Wednesday, March 23: This morning I’m writing from a large ferry crossing the English Channel, taking me from Roscoff in Brittany to Plymouth England. There’s no wi-fi on the ship so you’ll read this after I’ve arrived in the U.K. but I want to write while yesterday is fresh in my mind.

My drive was south to north, across the height of Brittany. The land through which I drove was lovely – rolling green hills, a few fat cows in the fields, a two lane road passing through many small villages and towns that were well decorated with daffodils. At one point I had a distant view of the great bay that divides western Brittany just before I exited the highway.

My goal was the town of Roscoff, located almost on the most northerly point of Brittany. It’s the home port for three ferry companies that take people and freight from France to England, Ireland, and Spain. It’s been a fishing port for centuries; Breton fishermen historically have sailed to the waters off the coast of Canada’s maritime provinces, returning after months with a hold filled with cod. Today a few people still earn their living by fishing. I saw one fisherman selling his catch to people crowding around on the pier.

The town of Roscoff, like most towns in France, is many centuries old. Unlike all the other towns I’ve toured in Brittany there were no half-timbered buildings here. Instead the streets are filled with stone buildings, many of them constructed in the 16th and 17^th centuries. This town is charming, interesting and well-worth visiting. If you find yourself in Brittany, make a point of coming to Roscoff, even if you don’t plan to take a ride on a ferry!

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Thursday, March 24:   Now I am in a small, ancient city called Totnes in Devon, a county in southwestern England. My AirBnB accommodation is a small suite (bedroom, bath, kitchette) in the home of Denise who has been very welcoming to me. After picking me up at the train station yesterday Denise made me a cup of tea and we enjoyed a getting-to-know-you chat. Then she invited me to join her and some friends at a film showing in a barn that’s been made into a cinema. Before the film we had dinner in an inn just up the country road from Denise’s house – an inn that proclaims its roots dating to the early 1300’s. More on that in my next post.

I have created a gallery of my pictures of Roscoff to show you many scenes I found there. I put it in a separate post, just after this one. You should see one image when you open that post. If you click on that image a new one should appear. This may run slowly if you don’t have a fast internet connection but hope you’ll be able to see these photos. Do let me know by posting a Comment or by email if this doesn’t work for you.  The link to the next page is https://in-my-suitcase.com/2016/03/24/images-of-roscoff-in-brittany-france/

Libbie