Day 2 - We start with a small 10 km hike

For our various explorations, I got some information material from the tourist office yesterday. This morning, I looked through various hiking routes and decided to start with an easy one. (Marked above) This was supposed to be our first 'hike' in Brittany. The advantage of this was that it is right around the corner, so you can explore the surrounding area directly, and the pink granite rocks were already at the top of our to-do list anyway. Planned and done. So, we got in the car and headed to the starting point. When we arrived there, I couldn't find the marked free parking space at first. However, there happened to be a market at the church.

So, I asked a vendor there. (Judging by his flag, he was either selling cider or couldn't stand the tourists there anymore without being drunk....) However, he couldn't help me either. After driving around the small church in circles three times, I finally succeeded and we could finally get started.

You can say whatever you want about blondes, but unfortunately, I fulfill the typical stereotype of completely lacking a sense of direction 1000%. So, I think I spent more time trying to figure out which direction we should go than actually hiking afterwards. Luckily, there are enough English people here who eventually helped me. So, we finally started off....until the next intersection, where I had the same problem because I couldn't find the streets described in the guide. At some point, I was supposed to turn left into a street that was actually to my right. Which means, I had already gotten lost before and now I was coming from the wrong direction...so we basically walked back and forth for the first time, and Teewurst was visibly confused. Somehow, I managed to halfheartedly follow the trail with 2 (!) maps AND Google Maps. And so, we passed by really beautiful coves. Here are some impressions of the first part:

We took a break at a small café at this harbor, I had a coffee and Nivus emptied the water hose. Well, actually I ordered a cappuccino but here in France, they understand that to be coffee with cream on top... So, we sat there for quite a while, while Teewurst 'evaluated' the guests' lunch and I dedicated myself to my book. We then continued towards the pink granite rocks. On this path, you can walk directly along the cliffs....

At some point, I wondered where the supposed pink cliffs were and looked at the map. Unfortunately, I had already passed them....ok, the cliffs are really beautiful, but come on France....what do you understand by pink here???? Maybe at sunset or with a bucket of paint, but seriously, they are definitely not pink. It must have been a French man...as they are known to only know 3 colors....

Nivus in his element....

Continuing along the trail (or in the general direction), we eventually found a small really nice bay where Teewurst was allowed to swim. So, I sat down on a rock and let him splash around.

Unfortunately, he didn't realize that you shouldn't drink the water in the sea like in our lake...the consequences came fairly quickly on the rest of the way. Teewurst's stool promptly turned into spray sausage and I think at some point he didn't even know anymore whether he had to do big or small business...so I dragged a completely messed up dog behind me after a while. But by this point, we had already finished the circular route anyway, and it was time to return to the car. I decided to skip the last bit of searching for streets and took a path that I was already familiar with. Otherwise, we probably would have been late for dinner at home, and thanks to the dog, I definitely still had to shower before that... Luckily, the car was still in place, and so we started the journey back home. Nivus actually fell asleep immediately when we got home (after drinking 2 liters of water), and I tried the shower here. However, it was unfortunate that only cold water came out. So, I contacted the landlord. He tried to explain to me in broken English what I should do with the boiler. It soon turned out that there was not enough pressure. So, as explained on the phone, I turned the tap on. Unfortunately, the good man didn't tell me that I should do it very slowly, with the result that the water shot out towards me and now instead of the allowed 3 bar, there were unfortunately 5 bar on the boiler.....now the landlord was also a bit clueless, but we agreed that the goal (hot water) was actually achieved and that we could probably live with it....in plain language: the communication on the phone was too exhausting for us!

However, before the boiler almost exploded, I had reserved a table and now I really had to hurry to be on time at the restaurant. Fortunately, it was only down the street, so we arrived on time. Today, we would finally have seafood, so I ordered a platter for one person. I became suspicious for the first time when the cutlery arrived...I like to think that I have learned a lot about dining culture, but I didn't recognize 80% of what the waiter brought. When the platter arrived, I realized that I had a problem....

People already give you weird looks when you eat alone in a restaurant, but sitting alone in a restaurant, BEFORE the meal, and not eating??? That was a bit too much for me. So, I sent pictures via Whatsapp, asking for help. In the meantime, I started eating the shrimp (the only thing I knew). By now, I received various how-tos and YouTube videos via Whatsapp. But it's difficult to play them in the restaurant....so stay cool. Put on a confident face. Order the next glass of wine. Look confidently at the sea (hoping that written instructions will follow via phone soon)....eat the bread....read the instructions...despair even more....better have ANOTHER glass of wine.....ok, oysters...I've seen those on TV before. You just have to suck them out. It's like taking shots...just didn't expect half a liter of sea water inside. So, Nivus got another shower. I felt sick after the fifth oyster. So, I moved on to something else. Oh, mussels...those are easy. Hmm....except that they turned out to be snails. I felt even sicker. How do you get them out of their house?? Calling? Whistling? Singing??? I fiddled with the pieces until the slippery innards came loose and almost slipped in my face...But ok-hotelshe was out. Now she just had to get in...into the stomach....do you know the show 'I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!' on RTL, where they let completely crazy Z-list celebrities eat things to win better food?? EXACTLY like that! Except that I didn't get better food in return. Especially since they probably only had to eat one puma testicle at most, and I had a completely full bowl of snails in front of me. Seriously - why would anyone eat something like that???? Well, at least I now knew what the toothpick was for. Otherwise, those creatures wouldn't come out of their houses. After the next glass of wine, I dared to approach the final boss (Mr. Crab). I managed it quite professionally with a nutcracker.....but that may have also been because the guests were already concentrating on the table where one guest was almost getting into a fight with the chef (unfortunately, I didn't understand what it was about, but it was very amusing). So, after 2 hours (!), I managed to empty the platter completely. However, as I said, only with various help via Whatsapp, otherwise I would have just drunk my wine and hastily left the restaurant. But in hindsight, I understand why this nonsense is so expensive....you can pretend to eat for 2 hours, hardly eat anything (pure fumbling, worse than with ribs), and therefore probably lose weight rather than gain! The perfect disguise to pretend to eat and not actually do it.

Completely exhausted, I asked the waiter for the bill and declined the offer of a dessert. Today, it probably would have ended with blue cheese or something like that, and Nivus would definitely have paid the price for it....I don't think his digestive system could have handled it anymore today.

So, both of us, including 20 snails, various oysters, Mr. Crab, and the lobsters, headed home. Let's have a glass of cider to start off with and even more importantly: Tomorrow we will eat A T H O M E!

Good night!