Part 2 of Ile de Bréhat! Read part 1 here.
Upper Bréhat (the north island) is wilder and not as inhabited as Lower Bréhat, dominated by sloping moors and the pink granite rock formations the region is named for. We went to check out one of the lighthouses and in the process were bombarded with views of pink granite for miles.
Pink granite cairn.
The wind was very strong so my hair was blowing all over the place (it’s way shorter now since I cut it!).
The lighthouse from afar.
Walkway probably damaged from a storm.
With my Papa! Wearing his Dickinson College cap I got him at my alumni reunion. 🙂
Aren’t these pink granite rock formations so unusual looking? I’m no scientist so I can’t explain geological phenomenon very well but I think we can all agree it’s pretty extraordinary. We don’t have anything remotely similar where I’m from. As I mentioned in my last post, there are about 400 people who live on the island year-round though that number swells to about 2,000 during the summer when the vacationers return. We stopped for crepes at one point (I was whining and getting hangry) and purchased them from a local woman who has a little picnic area set up in her front yard for tourists during the summer. I started quizzing her about island logistics–is there a school on the island? How do you move onto this island without a car? 1) There is a school but it only goes up to a certain grade so the older kids have to take the ferry to the mainland and take buses to neighboring towns 2) Barges and tractors are enlisted to get people’s belongings across. The whole idea of living in such an isolated community really fascinated me.
I hope these people don’t take for granted the island’s natural beauty–I know I’d never get bored of taking pictures of this unique scenery. What a special place to live and grow up. Technically I live on an island too now, as in the island of Manhattan. And while certain spots in Manhattan have a certain charm and beauty that I’ll always love, they in no way rival this island and Cote de Granit Rose. Sorry Manhattan, but it’s true.
Proof we rented biked. Hi Mom!
We apparently really lucked out with the beautiful but cool weather. The Bretons kept telling us it had been a rainy and chilly summer. I’m really not surprised since we started off the week leaving Normandy (where my grandparents live) in a thundering downpour (which also occurred at my cousin’s wedding at the end of the week when the bride and groom exited the church, it was pretty funny). We had to delay our departure “parce qu’il pleuvait des cordes” as the French would say. I was worried we would be spending the entire trip under gray clouds and damp rain. But the weather gods were in a good mood during our visit.
These two were always ahead of me because I kept stopping to take pictures.
When we finally returned our bikes and took the ferry back to the mainland, we had to walk quite a ways to actually reach the boat due to the low tide. As demonstrated in the pictures above, we were there just in time for the “grande maree,” the extreme tidal fluctuations that usually occur around the spring and fall so the tide was lower than usual–they actually had to cancel one of the ferries because of how low the tide was. I don’t think we really have an equivalent in English for “grande maree” that I know of but I’m not a nautical expert. I was a bit worried for my grandparents who don’t walk long distances very well but they somehow managed to beat us to the ferry. I think they were just so happy for a change of scenery and so excited my dad included them in the trip.
And speaking of my grandparents, I’m closing this post with Mamie Tite and Papé (real names are Genevieve and Claude) and a picture of Papa with them! Aren’t they so cute? This wasn’t taken on the island but I decided to include it anyways. More posts about Brittany (and other places) to come soon! 🙂
Lost in Traducción 
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