A part of the customs officer's path... or another 12 km

The early bird catches the worm as the saying goes... So he caught a lot of worms today.... without us. Yesterday's sun apparently took more of a toll on me than I thought, so I slept in quite a bit today. After coffee, breakfast, etc., it was already 1 pm. Too late for longer tours in the surrounding area. So I decided to choose a part of the customs officer's path GR34, which passes through here, that starts about half an hour away. I always make sure that the tour can be done as a loop, because I find it annoying to walk the same paths twice and we have to find the car again at the end.

The planned starting point was Plougrescant. The tour was supposed to be 8-10 km long. (It turned into 13 km...) After finding a parking spot, we headed towards the sea (roughly). I chose a different starting point than described on the internet, because otherwise the route would have been too short for me. Therefore, the search for the coast was once again relatively improvised. But after about 2 km, I finally found it (in between we drifted onto roads that were not suitable for pedestrians...). I have to say, the starting point by the sea was quite unpleasant and the part of the customs officer's path was rather difficult to find, as the word 'path' didn't quite fit.... nor did 'trail'.... more like a clearing through overgrowth.... well, it can still get better.

Gradually, the path along the coast became more beautiful and easier to walk. However, the number of tourists increased just as rapidly. At some point, I thought that Teewurst had walked enough and let him off the leash. It worked quite well. He came back after every turn. Except for once. Teewurst was then standing in the sea and refused to come back no matter what. Luckily, I had forgotten my whistle today, so I yelled my lungs out in unison with the dog next door in the garden. While Teewurst probably just thought 'those two dogs can't mean me'.... Eventually, the gentleman decided to come back, which led to him being on a leash for the rest of the day.

In the middle of nowhere, we met a woman from Cape Town at a viewpoint, who had dropped off her husband somewhere along the way (whether accidentally or not was not clear from the conversation...) anyway, we talked for a while about 'the mooooost BEAUTIFUL dooooooooog' (Teewurst was forced in front of the camera again) and about the French language. Interestingly, the lady was desperately trying to learn French, and the French immediately switched to English as soon as they heard her accent. However, I have had exactly the opposite experience so far. No matter how many times you make it clear to the French that you don't speak French, they continue to speak French. You don't understand? I don't understand! Just listen better, then everyone can speak French! However, I think that the French just want to sell the lady their new interior design for 'the moooooooost BEAUTIFUL Brittany' and therefore politely switch to English. I'll remember that....

A few impressions:

After wishing the lady good luck in finding her husband (or maybe not), we continued on. The sun was blazing again and the path alternated between easy to walk and 'put on hiking boots or you'll die'.... on a cliff, I took a break because of the fresh wind (it was unbelievably hot) and promptly lost my hat in the wind. It flew straight into a huge thorn bush. Well, tough luck, either stay put and die or try to fish it out.... under the bush, there was a direct vertical drop into the sea, and it wasn't just 5 meters deep.... So I used Teewurst as a counterweight and climbed into the bush to clumsily try to retrieve the hat. When I finally managed to free myself from the thorn bush (wasn't there something in the Bible about that???), blood was running down my knees and I looked like I had just fought a tiger. For the rest of the way, I avoided the edge of the cliffs. By now it was already quite late and I slowly tried to plan the way back. It continued along really beautiful bays (most of them with crystal clear water and great for swimming), sometimes in a type of marshland, then heath, a section of forest along the coast, and then more bays. The path was so diverse almost the entire time, which meant that you never felt like you had been walking for a long time.

Sometimes you see rock formations that you could interpret anything into.....

A house between rocks....

The house between the two rocks was located in a kind of marshland in the middle of nowhere. There's not much more than a bed that can fit in there. Which makes me wonder how a couple lives in there? Do they say during an argument 'Tonight you sleep on the right rock and I'll sleep on the left'???

Eventually, we left the customs officer's path and walked inland in search of the car. Did I mention yesterday that I hate going uphill? Hmm.... and country roads with French people driving like crazy don't make for a very practical walk either? Hmm.... so the way back was ONLY uphill along such a country road (in the blazing sun). When we reached the parking lot, I let Teewurst off the leash again so that he could relieve himself before the drive back. Apparently, he didn't want to.... Teewurst suddenly disappeared. I found out where Teewurst was when an angry Frenchman ran out of the back door of his house and chased him in front of him. He had apparently found a trash can again...

After the dog and luggage were stowed away, we headed back to the apartment. There, I reserved a table at a crêperie nearby.

Since the outdoor tables are quickly taken in this weather, I had to hurry to be able to take a shower and arrive on time. After all, today there was supposed to be galette (savory crêpe).

When I go out to eat in the evening, I usually read just like in the afternoon when we go out for coffee. However, I couldn't ignore the discussion of the German family at the next table (they thought I was French), where it was argued that I completely ignore my dog and only read. God, what a terrible person I am.

After the 12 km hike today, have the audacity to not talk to Teewurst (who was sleeping by the way and could barely keep his eyes open before). When I petted him later, they probably decided against contacting the animal welfare organization.... And so, after a very delicious crêpe with goat cheese and salad, we went home to the couch. We have to get up early tomorrow, otherwise all the worms will be snatched away from us again!

Good night!