Paimpol to Arcouest – Round the Coast Path

Up early. Me and Georgie are up the coast today round the GR34 to a campsite on a hill above Arcouest, the ferry terminal where I went three days ago, and tomorrow we’ll go over to the island and back in a day. I don’t mind covering old ground. It’s a great coast and there’s always something new. I’ve got to walk continuously from John O’Groats to Tunis but it doesn’t mean that I can’t show my kids places that I’ve been. It’s a privilege that they take time off work to be with me.

I like eating wild plants and stuff and there was a nasturtium just outside the campsite. The seeds were too spicy but the flowers were pretty good.  

We made good time up to Paimpol and had coffee and apple juice at my mate’s place. Then we cut up the main road and turned off on a track to the east coast and to pick up the GR34 again. On the backwhacks there were some beautiful old houses. Very old.

Georgie had brought good weather with her. At last. 

We came to a tiny fishing port with a warehouse holding oysters, mussels, lobsters and loads of other seafood. There was a restaurant across the road that cooked this stuff and we had the best mussels I have ever had. Georgie too. Reasonable price, best sauces ever and perfect, sweet  little mussels. With the best chips. It’s spoilt us for mussels in the future. But brilliant. We looked over the back of the restaurant down to the waterside and there was a seawater pool with crates of oysters cleaning off. And a cage system for growing them just beyond it in the sea.

This coast is a factory farm!

After lunch we carried on down the GR but it was hard work after a bellyful and we were both loaded up.



The coast was getting lovelier and we were surprised how quick it is to lose your full appreciation of amazing views. Stop and think. Wow! 

We eventually made it to our campsite and it was the best on this trip. Difficult to find a better one I think. This is the view from our pitch.

We had brought food with us but hoped to get bread on site. We were wrong. Oh dear. The nearest boulangerie was a 5km round trip. Another walk. But the bread was worth it and after a decent dinner in the sun we got an early night.

Night night.