A day trip to Ile de Houat – in the Gulf of Morbihan, Brittany, France

The Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany, where I’ve been for a couple of days is a wonderful holiday destination, with many small islands off the coast that you can visit by ferry.

Riding in a ferry to Houat

Yesterday, we arrived a little bleary eyed for the 8am ferry from Vannes to the island of Houat, for a day of fishing for crabs, crevettes and whatever other marine goodies we could find. It was grey and a little fresh to begin with and after taking in the scenery from the deck as we left the port, we quickly retreated to the warmer cabin below to pass a couple of hours until we arrived at the island. The time flew by as we passed other islands in the Gulf of Morhiban, a nearly enclosed area of sea, with a mild and protected climate which is ideal for sailing.

Walking around

At 10 o clock we reached the small harbor at Houat and set off on foot in search of a good beach (of which there are many on the island) for both crab fishing and relaxing. The small village we walked through with a few cafes and restaurants was full of picture postcard fishermen’s cottages, which had been converted into holiday homes, for those who want to relax and get away from it all.

The men in our party had come well equipped with nets for fishing for crabs and crevettes (large prawns) and miniature picks to prize the shellfish off the rocks – they took their fishing very seriously indeed. The island is small enough to walk around in a few hours and you can walk to all the beaches on the footpaths that crisscross from one side of the island to the other.

Low Tide Beach

First we reached a huge expanse of white sand and walked to the end, where there was a rocky area by the sea wall. It was clearly an excellent spot for fishing from the beach, as it was low tide and many other people were raking away the wet sand to find bags of shellfish to take away. There were plenty of mussels and oysters on the rocks and so we got to work with the picks, prizing a few off, although the oysters were opened, tasted and pronounced too oily to be good to eat, so we didn’t take any more.

Swimming time and Lunch

Next we walked around the headland to another beach where we established ourselves for a while to have a swim and sunbathe while the men went off to explore the more rocky areas. After some lunch of baguettes with fromage and jambon and a little red wine and strong black coffee from the thermos, we continued on our exploration over to the other side of the island.

As we made it back past to the harbor, we turned in a different direction, this time following a path through ferns at the top of the cliffs with more rocky coves below. After passing some which were too steep to scramble down to we arrived at another small sandy cove that we had practically to ourselves.

Before heading back to Vannes

A swim and another doze on the beach later, it was time to walk back and take our ferry back to Vannes. As we got close, we passed by my friend’s house close to the harbor and waved to her son on the terrace as we passed by. Although my friends live there year round, the location makes it like being on holiday all the time.

The Gulf of Morbihan

There are many different islands to visit in the Gulf of Morbihan, some tiny, some large, but all very unspoiled and beautiful, where the best way to get around is by bike or on foot. In summer you should be sure to check the ferry times carefully and reserve your return trip as there are not so many boats each day and they can get full in holiday season and at weekends. There are often small hotels or campsites where you could stay for a perfect relaxing break of a day or two.

Some crabs we caught

And I almost forgot – the crabs we caught?  Well sad to say that we only found a couple of tiny ones, but luckily we were able to buy some larger red crabs and locally caught fish at the harbor before we left.  As we came off the ferry, carrying our fishing nets and crabs, a passer by murmured “Quelle belle peche!” (what a great catch!) and we all fell about laughing. You’ll be seeing the video how we prepared the crabs for our dinner very soon.

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

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