FRENCH BREST : I say Ding Dong old chap !

Ah "le france" and another visit to its shores , it has been a while, last time was on "le moto" a couple of years ago , that crossing took about 30 mins on the chunnel, I think it was 30 mins later I got my first French speeding ticket ! (French W*nkers - pay off your own national debt! - we love you really)

The sailors bit : beaufort 1 if that and variable, so engine all the way, no flappy bits or string on this leg - sorry



The general bit

The access into Brest via Chenel du four is just a little intimidating and the admiral had his paw over his head and eyes squeezed firmly tight for over an hour whilst contemplating all those rocks and the potential loss of his squeeky toy collection. Having left falmouth in the dark, we arrived at Brest in the dark, so I bottled it and went outside of all the nasty bits to make an approach from seaward directly into Brest through a clearly defined channel, plenty of navigation aids to guide you to safety or warn you of dangers. ( just as well )



The seas are clean, the people (occasionally) friendly , although we were asked at one cafe to keep the noise down when talking to family on Skype , a cafe full of people talking and horse racing on the big screen telly and we were the noisy ones .... we voted with our feet !
The travel links here are superb with easy access in and out of France to the UK via Brest airport and by ferry at Roscoff, although Im yet to attempt getting Lord Admiral Nelson (the ginger destroyer of worlds) back across the channel via these routes, im led to believe it is possible.

The water is crystal clear at the moment and from the cliffs it is the kind of blue you imagine the sea being when in paradise, Im not fooled into thinking we have found "paradise" BUT we are on route ! There are several old WW2 bunkers and gun emplacements around here that I found particularly fascinating and closing your eyes you can only imagine what it was like 70 years ago, when our grand fathers were here to liberate this land from the Germans.



The Admirals bit :

The walking here is superb although there is a decided lack of cafes and taking water with you on a longer walk is a sensible idea as we were parched by the time we found a coastal cafe. Once out of the city the are lots of paths , many around this large natural harbour, we bought a local map of the foot paths, if it ever stops raining we will explore further.