A glimpse of island life

I have been spoilt this year - at least four trips to the sea, each time short visits but all the more memorable for that.

I'd tried to book an interesting looking cabin in someone's garden on the île-d'Arz a couple of months back but being full on holiday season it was unavailable. Beginning of September, la rentrée has happened and suddenly everything quietens down dramatically. This particular island has around two hundred and fifty permanent residents but on an average high season day the number can rise to anything around two thousand - non residents plus the permanent folk - unless they've had the foresight to let their place and escape somewhere else. 

Rucksack packed and dog in tow we arrived on the foot passenger ferry (no cars for visitors) half way through the afternoon and walked to our rustic lodgement situated in a small village a couple of km from the main 'bourg'. 

Old veg brought from home made into a fry up, following exploration walk, a drink in the local very  interesting bar/epicerie, and we were ready to sleep.

The following morning started with my sea-swimming obsession. No one about and a large curving beach to ourselves. The tide was a fair way out so walking on a soft sand carpet was part of the swim; water lovely temperature and sun rise through the pine trees bordering the coast. Perfect. A top five swim of this year.

Mark's first sea dip of the year

The day passed in bike rides, more exploratory walks, investigation of the main town (big village) and its very beautiful and incredibly ancient church (C12th); naps, excellent lunchtime crêpes, an equally excellent fish dinner in the embarkment point hotel - L'escale - with its bay views.

It was a small glimpse into island life, and I have many questions to ask a local next time about how you might get a new mattress/furniture generally/breeze blocks/gas bottles/ anything really thats more tricky to carry than a couple of carrier bags of purchases. There's only one small shop too, and I couldn't see much signs of food being grown there, so the passenger ferry and larger ferry for the vans and cars that we did see are obviously total life lines all year round.

There were unused wells dotted about all over the island from days when water didn't appear from a pipe line from the mainland - I did look this up as I couldn't imagine there was a huge aquifer under the island - did I get grade E in A level geography . . . yes.

Also, incredibly! there was no boulangerie on the island . . . a bit sad as I learned from a museum visit that each hamlet had its own bread oven, wheat was grown and there was tide-powered water mill - now reconstructed but not used. Perhaps this will change in the future, the mill wheel once again turning, bread ovens constructed. 

The old tidal mill

There are several other islands in the Golfe de Morbihan, including the largish île-aux-Moines 

(monks), and small ones, some inhabited, others not. Future trip . . . I hope so.

                                                        Dog, less keen on ferry than me

                                                         camera on panorama mode on a boat