Cracking run through Brittany today.

I took my time over a leisurely breakfast so didn’t leave the hotel until just before eleven and looped through the town centre in Auray.

It’s a busy little place in the south of Brittany at the west end of La Golfe du Morbihan. For it’s size it has a most impressive town hall, Hotel du Ville in French.

I took the D768 north to through Baud to Pontivey. The ferry does not sail until 16.30 so we have bags of time, no need to rush. Pointivy is a really nice market town that lies on the junction of the River Blavet and the Brest – Nantes Canal. Unfortunately the canal is no longer navigable right through as a dam was built at Guerledan about ten miles north of Pontivy, in the 1920’s. The architecture of France has now changed, the buildings now have steeper roofs clad with the local slate to keep off the higher rainfall that Brittany experiences, it sticks out into the Atlantic ocean. Brittany is not known as Little Britain for nothing, they even have our weather!

From Pontivy we headed west before another brief stop in Carhaix. As some of you know I have a friend that I like to pop in on a say hello when ever I’m passing this part of central Brittany. She used to work on the metre gauge Réseau Breton railway system that once covered most of Brittany until it’s closure in 1967, though some of the old system still exists converted to standard gauge. She is a 0-6-6-0 Mallet type locomotive built by Piguet of Lyon in 1913 and has been on display in the town since about 1970. As you can see, she is suffering from the effects of standing outside for so long, I do hope she is not left to rust away because at the moment she is looking a very sorry sight.

From Carhaix we headed North West, passing over Col De Tredudon, which at 361m ain’t exactly up there with the other Cols we have been over this trip, but don’t knock it, it’s the highest road in Brittany!

From the Col we dropped down to Morlaix, filled up with gas, grabbed a bottle of bubbly from the Hypermarché and flew down the road to the ferry at Roscoff where we are now. Mileage today so far 136.

Dookes