Trégastel

I think that one day, when I finally am finished with the world of work and have established a modest means of supporting myself in retirement, I would like to live in Trégastel.

It is a most delightful little town, not too large, not too little, situated slap, bang on the Pink Granite Coast of Northern Brittany which is one of my favourite places in the world, along with Finnish Lapland and The Alps.

When I lived in Brittany I never visited Trégastel, which is perhaps as well, had I done so my English and French O.U. studies would have been neglected while I returned there every few days to soak up the beauty of the place, along with the scents of iodine, seaweed and pink rocks.

Last year The Ragazza, her boyfriend and I discovered it and during our visit earlier this month we returned several times, heading first, as has become our tradition, for the aquarium in the rocks.

We took dozens of photos, I could sit here all day posting pictures like the online equivalent of that boring neighbour back in the 70's, the one who always invited everyone to see the slides of his summer holiday, but better not.

Instead just a few snaps of the things that caught my attention and made me pause ...  

Scallop on the sand...

and starfish...
with that colouring it should be re-named a sunbeamfish

I don't recall ever seeing a live cuttlefish before. They're usually only found as dried-up, bleached white remains that folk feed to caged-birds. They're really quite lovely and a little other-worldly. 

The Rags and I love visiting zoos and safari parks. Of course I remember when large cats were kept in concrete cages and elephants were tethered in small enclosures and back then zoos were not such nice places. But now we've adopted a kinder, more considerate approach to keeping wild creatures in captivity and many zoos are engaged in conservation work which we like to support when we can.

Aquariums are special, I think its because we get to see a whole different environment that we wouldn't see otherwise and we humans do seem to be drawn to water...

  

The aquarium at Trégastel is perfect for children. 

It's small enough not to exhaust them, large enough not to bore them and there are interesting French and English signs that describe the inhabitants and their lifestyles, which always fires a child's imagination, at least in my experience. 

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And, of course, it's built among the boulders...

  

And when you've finished wandering and gazing and calling 'Come, look at this!' to your companions, there's a small and quite tasteful shop from which you can purchase all manner of souvenirs and postcards, books and mugs. 

And then you emerge, smiling and blinking into the bright Breton sunshine and wander round the corner to a little restaurant called Les Sept Iles which serves, in my opinion, the best cheese omelette and chips in the world. And for the smaller people with you, the ice-cream concoctions are served in the most outlandish whimsical bowls whose appearance will make everyone nearby smile. 

Could it get any more perfect than that?