It never crossed his mind that these creatures were actually very tasty !

These ‘Goose Barnacle’ look quite prehistoric !  the bony looking head opens up and a number of “frilled legs” come out to filter the water

You may have seen Jerremy Clarkson sampling them during his ‘Meet the neigbours’ series when he visits Spain,  some good footage showing the fishermen

The part you eat is the inside of the long leathery finger, it’s quite easy to hold the white head and snap the outer case off, leaving you with the tasty inside
They thrive in conditons where the waves strike the rocks between low and high water, which means pretty much where it is very dangerous to collect them !

The west coast of France is no éxception … and I was soon introduced to a number of closely guarded spots where it was possible to harvest the Pousse-pieds.  A kayak is certainly an advantage, we are able to get much closer, but invariably it involves a swim. There is one exception I recall where I found a huge cave lined with Goose barnacles, I harvested enough for two meals before finding myself suspended from my paddle wedged across the width of the cave when the swell dropped.

It was in this particular cave that I found the frilled legs tickling my arms as I ripped them off the rocks !  …. and can you believe they bleed !  Yes a dark pink ‘Blood’ runs freely as you pluck them, It seems they have no vocal cords, I heard no screams

After the hard work of collecting I asked what I could expect …   It was a unanimous response, a subtle blend of flavours from Crab to Lobster       Woow

The Verdict …    You will find a dozen or more recomendations

1)   Eat raw       Yes tried it and yes good …   it is not best

2) Boil water   throw in Pousse-pieds  then pull out and eat  …..     This is what does it for me  !  Absolutely superb !

3) Boil water with Pousse-pieds in, boil for 1 minute

I found method 3) lost many flavours,  and in  method 1) not enough flavours to develop    ….   but with method  2)  they really are  superb !   Now I like to dip my Pousse-pieds   in a home made mayonnaise !!!  Wow

OK any downsides ….
Yes of course,  in France there is a Season for ‘Pousse-pieds’   it is from November to March  ( Yes you guessed … when the west  coast is at its worst ! )

The Plus sides ?   Pousse-pieds sell around €300 per kilo in Spain

There are several kilometers of rock garden to play as you reach the western end, however today the sea was flat with hardly any swell at all.

This section of coast has a number of  bolted sport climbs, up to 12 metres. A few are climbable on a Neap high tide, but the best time is at a spring low water.  The Club Alpin Française de Nantes have produced a good PDF of the routes and grades.  Climbs start at a 3 and go up to a 7b.  With most in  4 – 5

Download Guide PDF HERE

We took a break just below Le Fort de L’Océan, a 400 year old Fort now serving as a 4* hotel and restaurant. I’ve included a link to the hotels website, the Web Intro is really good for seeing the nature of the coast here, (there is also a video inside with more footage)

After our snack we continued back along the coast finishing out trip just as the sun was setting. A good ending to a very enjoyable paddle

Desperate Measures   of Nottingham recently had a stocktake and clearout of Lendal Blades, their ‘odds and Ends’  were offered for just the postage charge or Free to collect here

Today I received my new ‘free’ blade, I am grateful to Danny and Mark, some excellent and helpful service to my enquiries, and the postage charges to France are fair and reasonable.

There can be some confusion between the ‘Archipel des Glénan’  (no “S”  )  the Islands, and the Sailing school  ‘ Les Glénans’  (with an “S” )    the sailing school has a number of sites around France and abroad, so yes you will find ‘Les Glénans’ in Baltimore Ireland

On a Sunny warm day it really is easy to imagine you are on a tropical island paradise, the islands have beautiful white beaches, and the central lagoon contains crystal clear water reflecting the blue of the sky.

The island of St Nicolas hosts the smallest nature reserve in France, here you will find the Glénan Narcissus, it doesn’t grow anywhere else in France.
Attempts to protect it in 1974 (visitors were digging up the bulbs and trampling the land bare) fencing was errected prohibiting entry. This allowed the natural vegetation to grow (gorse and ferns) which then overun and choked the Narcissi. The next move was to allow sheep to graze, but this was still not effective. Finally the land is now mowed just prior to the new growth of the Narcissi, and the plant is now recovering.
The Archipelago lays some ten miles off the coast, but an easy paddle with the tide. The Islands are private and permission should be sought before camping.  The environment is very fragile with no water supplies, you must take your own.

OS maps in the UK are grouped in larger grids designated by two letters. Similarly, UTM uses a Number & Letter  grid.  If you look back to the previous post to the UTM Grid picture, you will see France is covered by 6 UTM Grid squares.  So now to complete the UTM Grid reference above, add the number & letter  :   30U  6837 E  53856 N

Brittany falls on two UTM grids, 30U  (the Northern coast) and 30T  (Southern coast)

In summary, the UTM Grid is international and Google Earth can be set on the Preferences menu to show UTM coordinates, while the UK has the OS grid, the Channel Isles are not covered and so uses the UTM grid.

Here is a link to an Online Coordinate converter created by Alan Morton.   http://www.dmap.co.uk/ll2tm.htm

Now you can take your Longitude and Latitude from google Earth and accurately plot them on your OS map, or enter them as OS grid refs in your GPS

One of the minerals present is Garnet, easy to identify in the rock around Pointe des Chats and it also gives rise to the red sand on the beach ‘Sable rouge’

Taking a tour round Groix is refreshing, from the busy harbour of Port Tudy to the wild and dramatic coastline round the North West point of Pen Men. The South Western part of the coast is open to the full force of the Atlantic swell and contrast sharply to the protected Northern coast.

Without any doubt, one company stands head and shoulders above all the rest when it comes down to ‘pound notes’ DFDS Seaways who operate a service from Dunkerque to Dover have single crossings starting from around £30. This particular route was originally a commercial service for truckers, the original ferries used on this route were quite basic with smokey lounges, but all this has changed with the new ferries now operating. A major advantage for paddlers with this service is the way fares are calculated. Height always adds a premium to the fare, it is common for ferry operators ‘car’ fares to restrict the height to 1.85 metres, but in the case of DFDS their first fares include height up to 2.4 meters. In my case I drive a Mercedes Vito with a Karitec rack and the kayaks arranged to sit flat, this comes in at just under 2.4 meters

To put this into context against other operators, to take my van and kayaks across to the Isle of wight would cost £36 each way traveling mid week in January. For a trip across the Channel using Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth to Caen for the same dates, you will have to part with £278.

Of course, as with everything there are disadvantages, Dunkerque is a long way from Brittany you should allow around 8 hours for the trip but with a couple of drivers the driving will not ‘wipe you out’ Outside of the major bank holiday times, driving on french roads is generally stress free and considerably cheaper than driving in the UK. For those in the South East, Dover Dunkerque will always be the best route, while those in Plymouth are more likely to opt for the Plymouth Roscoff / St Malo route, whilst being more expensive, it cuts out 14hrs of driving and all the fuel costs.

Surprisingly, the ferry cost from the Channel Isles to France is expensive, however it is always possible to paddle across via Les Minquiers and Îles Chausey, or the Ecréhou. The more adventurous may want to try via Alderney.

Taking kayaks aboard as a foot passenger is another option. Its difficult to get information from the ferry companies as generally they have no published policy on this, ( excepting DFDS who cannot take foot passengers due to HM Customs and Immigration regulations)

Blue sky, flat water and no wind, throw in a dash of bright afternoon sun with midday temperatures of 14°C  …  It’s hard to believe it is the middle of December !

Coming over the next few days are some posts giving you the low down on travel to France. If you live on the South coast, you really have some great options for a long weekend paddle, and opportunity to take advantage of out of season accomodation.

Still the weather will break, and we do get our fair share of storms, but most times you are able to find somewhere sheltered to spend an enjoyable couple of days.