AN EEL NAMED GWA

Island tour, Isle de Groix     
      Our summer tour continues as four of us roam to the south coast of Brittany.  The Lorient harbor has been launching ships for a thousand years (a  sunken Viking vessel -800-years-old- was recently discovered well-preserved in mud).

    Brigitte had heard of a magical island  just offshore, "Isle de Groix"  (pronounced
"eel de gwa").  We parked our car and headed for the ferry.

 I took pictures of a buoy graveyard nearby.

An hour later we were heading out with 400 other fun seekers.
Delightfully, none of them were speaking in English.





     On the harbor's north shore I recognized one of World War II's most formidable structures,  Nazi Germany's primary U-boat base. In 1943, we dropped every bomb imaginable but could not dent its 15-foot thick walls. Their killer subs stayed safe inside but when they ventured out, we eventually used superior technology to sink them.  
     We were regularly reminded of the horrible conflicts the people here endured.  A few days earlier we had visited the French Resistance Museum near Plouremel.  We read the farewell letter of a local  young man who was about to be executed. 
On a walk the next day we encountered a rusting tank barrel poking out of the brush.  
   You never see these things in Coconut Grove. 


    There are a few people left who saw the horrors of war in their own neighborhoods. I think it's the reason the older
buildings have expensive, multiple door locks

and serious crime bars on their windows.


    We're so fortunate.  We haven't had war's blood spilled on our soil for 150 years.  
   


     Blue sky and fair winds helped me shake these dark thoughts as we headed out to sea.  Our island was clearly visible just thirty-minutes away.  We eagerly arrived in the picturesque harbor and spied our weekend home  at the top of the hill.

    
    Our apartment came fully-equipped with a harbor view 



and room for four.                             

                                                                                

Here we are 
in the patio looking as French as we can.



That's me finishing off my a bowl of moules (mussels).  Eating them is an important Bretangne tradition.

  Apartment poster
 
The moules grow on  rocks in shallow water.  I went down to harvest a few. 



 The beach was perfect,  like something from a dream.

One morning we woke up to a kayak convention in the harbor below.

 
We walked down and discovered a swimming/kayak race about to begin.  When it did, one kayak and a swimmer launched every ten seconds until all 130 of them were stroking towards the coast four miles away.

   Wanting to get exercise as well, we rented bicycles (okay, they were "electric" but there were plenty of hills and you had to pedal a bit to get battery's "boost"). 

The old man (three women) and the sea



We scooted all over the 8-mile island discovering tiny villages, abandoned forts, and the occasional cow.

The rocky west end

On Sunday morning a ferry arrived to take us away from all this bliss.  Soon we'll be flying to Barcelona.
                           _____________
      Travel Note:  Some of you asked about costs.
You can visit Groix by flying to Paris ($900), taking the train to Lorient (3 hours, $40), and the ferry, $30 round trip. The gite (lodging) was $95 per night and the bikes, $25. A moule dinner costs about 12 Euros ($13).  Refreshing salt water swims are free.