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We took the comprehensive tour which involved a drop off of a few hours on a modestly sized island with a lovely beach and then a pick up with a tour of the rest of the islands which dot the archipelago.
Les Glenan is one of the high spots for tourism in Brittany. It is known for its natural resources, its pristine crystalline waters (this is where blue lobsters can be caught as well as crabs and shrimps). The spot was neglected for quite some time until the opening of a nautical center in 1940 followed by an international diving center where many people from all over the world come to learn how to become experienced divers.
The biggest surprise was how many tourists were lined up to board the boat. It's not yet the height of the tourist season here but the exceptionally warm sunny weather brought out everybody. It's been a rather cool spring here with unpredictable mostly crappy weather. It seems to have been the case all over France and many part of Europe,not sure what's going on with the weather, possibly mother nature signaling enough is enough,more harm done and I'm just going to BLOW.
The trip to the island of St. Nicolas took about 1 hour. The island is tiny you can walk around it on a special walkway built out of wooden slats just for that occasion. There are a couple of restaurant/terraces where the boat docks and a few summer houses. We stopped to take a break on a beautiful beach where the water was so turquoise pure I felt like jumping in it except for two facts preventing me: one, didn't have a bathing suit on and 2 the water temperature hovered around 14 degrees Celsius not exactly Caribbean temperatures.
The purity and clarity of the water as well as the whiteness of the sand can be explained by a special type of marine algae called "bancs de maeri" which while decomposing assumes the shape of coral but becomes white in the process. We found little bits of it not quite fully decomposed on the beach. Some people were brave enough to go mid thigh in the water, I only went mid-calf.
The boat picked us up after a couple of hours of lingering on the beach and walking around the island. We then went for an exploration of other islands some of which are just little rock outcroppings while others feature that blindingly white sand and turquoise water. See picture below for proof of that.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRS1SxCerto526gda_S5i_IMKAUz5pl84lfIns__lWzHpP_mwJYTA
If you click on the link it will take you to more fabulous pictures. These will give you a better idea than any writing could. All in all a lovely day, hopefully it will inspire some to want to visit one day.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRx2yt46M3xIIybu1q3nCTl-wMjpvx0JznGJxVc8PStBLQ4rWdH
Sorry these links don't seem to work, just google les Glenan and a lot of pics. will pop up.
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