'Belle Île' is a name well chosen. This island has everything, from rocky coastline to sandy beaches,
clear waters for perfect anchorages (Follyfin seen nearest and centre), and wonderful walks on a coast path studded with clumps of 'wild' hydrangeas ...
it's easy to see why Sarah Bernhardt chose to build her reclusive home here close to the northernmost point of the island.
Follyfin went like the clappers for our 50-mile passage here from Île d'Yeu, overnight last Tuesday 17th June. It went well, in fact so well that we arrived too early to enter our chosen rocky anchorage (Port Kérel on the south coast of the island) and so had to 'heave to', i.e. stop, for an hour about a mile off the coast to wait for dawn! But it was worth it, with the lifting keel allowing us to tuck close in at the head of the inlet very near the beach. At low tide I could stand in the water beside the boat! Seeing several locals plant their fishing pots near the rocks around this small bay, we decided to do the same, collecting it again just before dawn the following day.
No lobsters this time but a few other interesting species, including a small monkfish (we think), a baby crayfish and a couple of tiddlers (not shown):
These all went back into the watery deep but not the 10 large prawns which were cooked and eaten a few hours later. We hope to catch a few more next time...
On Friday we headed round to the north coast of the island and into the main port, Le Palais, which we visited last September. We had volunteered Follyfin to be the host boat for the Cruising Association Midsummer Rally. Le Palais inner harbour was extremely crowded and noisy - until the early hours on both Friday and Saturday nights. Follyfin can be seen, just, in the centre of the picture below as the inside boat of four rafted out from her. She is just in front of that dark red-fronted building that turned out to be a night club-cum-bar, completely dead by day but very much alive between the hours of 22:00 and 05:00! France winning their match on Friday evening made matters even worse ... we have vowed never to visit this harbour on a weekend again!
Notwithstanding the unlooked for night-time 'entertainment', the Belle Île meet was a success, helped by the balmy calm summer weather. Saturday evening supper was served on Follyfin moored under the floodlit citadel (Vauban again ...). Le Palais laid on an SAR display with helicopter and fire appliances in full attendance in the afternoon and music and dancing on the quayside into the early hours - they must have known the CA was visiting! Nothing to do with France having a nationwide music festival on midsummer's night of course.
On Saturday we had explored more of this lovely island by bus and on foot, visiting the other smaller port Sauzon at the north of the island. This looked much more to our liking so it was to there we hastened on Sunday as soon as we could escape through the lock at Le Palais. Sauzon is a delightful small drying harbour with a much quieter more tranquil atmosphere than Le Palais.
with a lovely little church boasting some of the most splendid, striking, modern (1950s) stained glass windows we have seen, not to mention the perfect model square-rigger suspended over the altar.
Follyfin was sailed in at high water to a point right up the harbour creek so that she was left high and dry as the tide went down.
Sad to leave the beautiful island yesterday but a return visit to the Quiberon Bay is a must before returning home in a couple of weeks. Now turning back towards the north and east, hoping to catch a couple of days in the Morbihan again.
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