Our route onto the peninsula crossed an interesting curved suspension bridge but we couldn’t see anywhere to stop. We will probably cross back over it tomorrow and hopefully I’ve found a small parking place nearby...
We drove to Camaret-sur-Mer in the far west of the peninsula, and found a place to park. We had coffee before checking out the Alignments de Lagatjar which are a small number of stones arranged in lines. Braving the wind, which was really strong, we walked towards the derelict Saint-Pol Roux manor. This once impressive looking building was only constructed 100 years ago but it is literally falling down - I guess strong winds and salty air don’t suit reinforced concrete structures.
We thought about walking down the sloping headland to the beach but the wind was so strong it hurt your ears! We returned to Kiki and moved on.
Next up we headed north to the Pointe des Espagnolis where we parked in a huge car park with several other MH’s. After lunch we set out to explore the coastal fortifications. We were surprised to discover that apart from the odd pill box, most of the constructions were from the early 1800’s ie: Nepoleonic.
There are several sets of gun emplacements along this stretch of coast which were built to protect the port of Brest. We wandered around, dodging the odd rain shower, checking out the buildings. Fortunately, this stretch of coast is sheltered from the worst of the wind which made it quite warm when the sun came out.
We followed the coast path a few km to the Fort du Stiff which is mostly hidden by brambles. Here we discovered an abandoned Panhard EBR armoured reconnaissance vehicle, this small French built vehicle dates from 1951-60 so we don’t know what it was doing here! The hatch on top of the gun turret was missing so I climbed inside. It was a tiny space, quite claustrophobic and I imagine hot and noisy. Interestingly there seemed to be a driving position at each end leading me to wonder how many reverse gears it had! I later discovered that the crew consisted of four people: Commander, Gunner, Driver and Rear Driver....
We retraced our footsteps back to Kiki and headed south to the small coastal town of Morgat where the Aire de Camping Car is currently free as its undergoing major renovations. We parked up and had our evening meal before heading out for a walk around the town. We walked down to the harbour where there were lots of people eating and drinking in the bars and restaurants. We wandered around a little and then returned to Kiki just in time to avoid a short but intense hailstorm.
No comments:
Post a Comment