Pont-Aven + St Maurice Abbey

Even on a gloomy overcast day Pont-Aven was pretty, and we could see why it has inspired artists.

We had lunch in the Moulin du Grand Poulguin, a converted water mill, and wandered a little around the village, which is full of art and design shops.

Taking back roads towards Lorient, we made an unplanned stop at St Maurice Abbey, turning down a road that led into the forest. Here, on a tidal reach of the river Isole, is a partly restored Cistercian abbey, now managed by the conservation organisation Conservatoire du Littoral.

a tree-lined path

We spent quite a while here: there were displays on coastal biology, a documentary on the history of the abbey, and a "batcam", showing baby greater horseshoe bats, in the roof directly above us, that had been born just the day before! And it was a pleasant walk around the ruins and the trees.

We took the coastal route, through Guidel-Plage, to Lorient, where we stopped only for petrol and a gawk at the submarine base. We had some big-city navigation problems, but eventually got ourselves onto the road to Carnac.