Roscoff

It was raining hard at Landerneau so we decided to get the train to Roscoff and arrived there just as the sun came out again. We booked two nights at the hotel so that we would have a chance to explore the area and headed off out soon after we had checked in. The boats were all sitting in the mud as the water had drained out a long way from shore. This must be a regular occurrence as they have built a long pedestrian walkway that stretches around 500m from the quay so that passengers can board ferries to the nearby island. At low tide holiday makers and locals alike gather shellfish from the rocks and seek out shrimps in the rocky pools.

Most of the old buildings here are well looked after and the area in the centre is unspoiled. There were merchants in the past that set up a very lucrative trade in onions to England and some of their houses are still around. I am not sure why England was short of onions and that like many other questions will have to wait until I get back to Australia and do a little research. Roscoff also seems to have an abundance of cafes and restaurants so we were spoilt for choice at meal times. We have eaten mainly fish and shellfish since we have been here and even got a free helping of whelks today when the waiter forgot some of our order. The afternoon was spent on the Ile de Batz where we walked around the west side of the island before returning around 'beer o'clock' when we usually sit outside a cafe and have beer or wine. The island is very similar to the other coastal areas but attracts hundreds of tourists each day as the ferries run every half hour from 8am to 8pm. The main attraction is the absence of cars and there are several companies that hire out bikes so that you can tour the island. We walked instead and the landscape was very similar to some of the scottish islands we have visited, being fairly windswept and relatively barren with rocky beaches.

Low tide





High tide





Old part of town








Ile de Batz


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Location:Rue Ropartz Morvan,Roscoff,France