Today Romain tells us about his Brittany !
As the holidays approach, I always feel like jumping in my car and taking the A63 to go surfing in Brittany. A surftrip in France for a long weekend.
So it's true that leaving the south-west, its surf destinations and its pre-summer atmosphere for a cold and rainy country may seem strange. But beyond the impatience to see my relatives, it is above all the opportunity to find my Brittany, the one with a thousand faces and when I think back to last year, my impatience is even greater: with Alexandra, we arrived on Thursday evening, in the middle of a spring "storm". Fortunately, the forecast for the next few days announced a clear improvement.
When you hear a storm, you hear a big swell, and that often means great surprises for surfing in Brittany...
Because the next morning we left early to see a "secret-spot" waking up in the south-Finistère: hardly time to notice the perfection of the waves and this off-shore wind that we threw ourselves into these rollers which followed one another at a "slaterian" rhythm: 1m50, glassy, 15 in the water and exchanges of smiles and exhilarated encouragements on each "bomb" which presented itself
That day, the sun had even come out and the spring temperature was sending the coat back to the back seat of the car.
On the way back, a stop at the obligatory stand in a small pub in the Bigouden country to taste an amber beer brewed a few kilometres away.
We brought back in our luggage the friend Matthieu, who didn't know this land at the end of the world. So, while waiting for the swell to calm down (and settle down), we reviewed some of the must-see places in South Finistere: the key town, the painters of Pont-Aven, the Eckmühl lighthouse, Crozon and its caves to explore.
On Sunday we found the home spot of our beginnings, where we learned to surf. The construction site from two days ago had disappeared and made way for some nice lines that were just waiting for beginner/intermediate surfers or anyone else who might enjoy riding in this picturesque/enviable/folkloric setting.
Because this Brittany is bewitching, by its landscapes and its legends: the one of Broceliande, of King Arthur or the one of the hordes of korrigans that we meet once the night has fallen. But another of these legends has its origins in the hollows of the swell and in the murmurs of the wind: indeed, from Saint Lunaire to Quiberon via La Torche it is said that in Brittany there would be a wave to surf every day for (he or she) who knows where to find it.
At the beginning of this week, we can finally hit the waves of the emblematic spot of Finistère: the one of the Pointe de La Torche, surfing destination par excellence.
Even if our level prevented us from "setting the fire", the locals took care of it very well, and in front of our complicit and slightly admiring eyes, they linked cut backs and masterful aerials. That's surfing in Brittany!
On our side, we took pleasure in "surfing" quietly on this beautiful right hand side which unfolds on a good hundred meters. To complete the picture, the atmosphere in the water is very present. In spite of the conditions, the peak was not overloaded and everyone seemed to be determined to take full advantage of this beautiful day "between friends" and without any headaches.
A good pancake house and a few bowls of cider later, we improvise a little nap in the back of the car with a view on Pors Carn, a spot close to the one of La Torche ....
Then we wake up to the sound of a tide that is gradually settling, we find our wetsuits that have just had time to dry and hop! We go back on a session that will lead us to the sunset.
We will finish this little "Breizh trip" with a day in the Glénan archipelago because the swell has gone. On the agenda: aperitif and idleness, ti'punch and shellfish (fishing and seafood platters).
Because Brittany, we never come here only to surf!