Our first destination was the archaeological site of the
Cairn de Barnenez just 10 minutes from Plougasnou. Our first view of it was
from a viewpoint on the coastal road that had a view over a small bay with the
tide retreating leaving the salt marsh and port as wet mud. The impressive pile
of stone that is the Cairn of Barnenez sat on the top of the hill on the other
side of the bay. After we had made our way around the bay and up the hill we
found ourselves staring up at the enormous mass of stone. We were issued with a
small leaflet in English but, disappointingly, there were no guidebooks in
English although there were plenty in French. The structure did not disappoint
and we spent a good hour looking around it. There is an excellent view over the
bay od Morlaix but the information signs pointed out that this would have been
a fertile plain when the cairn was built (between 4500BC and 3900BC).
Rather than taking the most direct route to the Crozon Peninsula, we plotted a more circuitous one. We often do this to make the journey more interesting and this time we put in two points of interest from our ‘AA Big Easy Read France Map’. This showed an ‘allee couverte’ just south of Commana and an ‘ossuaire’ on the D21 west of Brasparts. The Allee Couverte du Mogau Bihan was well worth the diversion. It is effectively a long barrow where the covering earth has been removed to reveal a corridor made up of two rows of megaliths, topped by more horizontal stones. It was built about 3000BC and has rock art carved into some of its stones. We were able to find three of the four carvings that showed knives, a stone axe and breasts.
The ‘ossuaire’ turned out to be the ruin of Saint-Pierre church in Vieux Quimerc’h dating to the 16th century. Although the church is largely in ruins, the impressive tower is still intact and there is an intact outbuilding which was almost certainly a bone house or ossuary, or ossuaire in French.
Further on, just west of the village of Rosnoen on the D21 we saw and sign to a ‘panorama’ and followed it to find top best view that we have seen on this holiday. The viewpoint was high above the wide tidal river of L’Aulne as it snakes its way to the sea north of the Crozon Peninsula. We sat on the bench provided and looked at the magnificent view and met a lady who lived in southern Brittany whose husband was kayaking down the river. She stopped at the viewpoint to see if she could see him but, given the distance and the fact that she didn’t know where he was or which direction he was travelling, it was not surprising that she didn’t spot him!
We drove over the bridge onto the peninsula and then through town of Crozon before eventually arriving at our aire in Camaret-sur-Mer. This is a large, well maintained aire with pitches separated with bushes and good dumping and filling facilities. Being in a major tourist area and very popular with motorhomers, there is a charge – a very reasonable €6 for 24 hours. It is also beautifully positioned, being right next to the Alignements de Lagatjar, a series of standing stones erected about 2500BC. We had time to wander around them before returning to Henrietta to cook dinner.
Photos: The Barnenez Carin; A view from the cairn showing the sea where there used to be fertile land; The burial chambers of Barnenez once deep in the cairn until exposed by quarrying; The Allee Couverte du Mogau Bihan; An enhanced photograph showing a carving of a hafted stone axe on the inside of one of the stones; A panoramic photograph from the viewpoint overlooking the river L’Aulne; The Alignements de Lagatjar.
Rather than taking the most direct route to the Crozon Peninsula, we plotted a more circuitous one. We often do this to make the journey more interesting and this time we put in two points of interest from our ‘AA Big Easy Read France Map’. This showed an ‘allee couverte’ just south of Commana and an ‘ossuaire’ on the D21 west of Brasparts. The Allee Couverte du Mogau Bihan was well worth the diversion. It is effectively a long barrow where the covering earth has been removed to reveal a corridor made up of two rows of megaliths, topped by more horizontal stones. It was built about 3000BC and has rock art carved into some of its stones. We were able to find three of the four carvings that showed knives, a stone axe and breasts.
The ‘ossuaire’ turned out to be the ruin of Saint-Pierre church in Vieux Quimerc’h dating to the 16th century. Although the church is largely in ruins, the impressive tower is still intact and there is an intact outbuilding which was almost certainly a bone house or ossuary, or ossuaire in French.
Further on, just west of the village of Rosnoen on the D21 we saw and sign to a ‘panorama’ and followed it to find top best view that we have seen on this holiday. The viewpoint was high above the wide tidal river of L’Aulne as it snakes its way to the sea north of the Crozon Peninsula. We sat on the bench provided and looked at the magnificent view and met a lady who lived in southern Brittany whose husband was kayaking down the river. She stopped at the viewpoint to see if she could see him but, given the distance and the fact that she didn’t know where he was or which direction he was travelling, it was not surprising that she didn’t spot him!
We drove over the bridge onto the peninsula and then through town of Crozon before eventually arriving at our aire in Camaret-sur-Mer. This is a large, well maintained aire with pitches separated with bushes and good dumping and filling facilities. Being in a major tourist area and very popular with motorhomers, there is a charge – a very reasonable €6 for 24 hours. It is also beautifully positioned, being right next to the Alignements de Lagatjar, a series of standing stones erected about 2500BC. We had time to wander around them before returning to Henrietta to cook dinner.
Photos: The Barnenez Carin; A view from the cairn showing the sea where there used to be fertile land; The burial chambers of Barnenez once deep in the cairn until exposed by quarrying; The Allee Couverte du Mogau Bihan; An enhanced photograph showing a carving of a hafted stone axe on the inside of one of the stones; A panoramic photograph from the viewpoint overlooking the river L’Aulne; The Alignements de Lagatjar.
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