It was Bill’s last night onboard Escapade, and the “Bill’s last night tour” continued with feast cooked by Petra and Eric,
starters of smoked salmon, smoked sprats on a bed of samphire were supplied by Lily, Erik couldn’t decide between a duck or a tuna main course and so did both.
Shades of Blue providing a choice of strawberries and cream or tarte citron, which we of course we all had both.
Saturday night was definitely Bill’s last night, we all went to Da Nello’s restaurant in town, where the lobster tagliatelle was to die for…
and at 2230hrs, we all marched Bill to the ferry terminal to make sure he got on safely for the long journey back to Scotland.
Sunday 23rd June
The water would you be high enough over the sill to leave at 0900hrs, so that was the plan, Lily managed to get out 10 mins earlier, and went to refuel, (at 72p a litre it would be rude not too). We all motored south and when past the island set our sails, the wind was a gentle easterly, so in a short time Escapade launched her cruising chute, shortly followed by Shades of Blue and Lily for the very first time.
This appeared to start everybody off as 3 other boats joined in.
After 20 nm the wind died, chutes away and we motored past the Plateau des Roches Douvres, with 10nm to go the an easterly force 4 wind appeared from nowhere, disturbing Shades of Blue from mackerel fishing, ending the day with a fast sail to the river Jeurdy, Escapade taking the honours.
With a gentle motor up the river all boats were safely moored 2000hrs French time. ready for a beautiful sunset and bed.
Gear test
Whilst reading an article by Tom Cundliff about sailing, he said that there was nothing better after a long sail than a Fray Bentos pie! I cannot remember even having eaten one before, so before the cruise began Suzanne purchased the said item and stowed it neatly onboard Lily. After arriving at Treguier and because it was late and the hour lost travelling to France I thought it would be a good time to put the pie to the test. Boat secured, oven on, and whilst this then gave me time to sort everything out I came across my first problem. Tin opener, the pie tin is fairly substantial, my tin opener not! A quick visit to Shades and Chas solved my problem. Pie in the oven, a few potatoes and veg in a pan, supper sorted. 30 mins later and with the boat fairly well organised, it was the time of reckoning.
First impressions, it looked a lot better than it did when I opened the tin. It had a fluffy puff pastry lid. Interesting.
The verdict.
Well, the pie had a lovely gravy texture, with plenty of gravy and a gravy sauce to go with it , not much in the way of meat apart from a few pieces of kidney, I think with my on spectacles on I may have been able to find a tiny morsel of beef in there.
Although I won’t be in a hurry to purchase another pie. Strangely enough I can see that if you have just arrived somewhere very tired, cold and wet. A warming plate of gravy pie could be perfect.
Personally, I think it’s the perfect reason to give up that type of sailing…..
Treguier
Angela
Treguier is nine miles down the attractive river Jeudy and is much beloved by British Yatchtsmen and mobile home owners , and with very good reason. It is a beautifully preserved old medieval town with steep narrow streets, half timbered buildings and dominated by the cathedral of St Tudguel (Tugwal)
with its amazing lacy spire and magnificent cloisters. Within, is the tomb of St Yves, the patron saint of Treguier (and lawyers!) and his reliquary.
The British brought Christianity to Brittany and Tugwal is considered one of the seven founding saints, the only native one, the other 6 came from Ireland Wales and Cornwall. This Celtic alliance remains very strong to this day and one often sees the Celtic flag, which shows all the flags of the Celtic nations, all over Brittany.
With all this history, abundance of quaint buildings ,old seminaries and nunneries this could be a dead museum town but that is certainly not the case .It has one of the biggest markets in the region twice a week where you can buy anything from food, clothes, jewellery ,livestock bric a brac, even get your chairs re-caned or a new basket woven !
The centre square which houses the cathedral is surrounded by butchers, bakers, grocer shops as well as cafés, restaurants and gift shops and is a vibrant place to while away an hour or so people watching over a beer or coffee after provisioning the boat. (For the fainthearted there is a superb supermarket on the edge of town a short, but inevitably in Treguier, steep walk from the marina. Good news though, it is downhill when loaded with shopping! )
In July and August on a Wednesday after the market there is a mini music festival, together with a full night market and all its attractions.
It starts with a marching parade of flags accompanied by a full Breton band of pipes and drums to the front of the Cathedral.
In the main square there is usually a modern rock band set up to play on a stage.
The march then proceeds to a smaller square where the stage is set for Breton pipe band and Breton dancing until late into the night. The night ends with the retreat of the parade from the main square. The pride of the locals in their patrimony is quite emotional and is an evening not to be missed if you are lucky enough to get the chance to be there.
In the centre of the square is a very controversial statue of Earnest Renan, a famous child of Treguier.
( You can visit his birthplace, a beautiful half timbered house which is now a museum dedicated to his life and work .) He was a philologist and philosopher who was a follower of the philosopher Hegel. Renan’s writings were considered scandalous because he proposed a rational and analytical approach to Christianity.
When the statue was unveiled in 1903 there were riots and police troops in the town, as this was not the usual religious edifice , eventually, a Calvary was constructed down near the harbour to apease the clergy …and a very fine Calvary and garden it is too!
For those of us that have to keep our “Fitbit clone” happy in order to justify trying all the eating pleasures that Brittany offers, there are some lovely walks round about Treguier to suit every taste. For the history minded Minihy Treguier is an obvious choice a mile out of town to the north,
along a pretty road along the river that happens to pass the local brewery ,St Philomen, (Tour well worth while). Minihy is the birthplace of St Yves (as above )a local nobleman who became a protector of the poor and made his village into a refuge . He was canonised in 1347. The little church is really pretty with beautiful stained glass windows and there is a manor farm attached to it and some lovely old Breton houses within the small village.
Going south of Treguier towards Plouguiel if you turn left just before the bridge on the roundabout you will enter a wooded area along a tributary of the Jeudy. Here there is a path to the old St Francis footbridge, recently restored, which crosses the tributary and from which there are potential photos of unspoilt Breton scenes along the bank.
From there you can continue along the bank to Plouguiel and beyond or return to Treguier via the main bridge back to the marina via the low road. Remember to pause and watch a few games of Boule which are fiercely contested each afternoon by groups of retired Frenchmen on the pitch near the marina and provides lots of entertainment .
We stayed 2 nights in Treguier, even though it was a Monday quite a few of the shops were open, including the old chandlers across the new bridge
Here they have a large selection of sailing equipment but most of it is on the ceiling…
Cruising to Brittany 