June 13 - Day 9 - Tour de Bretagne

E-bikes!

Today we rented e-bikes, as a way to see the coastline of the Presqu'ile de Crozon. We found a great bike shop yesterday and they opened at 9:30 and we were there to hop off our touring bikes and try something new. 

The guy at the bike shop helped us plan a route and highlighted some places to stop - including a Creperie reco.  Off we went. Weeee. It is like having someone help you with a push start, like someone is running along beside you pushing the back of your saddle. It is great! 

The bike path out to Le Fret.

La Fret is a quaint fishing village and a nice stop for second breakfast (pain au chocolat of course). 

As we left Le Fret it started to rain. 

We rounded the coast toward Roscanvel and had some lovely rainy views of the Bay, we even saw a wind surfer and a wing foil 😳, but the rain kept my phone tucked away mostly. 

And actually there is lots of French Navy activity here (nuclear submarines) so there are several signs for no photos. 

Based on the rain (it hits you quite hard when you have the speed of an e-bike), we decided to cut inland to shorten the route a bit as we were cold and wet and hungry for lunch. 

But then we took a wrong turn and ended up on the point anyways...

You win some, you double back some.

All good, we did get some great views as we fought the wind and rain down to Camaret sur Mer.  

Now we were on a mission to find the Creperie: Chez Germaine. And we pushed into the wind and rain and finally found it tucked away beside the Pen Hir peninsula. It seemed quiet and perhaps even closed, until we opened the door and found a packed house. Not a table to be had, so we stood dripping at the bar and ordered mint tea. The waitress then approached us and said that there was a couple at a table for 4 and they would be happy to have us join them. Angels. 

We happily sat, and found them to not just be happy to speak English but also working on opening their own Creperie restaurant (Kraz.Zurich, on Instagram) based on Bretagne style crepes in Zurich. You can imagine how much fun we had chatting with them. 

And one lovely thing about French restaurants, they never rush you to leave. So we thawed out, dried off, made new friends and filled our bellies.  Also, they allow dogs 🥰

The view from the warm interior. 

We knew we had to go, so we got out some dry warm socks and gloves and headed for Pen Hir, and the monument. 

The wind was now gusting to 70 km and the rain was not letting up, so we didn't linger. A few photos with chilly hands, and we headed back to Crozon. 

(That is Marc holding my bike because the wind was so strong I couldn't leave it just in the stand.)

Back to the bike shop. 

Back to the lovely house. 

Warm showers definitely needed. 

Warm and dry now, having thoroughly enjoyed our e-bikes tour de Presqu'ile de Crozon. 

The forecast is not that inspiring, but we will leave the roof and head out tomorrow regardless. We will be dry when we start 😉, and we aren't made of sugar. 

June 12 - Day 8 - Tour de Bretagne

No tent for us tonight! We have this adorable house all to ourselves. 

We cycled around the Baie de Douarnenez. 

Sometimes when you cycle a coastline, it is flat, but not here. We climbed up and away from the campground, and then down to a lovely beach and then back up and down several times seeing amazing views and then seeing the ocean, at "sea level".  It was a fun ride. 

Farmers fields and distant villages. 

After a nice descent, this little strip of sand and the houses on the hill overlooking the bay looked so nice and innocent until we had to climb to them 😳

And then a big dooown and up up up (you can see the downhill in the background).  So much speed going down but very little time to change into 1st gear once the ascent started. 

And then down again to a beautiful cove. 

And up up up a 10% grade...(to be honest, it felt like more). 

And more fields above the coastline. 

It is Wednesday, no school on Wednesday here. Makes for a quiet day. The roads are quiet and the drivers are kind. 

We made it to Crozon earlier than our air BNB was ready so we visited a bike shop, enjoyed a beer at a cafe in the town square and did a little shopping. 

And then off to our wonderful old stone house with tiny doors, deep windows and two amazing fireplaces. 

Tonight was a night to celebrate. Corzon is the end of "stage 1" for us. So off to the Creperie we went to celebrate. The French know how to make crepes. These crepes were absolutely delicious. Thin and buttery. Yes, we also had a dessert crepe too (but we split that one).

Side note - we tried to go for crepes last night but both creperies in the village were closed on Tuesday. We tried to go for crepes at lunch today but the first one we came to is closed on Wednesday 😳, and the second one closed at 1:30 (which is about the time we were planning to arrive).  So we were not sure if the cycling Gods were with us on the whole crepe idea. Happily, they were and tonight we scored some great crepes. Patience for crepes. 

(We are also celebrating because we did laundry! Everything we brought with us is clean again, woot woot.)

An evening walk to the beach to digest and for a view of the Bay and Morgat.  We will see more of the coastline tomorrow. 

We are looking forward to a roof over our heads tonight, and a bed to sleep in, and a new adventure tomorrow. No panniers. Just cycling. And we are renting e-bikes! What??? 

Stay tuned. 

Strava stats. 

Thanks for following us. 

June 11 - Day 7 - Tour de Bretagne

Such a beautiful ride today! 

The countryside was green and lush, we cycled through farmland and only a few small towns. There was less density today and more rolling hills. The one large town we came through was Quimper (Kemper).

Quimper was very pretty with a river running through it, and a beautiful Church steeple (and yes, pain au chocolat). 

As we left the city we found ourselves with some good steep climbs and then the payoff - a view to the Atlantic coast.

Our campground tonight, Camping de la Mer, is quite busy and we have had some nice chats. A friendly couple from Holland on a bike tour, and hiker from Alsace with terrible blisters, a German couple in a very cute little camper, and our new friend David, from Plymouth. We invited him to join us for appetizers, and he brought the wine! 

The campground owner offered us the use of this little cabin (permanent tent structure), where we can eat and charge our phones. Such a great help in windy sunny days when it is hard to make your meal and always be outside / exposed. We are grateful. 

The beach is a beautiful mix of sand and cliff. Photos don't do it justice but we had a lovely evening walk and a short hike up a small island (Isle de Salgren) that we could access due to low tide. 

Strava Stats 

Another 50km and 500m 

Tomorrow to Corzon!

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