Day 6 Report

If today can be summed up in one word, it's: BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

The weather seemed good when I woke up (one hour later than usual) and had my breakfast. Mr Stephan drove me to school by a different route, pointing out the way home from a bus stop where the bus from Quimper stops.

It turned out to be unnecessary because the six of us (plus SH, the one who is staying for another week) went by van. Our "guide" was an employee at the school, Guillaume (that's "William" in French, in case you didn't know).

The drive to Quimper was of no particular interest, just the same green fields and valleys you can find anywhere in Europe.

We arrived some time after 11 a.m. and headed through the quaint cobbled streets to the Cathédrale Saint-Corentin. It was bright and airy inside, with the interior illuminated by the cathedral's many stained glass windows.

Our next stop was an indoor market, which was fascinating. It smelled of fresh seafood and fruits and vegetables and warm crepes and traditional Breton pastries and dried meat and just-picked flowers.............

Then we had our "picnic" lunch at a nearby park area. I had a ham sandwich and tomato-tuna salad thingy (which tasted surprisingly good) and apple puree that Mrs Stephan had packed in the morning.

The others seemed to have finished eating long ago, so I decided to stop eating too (even though I had an apple, a tomato and a muesli bar left!).

We left the park and were given two hours to walk around the town.

Quimper certainly is picturesque, with its little cobbled streets, half-timbered houses, rivers (it "sits at the juncture of the small Rivers Odet and Steïr"), and pretty flowers everywhere. Brest would probably look like this too, if not for WWII.

We spent the time picking out postcards, browsing little open-air stalls and other shops like Naf Naf, and getting slightly lost. :P

Sadly, our time limit did not allow us to visit the museum, which looks quite enticing from the entrance. But at least we made it back to the meeting point on time, and left Quimper punctually.

Unfortunately, it started to rain - and we still had another town to visit. We all got out of the van reluctantly, even though Locronan proved to be a lovely little town, like Quimper except much less commercial. The shops in Locronan seemed to only sell traditional stuff like gifts and seafood pastes. We did make a stop at the church though (and were glad for the shelter), which was dark inside. It looked ancient with its dark stone walls.

Then we shivered back to the van with our umbrellas open (or hoods up) and hands in our pockets.

We thought that was it for the day (well it was, according to our timetable) since it was getting late, but I suppose we had been originally meant to have free time in Locronan and the rained had ruined that plan. So Guillaume drove to Crozon on the Crozon Peninsula instead. The sea loomed in the distance as we drove above a valley, then descended it and entered the small seaside town of Crozon. The town was full of boats shored up on the sand. The rain had stopped by then (although it was still very cold), and we walked along the shore was a little while. Despite the gloomy skies, the town (with its brightly-painted shops facing the beach) looked quite cheery, and the water was also quite clear. Pity the wind was so cold that I felt compelled to keep my hands in my pockets rather than taking pictures.

Then we finally drove back to school, during which I think almost everyone fell asleep. We arrived just before 6.30 p.m., and I spent 20 min shivering alone at the bus stop (everyone else took the bus travelling in the opposite direction) before the bus turned up (late!).

As this was the first time I had taken a bus home from school instead of from Brest, I had to figure out how to get home again. My instinct proved correct when, after uncertainly choosing one of the paths (the bus stop was conveniently at a crossroads), I realised I was standing on the bridge where I had walked till on my first day from Brest (before realising I had overshot and started backtracking).

From then onwards it was easy to find my way back. The route was less scenic than the one from Moulin Blanc but at least it wasn't uphill. Unfortunately though, it takes around the same time to walk home on both routes. :P

And as for dinner, it was a beetroot and tomato salad, followed by chicken and couscous, and a big banana for dessert.