Day 47 Saturday 20June 2026
It was drizzling on and off today with a couple of bursts of sunshine, which was fine by us in comparison to the 30°+ days the rest of France is experiencing at the moment.
Today we continued along the coast stopping to have a look at a some lighthouses, pretty harbours and sandy beaches decorated with great granite boulders. We visited an old Pagan village, Meneham. Then ended the day with a stroll in the centre of St.Pol de Leon before stopping in a parking area in Pleumeur Bodou.
Our first stop was to look out on the lighthouse Phare de l’Ile Wrac'h which was lit for the first time in 1845. It facilitates entry into Aber Wrac'h where numerous islets and reefs make navigation delicate.
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| Anchor from the oil tanker that was wrecked in 1978 spilling gallons of oil into the sea |
Close by was a view point for Ile Vierge. The island hosts 2 lighthouses, but both have been in service in different periods. The first lighthouse, the smaller one with its white tower, was built in 1845 to secure the coast, but it was soon realized that its light’s range was insufficient for this territory.
The taller one was built between 1897 and 1902 and standing at 82.5 m high, it is the highest lighthouse in Europe and the highest stone lighthouse in the world. It looks out over the whole of northern Finistère from a radius of 42 km. The interior is lined with 12,500 opaline tiles from the Saint-Gobain factories. It is a triple-walled tower, truncated on the outside and cylindrical on the inside, built of granite rubble on a stone base supporting a large lantern.
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| Zoomed in |
Further along the coast was Meneham, a picturesque old secluded fishing village of thatched cottages, placed behind enormous boulders. There was information inside the various cottages of what life used to be like.
The guardhouse was built between two giant rocks and is an extraordinary sight to behold. It strategically located to protect the coastline of northern Brittany. In 1792, the militia occupying the site were replaced by customs officers: the first real inhabitants of Meneham, they settled in the barracks with their families in the mid-19th century, before giving way to fishermen, seaweed growers and farmers.
We drove on and stopped at Amiets Beach to have lunch at a small restaurant just next to the carpark. Moules for me and fish and chips for Mark.
As we hadn’t visited St Pol de Leon we thought we better have a look.
It boasts a cathedral built from the 13th to the 16th century whose interior was quite impressive.
| Little houses filled with skulls! |
The chapel Kreisker, built in the 14th century has a bell tower that is 78m, the tallest in Brittany.
A few examples of houses for sale around here…
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| 172km today |
