Headed to Dublin

Fast-moving clouds

Woke to a slightly ominous cloudy morning; I think I’m going to have the joys of an Irish weather weekend. 
We got moving a little earlier because of Cleaner Avoidance Syndrome – they have a very nice Ukrainian woman who comes in to do the heavy stuff, and I think Eileen feels guilty about it.  With no reason – she still has to be careful about her breathing, and they do the heavy stuff quickly and efficiently. However, M&E like to be out of the way, so we took off for Mallow a little sooner, with Michael driving. The Mallow-to-Dublin train runs hourly, so there was lots of choice, but again, we needed to allow for Michael’s performing schedule, so I booked for a 12:45pm ticket.  

Eileen & Michael at lunch

When we’d talked about it initially, Martin had suggested we visit the Donkey Sanctuary, but it turned out to be 20 minutes north of Mallow, and sadly, there really wasn’t time for it. Instead we poked around at a farmers market (a very small one!) and then went to find a place for coffee, that turned into an early lunch.  I was dropped off at a very quiet Mallow station (Michael, bless him, did the bridge over the railway with my suitcase) and I waited. Five minutes before the train was due, another one pulled onto the platform behind, and suddenly everything was crowded. And then, getting on the train, I discovered that it was absolutely full of students all heading for some sort of pop concert event – and there was not a seat to be had.  I had to stand through two-thirds of the trip, and was just lucky enough to catch an elderly lady getting off at Port Laoise so that I could steal her seat.

Looking towards the Front Square in TCD

At Dublin Heuston, I managed to find the shop that sold a Visitors Leap Card – the ticket that’s good for train and tram and bus – and I found the bus I needed, and got off at the right place and found Trinity College Dublin, where I am for two nights.

Mine is the second door along....

The rain was threatening, so I settled into my room – one of a three-room apartment, and pretty basic student accommodation, but fine for these two nights – and occupied myself with reading my mother’s Memoirs (at least, the Irish part of them) which Martin had digitized and copied to me. It’s fascinating to me how detailed her memories are, and how that contrasts with how my own are not – I think a lot of my “memories” are from family stories rather than actual memory.
Good wifi here, and time to plan Saturday’s outing in semi-detail – though I think I will probably need my rain-jacket!

A favourite thin place

Looking out from the front of the house - meadow, pond and down to the river

This place is so calm!  Martin and I are true Coults and early birds;  he’d been working at his computer for some time before I surfaced, and we shared breakfast and bird-watching. The Tir Na Spideoga birds know they’re on to a good thing with Martin, who keeps the feeders well filled. Eileen’s a night owl, and I think Michael too (it goes with being a folk musician (playing gigs and then enjoying the craic afterwards!) so it was a while before she emerged – which gave me time to get blogs on the move, and post today’s cat one on Facebook.

The little river at the bottom

Between Michael & Martin, they’re a little car-short (Martin's has been in for repair for some time) and the rented one we were in yesterday needed to be returned, so Martin & Eileen went off to do that, and I stayed home to finish stuff, and do some Dublin research on bus routes and timings. No rain, but a cloudy morning – I took myself out for a walk, and soaked in the greenness of the Irish countryside. 

So much honeysuckle in the hedgerows!

Meadow-sweet

The pond - which needs digging out, and some waterlily cover!

When they got back, we worked out schedules – Michael had a gig in Limerick in the evening, so needed the car. So dinner needed to be early, and we’d not much time for an outing.  We ended up going to one of my favourite places, Gougane Barra. It’s one of those liminal places – a Celtic ‘thin place’ where you’re aware of the past and the what-might-be. It’s a lake with an island (now connected) and a tiny little church dedicated to St Finnbar, but the place was likely a pre-Christian place of worship – it represents the source of the river Lee. Any source of a great river was a place of power in ancient Ireland, and this place with its encircling mountains has the same effect on visitors today as so long ago. 

Gougane Barra lake

We had tea together at the little tea-house and then Martin went back to the car – he doesn’t let himself get stopped by anything he really wants to do, but a walk for no reason means less energy for other things.  Eileen and I went to explore the island.  The church is very small, but a popular site for weddings – Michael’s played there. Of more appeal to me is the space around – the sound of the wind and the waves, and the peacefulness.  A wonderful way to spend an hour. And though we weren’t the only visitors, everyone seems to have that same sense of respect, and of seeking for something intangible.

I met these placid guys as I walked a little further around the lake

Back home for supper (a wonderful coq au vin – both Martin and Eileen are great cooks – and then more tennis (watching Marin Cilic go through in classic form!) and a fascinating program about the lives of stoats and weasels. BBC at its best!  We planned for the next day, but had an early night. 

Coming home to Ireland

The pilot boat has just dropped off the pilot!

We saw the Irish coast shortly after dawn, but it seemed to take forever before we could see the break in the coast and were greeted by the pilot boat and the guy who would bring us into harbour.  Roscoff harbour was right on the tip of a peninsula, but Cork harbour goes deep into the coastline – in fact for the deepwater ships, it’s usually Ringaskiddy where they dock rather than Cork.  Before we got there we eased our way past Cobh and the Titanic memorial, and then revolved and backed, inch by inch into the berth.

Cobh

The Titanic Memorial

Martin and Eileen were waiting for me when I came through Customs, and it was so lovely to see them again.  There was lots of news to exchange as we drove – not directly home, but southwest, along the Cork coast road, through Clonakilty and then right to the coast at Owenahincha, where Eileen was persuaded to go wading a bit. Given that the next stop across the ocean was probably Canada, it was a little chilly for me so I explored the dunes a bit and then joined Martin to watch Eileen collecting stones.  

Eileen doing a little chilly wading

Flowers in the dunes

Martin watching the wader...

We went on to Rosscarbery for fish and chips at Nighthawks – apparently it has a reputation for The Best, and today’s lunch lived up to that – light batter and wonderfully flaky haddock, perfectly cooked. 

Sailing school from Unionhall

From there we went on to side-roads to Unionhall to buy fresh fish, and on to hunt for Drombeg stone circle.  Google sent us on something of a wild-goose hunt, but Martin managed to retrace our steps, and we finally found it. The place is minimally signed and maintained, but retains that lovely wild feeling. Martin stayed in the car – rough walking is off the books for him, but Eileen and I took the path to the site, through hedges of fuschia just humming with bees. It was lovely to have time together there.

The Drombeg stone circle

One of two huts for cooking

Looking out to sea from Drombeg

I’d thought we were going to go on round to Bantry, which is their favourite market town, but instead we turned back to Clonakilty for some grocery shopping, and then cross-country to Dunmanwy and over to Inchigeelagh – twisty roads with no sense of planning or engineering, but just trails that happened to have been surfaced, and with many corners where we had to wait for oncoming cars because there’s not space for two to pass.

Back at Tir Na Spideoga (The Land of the Robins) I was able to get a laundry on, and we settled for an evening of watching Wimbledon (I can see how my evenings will be spent next week!) and on family catch-up.  My nephew Michael got back from performing a concert and was full of plans for a music event next week.  

Au revoir, la France!

I woke this morning to the mournful sounds of foghorns, and a quick glance outside confirmed that we’ve lost the sunshine this morning – not actually raining, but it has been....  I could only just make out the shape of the Quai Neuf in the mist.  I needed to check out at noon, but decided that I would have an indoors morning instead, and leave my bags in storage for the afternoon.  I looked up bus schedules for St Pol de Leon, but they were mostly afternoon, and I was more than a little wary about needing to be at the ferry in good time, so decided to stay in Roscoff. 

Misty morning...

At noon I checked out, and ended up taking my bags as well.  Grey day – not much to see or to do, and most of the potentials were out of easy reach.  I walked along the waterfront, with stops to contemplate the water, the Roscoff Lighthouse, and the unloading of seaweed from a small boat – potential fertilizer, I guess. 

The Roscoff lighthouse

Cleaning out after a load of seaweed

By the end of the waterfront I needed to make a decision, so headed up towards the ferry terminal through a nice bit of residential Roscoff, with some great gardens. 

wonderful colour in the gardens

I was too early to check in, but hoped that I could leave my bags and go visit the botanical gardens just south of the terminal – but the ferry staff said that wasn’t possible.  However, there’s a nice little restaurant there, and I was able to take my time having a really good final French lunch: charcuterie, a pasta carbonara (OK, so that’s not really French, but it was part of the “special”), a couple of well-ripened cheeses, and a really nice glass of Sauvignon and take my time with it.

Saying goodbye to Roscoff in the late afternoon sun

There were only about twenty of us as walk-on passengers, and once we were through customs, they popped us on a bus to get us closer to the ferry.  All very efficient, and we left on schedule – and in the sunshine, that just cleared in the last hour.

Rounding the last pier

The farewell wake...

I should probably have got a cabin, but they offered “comfy chairs” – however, though it was possible to recline them a bit, there was no way to raise my legs.  I got about four hours of sleep on and off, and then left my assigned seat to find a bench nearby where I could actually lie down.  It was a nice smooth sail, with the lightest bit of swell, and we woke to a clear morning, with the southern Ireland coast in view. 

Morlaix to Roscoff

 Well, I’m all lumps and bumps this morning – a strong reaction to Morlaix mosquitos!  After breakfast I walked round to the nearest pharmacie and asked for quelque chose contre le piqures des moustiques, and she gave me a medication rather than a topical remedy. It’s certainly made me a lot less itchy, but the blotchiness meant that on the first sunny morning, I ended up having to wear long sleeves! 

Farewell to Morlaix

I am not convinced by the BreizhGO transport system – I booked my ticket yesterday and was told that I’d need to take the shuttle to the SNCF Gare, but when the ticket came through online, it said I was leaving from le Viaduc. That was all very nice and convenient but playing it safe, I left early and found the Viaduc stop and a timetable there – and the bus I was aiming for does not start from there! (The one two hours later, does....). So I had to bustle and find the shuttle stop – luckily not too far – and did the long twisty road to get us to the top of the Viaduct level, and the Station, which is also the bus pickup.  Going up in daylight, I am profoundly grateful to my Friday night rescuers – it would have been a VERY long walk down!

Bus photo as we cross the river at Pont de la Corde

The bus was pretty full, but I think a number of them were a group.  The bus makes a couple of stops, at Pont de La Corde, and then at Pol de Leon – depending on things, I might try and do a bus run to the latter tomorrow; it looked fascinating.  

Pol de Leon

We stopped at the ferry terminal (only four people getting off, but then it was just midday after all) and then on to the Quai d’Auxerre, right on the waterfront.  My blasted wifi decided to opt out on me again, and I was working by guesswork in finding my hotel, but just as I was about to quit, and ask, I found it – almost as far north as you can get in Roscoff. 

Tide on the turn just outside the hotel

I was a little early, but I was able to put my bags in storage and venture out again – first to explore the church across the road, and then to find a creperie where I could have lunch in the shade of an umbrella.  It was as sunny in Roscoff as in Morlaix, but the breeze off the water makes so much difference!  Hot, but not humid.

From my lunch-table

A lunchtime galette

Back to the hotel around 4pm to cool off and take some time, and start the blog, and then another walk – this time to the that northernmost point, where I could see a couple of fishermen wading hopefully, The hotel is situated in a very quiet little corner, right on the water, but with minimal traffic on the road. 

Ossuary

Church bell-tower

There's a fishermen's church almost opposite - Eglize Notre-Dame de Croaz-Batz - which is Gothic/Renaissance (16th century), with two ossuary chapels in the grounds, and an openwork Renaissance bell-tower, with balustrades, domes and lanterns. I found the interior much less appealing and over-ornate 

But from outside, it's very striking!

The hotel is not the most beautiful of buildings – there are so many lovely ones around here – but it’s obviously been purpose-built and it’s well maintained. My view misses the water, but has a much nicer over-the-roofs vista than my Morlaix hotel.

And the water is close - out the door, turn right, and there's a little laneway to the sea-wall, where I could see fishermen wading hopefully.

The oldest house on the point...

I headed around the point, and discovered the Marine Sciences building, which is part of the Sorbonne, and did a little walk and a little sit in the evening sunshine, before returning to my hotel room, and my computer!

Marine Sciences - what a place to work!

Looking southwest