Walk in Paimpol

In the Côtes-d'Armor, there is a port town overlooking the Channel: Paimpol. Built around basins, it lives off fishing and oyster farming. The name Paimpol comes from the Breton pen (end) and poul (pond), in French “the head of the pond”. In the past, there were many ponds and Paimpol was a peninsula. During high tides, the districts of the station and the Champ de Foire were flooded.

The city is charming. Stone or half-timbered houses adorn the small streets. One or two hours are enough to go around it, the time for a short walk. The two oldest streets, that of the church, which joins the road of Lézardrieux and the street of the Eight Patriots, preserved their authenticity.

The small streets add a “timeless” touch to it. The liveliest place remains the port, the postcard of Paimpol. Restaurants and cafes with a view of the sailboats see tourists of all generations, from the youngest to the oldest.

Paimpol and Iceland remain closely and painfully linked. Narrowly through the period of "La grande Pêche" where Paimpol sailors embarked for schooners, heading for the Far North, to fish for cod.

Painfully because the fishing conditions were harsh and extreme. It is common to have experienced the loss of a loved one for many Paimpolaise families. 

Pierre Lotti tells it very well in his famous book "Fishermen of Iceland" dating from 1886: Paimpol, those who were nicknamed "the Icelanders", the loneliness of sailors' wives, the strength of the ocean. 

The “Icelandic city” seems so far from all that today. Nowadays, it beats thanks to tourism and yachting.

Beauport Abbey

Beauport Abbey is located near the town of Paimpol, in the village of Kérity. The building was built at the beginning of the 13th century by the Count of Goëlo. Over time, the abbey became a real monastic lordship. The canons took care of their spiritual and intellectual radiance there in harmony with Nature.

The gardens, the orchards, the reed bed, the marshes and the forest massif… At the time, the garden provided local and exotic fruits and vegetables. In the orchards grew chestnut and apple trees, among other fruit trees. A barnyard, a dozen cows and heifers, two bulls and thirty sheep with access to the salt meadow provided meat, eggs, milk and wool.