Tag: brittany

Harbour stroll at Le Croisic, Brittany: boats, fishing blokes and a fairground ride

Brittany Le Croisic harbour fishing Brittany Le Croisic harbour wooden fishing boat

Mainly a holiday resort now, Le Croisic in Brittany has an impressive series of harbours and was a very different sort of place in the past.

Although most of the boats and yachts that use them these days are quite unlike those of fifty or a hundred years ago, there are a few treasures in among the white plastic, and the handsome circumnavigating Colin Archer-inspired yacht Kurun is certainly one. I loved the ancient monument sign on a boat; perhaps we should have them in the UK.

But what’s happening to the decaying fishing vessel? Isn’t it worth preserving and using? I remember when there were many more fishing boats in this area, and they were all tremendous carvel-built craft like this.

Brittany Le Croisic harbour sailing yacht Kurun Brittany Le Croisic harbour sailing yacht Kurun 2 Brittany Le Croisic harbour sailing yacht Kurun 3 Brittany Le Croisic harbour sailing yacht Kurun 5Brittany Le Croisic harbour Kurun 4 Brittany Le Croisic harbour building Brittany Le Croisic harbour building 2

Brittany Le Croisic harbour wooden fishing boat 3 Brittany Le Croisic harbour wooden fishing boat 2 Brittany Le Croisic harbour wooden fishing boat 4

Brittany Le Croisic harbour fishing 2 Brittany Le Croisic harbour boat 2 Brittany Le Croisic harbour boat

Brittany Le Croisic harbour boat 3 Brittany Le Croisic fairground ride featuring fishing boat Brittany Le Croisic fairground ride featuring fishing boat

 

 

Salt pans at Guerande, Brittany

Salt pans at Guerande, Brittany

Salt pans at Guerande, Brittany Salt pans at Guerande, Brittany Salt pans at Guerande, Brittany

Salt pans at Guerande in Brittany

They say we’re made of sea-water, so I suppose one could say these fascinating drying salt pans at Guerande in Brittany are concentrating some aspect of mammalian life, in a sense.

Another curious thought is that these muddy and distinctly un-glamorous bird-poo splattered puddles are the source of what I understand is some of the world’s most highly prized sea salt – and they’re just a stone’s-throw from some of the most expensive and glamorous holiday beaches on Europe’s Atlantic Coast. As they say, it’s a funny old world.

 

A charming little Auray punt on the Gulf of Morbihan

Small Auray punt on the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany Small Auray punt on the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany

 

Small Auray punt on the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany Small Auray punt on the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany Small Auray punt on the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany

Small Auray punt on the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany Small Auray punt on the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany Small Auray punt on the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany

It’s nice to see Auray punts still in use on the Southern Brittany coast more than a century since British yachtie Claude Worth first recorded them and suggested they would make good tenders. This one seems to be set up for both rowing and sculling.

Click here for a post on Worth’s observations, and here for more on Auray punts generally.

Julie’s 5ft 2in tall – which I guess makes this cute little child’s boat about 6ft long, or marginally longer.

What about that Frisian cow dazzle paint job though? Does it make it seem longer or shorter?