France 2022 – A few surprises on Day 3 of the GR 34

April 29, 2022 – Distance: 15 km from Plage Bréhec to Kerity*

My third day of walking on the GR 34 was another exceptional day of walking. There were many similarities with my first two days, but also some differences and a few surprises. I took the bus to Bréhec and all was quiet in the small beach community when I arrived at 8:10 in the morning. This beach is where Saint Brieuc and the first of a wave of emigrants from Britain landed in the 5th century. It was the beginning of Brittany’s Celtic heritage.

Within a few minutes I had found the trail and was beginning the climb up above the beach.

When I reached the top, the trail veered left and I was very surprised to suddenly find myself at a paved road. Two gentlemen were passing as I arrived and we talked briefly, but their energetic collies were eager to get going so off they went ahead of me.

I didn’t see anyone else until a good two hours later! The road continued for about a kilometre or two up on a moor-like plateau that was densely covered in gorse. Here’s a view looking back. The patch of forest in the distance is where I met the road.

The ocean was still in view on my right, but a little further away than I had become accustomed to.

At one point, the route left the road and became a trail again and I was approaching my first descent of the day down to a beach. I could clearly see the ”Z” of the trail rising on the opposite hill. Yikes!

Here is a zoomed-in view. Double yikes!

I made the descent and rose to the other side for this view back to the ”Z” that I had come down.

My knees were still feeling sore from the previous days’ walking but otherwise I was feeling really good as I continued along back on the clifftop. I think it takes several days to really get into the rhythm and flow of a long-distance walk, and I had a strong feeling that this was what I was meant to be doing, and that this was the only place to be at this point in time.

The top of the cliff continued to remind me of a moor and I even began to see small patches of early-blooming heather in amongst the gorse and campion, as well as the purple button-like flowers that I had seen in Provence.

A left turn took me onto a very old cobbled track that soon brought me to another paved road. I certainly didn’t mind this road walking, free and easy up above the sea. As I stopped to look back, I felt amazed that I had come so far in three days and I was very grateful to be here.

A little further on, a trio of signs close to each other at a crossroads confirmed that I was on the right route, and the bench was a welcome place to sit for a few moments. The place names on the road signs are written in both French and Breton.

At the yellow GR signs, I left the road and was back on a clifftop trail,

and soon I arrived at quite the descent!

Stairs down this side, and then stairs up the other side.

And the next few down and ups were similar! Gone were the longer, gradual descents of the last two days. It was like a different trail designer had taken over here, perhaps an impatient one! Or, perhaps someone with long legs and strong knees. Oh well! At the bottom of the hill, a small stream crossed the path and led to a terraced beach of large cobbles.

I considered sitting on this peaceful beach for a while but then decided that it might be harder to go up the staircase after having had a rest. “Onward and upward,” I thought as I started the climb. About half way up, I turned to look back and I saw the first person that I’d seen in two hours. Can you see him half way down the stairs?

Back at the top, I continued along the trail towards the Pointe de Plouézec in the distance, with several more of the steep down and ups along the way.

After the Pointe de Plouézec, there was a longer descent which took me down to Port Lazo and from there the entire character of the trail changed. Before me was a giant bay at low tide and the tidal flats stretched for what seemed like miles. Port Lazo was busy with large tractors heading out onto the sand to load up great heavy wire cases of farmed oysters.

I had left the tallest sea cliffs in Brittany behind me and the trail would now travel a mere 20 metres or so above the sea for most of the rest of this day. But it was still a most wonderful trail!

The sea was always on my right and sometimes there were breaks in the trailside vegetation for full views out to the bay.

The next highlight of the trail was not a surprise for me as I had been eagerly expecting it. A short side trail led me up to the top of the hill and to the Moulin du vent a Craca which was built in 1844 and restored in 1995.

There was a picnic table onsite, and a sea view, so it was the perfect place for a good long rest and a good lunch. Refreshed and happy, I returned to the trail and as I travelled along there continued to be views out to busy tractors on the sand. There were acres and acres of oyster cases!

The trail itself continued to delight with me with its plant life, birds, bees and butterflies.**

In one area, I passed a community of plantains (which usually grow about as high as my knees) that grew as high as my chin!

The trail offered up several more surprises for me as I approached the end point of my walk at l’Abbaye de Beauport. Here was my first exciting view of the abbey from between a break in the trees.

The trail led out of the trees and crossed over a canal on a stone bridge. Here is the view looking inland,

and here is the path leading towards the abbey! It was lined with dark green grasses beside a pond filled with tall dried reeds that waved and rattled lightly in the breeze, and on the other side was a salt marsh where a small flock of wild Brant geese were feeding.

Wow. The wide bay, the quality of the air, the natural beauty and the sense of history at this place quite overwhelmed me! (Sadly, my pictures do very little justice to the specialness I saw and felt here.) As I looked at the beautiful ruins of l’Abbaye de Beauport, I felt very thankful that I would be returning tomorrow to visit the abbey before continuing on with my walk on the GR.

I began to feel very tired as I walked to the bus stop, but I was also feeling excited about returning tomorrow. The GR 34 had surprised me several times today, and I was looking forward to seeing what else the trail would have to offer in the days to come.

* You may have noted that I have a different start point on Day 3 than my end point on Day 2 and that is because of the buses. I had to skip a 4 km section of the trail but I was able to complete that section after the weekend when the bus schedule was in my favour.

**Here are some butterfly details for those who might be interested. I mostly saw some brown and orange butterflies that were very similar to a painted lady. I also saw several tiny lavender-coloured butterflies that were only about 2 cm across, and a very striking pale yellow butterfly with bright orange spots on the tips of its two front wings. Finally, there was one tiny butterfly with a very dark back, almost black, but when it folded up its wings it was grass-green and perfectly camouflaged as a piece of leaf. I was almost able to photograph it, but off it flew!