Want to Leave “It Feels”, Shouts Ondine Morin Into My Ear, Nick Haslam Explores the Tiny “Like We’Re on the Prow of a Ship Heading Island Off the Tip of Finistère
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Destination Ushant want to leave “It feels”, shouts Ondine Morin into my ear, Nick Haslam explores the tiny “like we’re on the prow of a ship heading island off the tip of Finistère. out to sea.” Standing there braced against With a population of barely 900, a force eight gale on Ushant’s western- most tip, with nothing between us and Ushant is only five miles long Newfoundland but 4,000 km of Atlantic, it and has a rich maritime is not hard to see what she means. “There tradition. There are only are tidal currents out there – which make two fishermen on the island – the sea is our boatmen very cautious in rough seas,” far too dangerous to support more. she says as we turn to walk back, the strong sunshine glinting on the wind- There is a small, pretty port, some blown spray high above our heads. stunning walks, and hidden beaches Twenty miles off Finistère, the tiny around its rugged coast island of Ushant, shaped like a crab’s claw reaching out into the Atlantic, is only 8x4 km. With a population of barely 900, its open landscape is dotted with small cottages surrounded by stone-walled fields, which today in late spring are ringing with birdsong. Known as the Île aux Femmes – the Island of Women, for most of the men would leave for years at sea in the French Merchant Navy – Ushant has a timeless feel, where visitors are greeted in the street with a friendly bonjour. The days of going to sea for life are long over, but with the sound of breaking rollers never far away, the strong maritime connection is still a constant presence. We had sailed the day before from La Grande-Terre – the Great Earth – as islanders affectionately call France, on the daily ferry from the pretty Breton port of Le Conquet, pausing briefly to deliver newspapers and a huge paper bag of baguettes to the tiny island of Molène en route. At Ushant’s Port du Stiff, Ondine stands with a crowd of weather-beaten Ouessantins on the quay and takes us on a whistle-stop tour of her island. In addition → The rugged coastline and Pointe du Créac’h lighthouse SUMMER 2013 | VOYAGE | 41 Destination 1 Mathieu Thomas, maker of weathercocks 2 The 1 2 church at Lampaul, the only village on the island 3 One of the local residents 4 Lampaul bay to being our guide she also runs courses on natural food gathering and helps her fisherman husband when time permits. “When you live out here you have to be very self-reliant,” she tells us as we drive into Lampaul, the only village. “Most islanders can turn their hands to many crafts.” “When you live out here 3 you have to be very self- reliant … most islanders can turn their hands to many crafts ” Y M A L A / We spend the day walking the dramatic A S P I S jagged coastline above rocky coves and B crystal clear seas to Pointe du Créac’h, where Europe’s most powerful lighthouse marks the beginning of the line dividing the Atlantic from the Channel and is the first landfall for ships heading to Europe. In the museum at its base are chastening accounts of the numerous vessels wrecked on the headlands here and of the heroic efforts of islanders to save victims from the sea. Just opposite the lighthouse is the workshop of Mathieu Thomas, former postman and now maker of traditional weathercocks which adorn most of the houses. Made of brightly painted wood and mounted on the stone chimneys, the vanes play an important role, for the direction of the wind in exposed Ushant determines so many daily activities. Mathieu, who comes from La Grande-Terre, is an ardent fan of island life. “You have to get on with people and respect their space → 4 SUMMER 2013 | VOYAGE | 43 Destination 5 6 Y M A L A / S I M 7 E H 8 9 – unlike the city where you are anonymous 12x6 metres, divided into tiny rooms by 5 & 6 The Niou Huella Ecomuseum in the Armorique for so much of the time.” We understand his large blue and white painted cupboards, National Park 7 Typical window 8 Typical stone walling & Pointe du Créac’h lighthouse 9 The words more clearly when we walk on to the with roof beams made of wood salvaged dramatic jagged coastline at Pointe du Créac’h Ecomuseum, where two Ouessantin houses from wrecks. “With their menfolk away the are kept in their original condition. Here as Ouessantine women had to be strong,” says many as 12 people of three generations Natalie Boloré, the curator. “They milked would have lived in a space measuring the cows and repaired the houses in which can be seen more than 60 km out at addition to bringing up their families.” sea. “For us, those beams punctuate our Fact box After an excellent supper of sea bass sleep,” she says. “It’s a reassuring rhythm. caught by Ondine’s husband we join her for Should it ever stop I’m sure we’d all wake For guided tours of Ushant: a nocturnal visit to the lighthouses of the up!” Looking out over the invisible www.kalon-eusa.com island. As dusk falls over Port du Stiff, a breakers pounding in the darkness, I can For information on where to stay and how to get there: www.brittanytourism.com bewildering array of lights start blinking only too easily sense the importance of The ferry to Ushant departs from the port of and Ondine tells us there are more than the light to those who live surrounded by Le Conquet, one-and-a-half hours’ drive from 20 lighthouses and light buoys marking the sea. Brittany Ferries’ port of Roscoff. out this complex seaway. On the western For more information on the weather vane If you find an untapped spot we haven’t maker visit: www.girouettes-ouessant.fr end of the island the mighty Créac’h discovered please let our readers know lighthouse pulses light over our heads, @BrittanyFerries 44 | VOYAGE | SUMMER 2013.