This excursion is small and short, but I currently lack the strength for something bigger and longer. I’m struggling with the after-effects of a restless night and the still present pain in my back, although it has diminished somewhat. It’s past noon when the sun appears, and that’s the moment we set off.

Station 1 – Phare du Petit Minou

48°20’28.9″N 4°36’53.5″W

On the southernmost tip of this part of Finistère sits this small lighthouse. I don’t even know if it’s still in operation, but it’s hard to imagine given its appearance. The first of two towers certainly doesn’t look like it’s functioning anymore. Broken windows, a deteriorated façade, and a rusted iron door secured with a chain that has long seen better days.

The second tower, standing just behind it, could be functional, just not currently, as the light is covered with a tarp. Somehow this sight reminds me of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Perhaps they should have wrapped the lighthouses in Brittany; that would have been a wonderful sight.
We leave the towers and wander around a bit. Several bunkers are in the immediate vicinity.

Not much remains of them either except the walls. Additionally, they are covered with graffiti. The Germans gave free rein to their building frenzy here. Beauty was not their concern, but that was probably not their goal anyway. I wonder, were the soldiers able to enjoy this landscape and this view during the quiet times?

Station 2 – Fort de Bertheaume

48°20’15.8″N 4°42’05.6″W

At the other end of a large field, where not a single car is parked because everyone else has parked close to the road, that’s where we stop. Outside our window, the view opens to the vast sea, with the brown lines of the rugged rocky coast sketched in the left corner. Somewhere around here there’s supposed to be an old castle. We find it after a few minutes’ walk, but not the entrance to it.

So we follow the GR34 around the castle walls until our gaze falls upon the small island in front of the mainland. An amusement park in the midst of a medieval fortress. There, a man gliding on a wire over the sea. Not much else holds us here, and so we set off for our final station.

Station 3 – Kermorvan (Peninsula)

48°21’50.6″N 4°46’32.9″W

We drive to the end of the road where there’s parking on both sides. From there we take the first path away from the paved road. This leads us directly along the coast. On the opposite side is Le Conquet; between us and this place is a bay with a relatively large harbor where fishing boats float in the water, and behind them small sailboats aground, as the sea level is currently low.

After a short walk, we arrive at the lighthouse where we sit on the rocks. From there we observe the sea, the islands in the distance, ships and sailboats drifting on the ocean. We listen to the sound of the water and look over to the white sandy beaches of this small paradise. We stay until hunger drives us back home.