old & cultural capital of Sri Lanka. We’re staying at The Queens Hotel, slap opposite The Temple of the Tooth (Buddha’s Tooth) Museum, Sri Lanka’s most important temple, apparently. So important, it was bombed by the Tigers in ’98 & even now is surrounded by streets cut off to vehicles. The hotel is also right next to Kandy Lake, which is pretty & pretty nasty walking around due to the traffic jams. Tourism is ramped up here.

Saturday sees us visiting a huge, bright white Buddha sitting atop one of the hills surrounding Kandy. We cheated by taking a tuk-tuk to the statue but we did walk down & got lost for 30 minutes. Just before, on Bryony’s insistence, we visited Helga’s Folly where we had a fine lunch, albeit it took 90 minutes to arrive; but the food is not the point of this remarkable, unique artistic contribution to the island’s hospitality offer. Think Druidstone X 4 on mescaline. Continue reading “To The Mountains” →

Now a 60 mins taxi drive south, in different terrain, amongst mountains and curved beaches, not long, uninterrupted stretches. Went to Palolem and its beach, backed by wooden shacks, some for eating and drinking, some for sleeping. Commercialised.

Yesterday was at sister beach, Patnem. Both are 15 mins walk away. Patnem is similar but less commercialised and, with steeper lead down to the water, more likeable.

We’re staying in a charming six bedroomed hotel with swimming pool and outdoor restaurant and the most laid back staff, managed by a welcoming Julmilla. Last two  nights (they managed to fit us in for the additional night), we sampled some of the most amazing veg cooking; and we’ve had loads of veg fare – India is most welcoming for veggies.

Have found some good-ish wine at last: Sauv Blanc from Big Banyan. Red ok, too.  Then there is the beer: Kingfisher everywhere, with prices for the large 650 ml bottle ranging from 482 rupees (Mumbai) to 100 rupees at the beach shacks. One rupee equals about 1p. In Mumbai there are craft/real ales but we didn’t have enough time to seek them out. Have now found Eight Finger Eddie, an ipa made by the Goa Brewery.

As the dogs pretend they’re cockrels by welcoming in the dawn, I haven’t mentioned the elephant in the room. Well, we have seen lots of elephants, though none in the wild, but I wanted to talk about cows. Yep, they’re everywhere and mostly not in fields, rather in the road. Sometimes individually, sometimes in a group, occasionally en famille. They might be feeding off the rubbish which is chucked anywhere, walking down a dual carriageway the wrong (right hand) side, sitting in the middle of the road, relieving their bowels, or any other thing they care to do. Nobody lays a hand on them, just like you’ve been told. We’ve asked where do they come from and nobody seems to know. Maybe they’re time travellers ……

This is the end (beautiful friend)

We were staying in a 54 bedroomed hotel/apartment complex, complete with two swimming pools, some 15 mins from Betalbetim beach which is great – a few cafe / restaurant shacks and complementary beach furniture. The sea is warm and salty, like the Med. Wasn’t expecting that. The second day, yesterday, we had a taxi tour of some of northern Goa, which was disappointing, although it introduced us to a massive overhead expressway being built for reasons only known to car lovers. The tour was saved by the last stop, to a spice farm, and further by their generous introduction to Feni/ Fenny, the local nasty (drink), which is made with coconut in the north and cashews in the south. Paintstripper.

Had dinner in Trip Advisor no 1 restaurant, which was the worst meal so far. Still looking for the authentic Goan fish curry. We have time. Actually, we have more time, since it transpires we need accommodation at the next location for tonight. We had four nights booked, but nothing for tonight!

I’m reminded to mention dogs. There are hundreds of wild dogs everywhere, many more than the cows. The dogs are generally well behaved and spend much of the day sleeping. As do quite a lot of Indians. Both in public places, quite often randomly on pavements or even at the side of the road.

Goa – a deux

Left Bundi by taxi and one hour later arrived at Kota station, from where we boarded the sleeper to Mumbai at 9.05pm. After very impressive service, dinner and breakfast (though the first time I’ve had breakfast before I’ve woken up), we arrived in Mumbai at 8.15am. Despite the stories, every train we’ve taken (s’ok, no more train rides ahead) has been on time. One was even early. Brilliant system.

So, Mumbai. Very obviously more affluent than anywhere else we’ve visited. The streets are clean and their surfaces in good nick. The temperature has increased, too, now running at about 26 degrees. As part of a four hour taxi tour, we went into one of the huge slums, the biggest of which has a population of 1m (Mumbai has 20m). Despite the narrow, dark, smelly alleys and lanes, it is a city within a city, just with a different level of affluence; the slum has shops, chickens, even a jeweller. We heard of one former inhabitant who, on moving out, rented out his slum dwelling.

Tuk tuks are not allowed into the city centre, so it’s a bit quieter, but the traffic still strangulates the roads and the horn is still the weapon of choice. Despite blue skies, vision of the skyline is hazy; smog is prevalent. We visited the beach yesterday (Sunday) evening to find it full with family picnics and games. This was at 8pm! The national sport is officially hockey, but you’d never know it: on Sunday, every possible space is occupied with yet another game of cricket. Not surprising they have the best team in the world and the richest league.

The taxi tour included the world’s biggest washing machine where 1,026 concrete water tanks are used to wash the city’s hotels’, etc., laundry, using the old way, ie brushing and beating the fabrics by hand – men only. The tanks are mains water supply fed these days. Also on the tour, a visit to the Parsi, originating from Persia, burial grounds; the recently dead are taken to the site and left for vultures to pick the bones dry. We saw swarms of red kites circling and some massive eagles aflight, too. Apparently, it’s about life passing to life and being regenerated. “Muslims are buried, Hindus are cremated, Parsis are eaten”, was the taxi driver’s circumspection.

Despite Mumbai being more westernised, the majority of married women have to stay at home, so there are swarms of male groups out and about. That always feels a bit strange.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, affectionately aka VT, after original dedication to Queen Victoria, lies behind an impressive Gothic meets Persian meets Hindu frontage. Which brings us back to trains; the stations have ridiculously long platforms because the trains are equally long. Of course. And the first carriage is second lower class, fifth in the pecking order and unbookable. So as a train pulls into the station, the would-be passengers charge onto the carriage. Disembarking, when the train actually stops, is a secondary traffic flow.

After 24 hours, it’s time to move on, this time by flight, to Goa. Mumbai airport terminal is new, clean and one of those ‘organic’ architectural thangs. Uncommonly, the flight runs late, but only by about 15 mins. That is because it has to get a bit of queueing in before we leave …..

Goa – en groupe