My mother comes to visit me every year in Clonakilty for a gorgeous week in O’Donovan’s Hotel. The trad session in the bar is one of the highlights for my mam, both for the music and the chats with locals and visitors. It was one of these random encounters, which inspired our recent trip to France. We met a couple from Wexford, celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, and learned that the husband regularly took off on the boat from Rosslare, to France and back, just for the spin. Tim and I had also met a group of sea- and bird-life watchers on the ferry from Bilbao, who were on an overnight trip, bringing little else but a camera binoculars, and a toothbrush.
My mam, Dee, doesn’t fly, has always had a fear of it, but loves to travel by boat. My family have taken the Brittany Ferries Cork-Roscoff ferry many times, but always en route to the rest of France. It occurred to me that we could make it a trip in itself, and the mammy was game ball.
Roscoff is a small town on the north-west coast of France. It’s very pretty, right on the sea, with ancient granite buildings housing creperies, bakeries, cafés, shops and small hotels. Everything seemed to be owner-run – it reminded us of Clonakilty, just in French.
We didn’t take the car, as we were just staying one night in Roscoff, which is a five-minute taxi ride from the ferry port. There was plenty of help available, which you can request when booking, for Dee getting on and off the boat, as the pedestrian ramp is fairly long and steep. The staff at the Brittany Ferries terminal are well geared up for helping those with mobility challenges, having wheelchairs with designated staff to push them, elevators and a car to take you on and off in Roscoff, where the terminal building is a bit further from the boat.
I had chosen our hotel based on a few criteria: it had to be in the centre of town, easily walkable to everything, a sea view was a must, and we needed a lift. I also wanted a small hotel with a bit of character. The Mercure Hotel fit the bill perfectly, and the friendly, warm staff were the extra the bits you can’t see on the website.
Our trip started on a Wednesday afternoon, with a four o’clock departure from the ferry port in Cork. Help arrived to wheel Dee on board, with plenty of good-humoured banter. Safely delivered to the door of our cabin, all we had to do was drop our bags and head to the bar for our first taste of France – you’re in Brittany once you board the ferry. This is one of my favourite things about travelling by boat, the holiday starts right away. Sitting in the gorgeous bar on the boat, sea views all around, having a cold glass of Muscadet, I always feel a calmness washing over me. It’s a very different experience from the stress of air travel – longer, more expensive, yes, but definitely calmer.
There is great food on board, the Pont Aven having a particularly beautiful dining room. The food in the more casual setting on the Armorique was varied and tasty, and I went straight in with the cheeseboard and a nice bottle of red.
There’s entertainment in the bar if you fancy that, with live music and a pub quiz, and activities for the smallies. There’s a cinema and a pool, playroom and games room, but nothing was taking me away from my cheese.
We arrived early on Thursday morning, and the hotel had arranged a taxi, so we were having breakfast in Roscoff overlooking the sea, by 9am.
Our hotel was in the middle of town, so, although we couldn’t check in till later, we left our bags and headed out to explore. It’s a beautiful town to wander around, just enough to spend a couple of days in, with a good variety of shops for my retail-loving mammy.
Checking out the Breton food was a joy: crepes, savoury galettes, all manner of fish and seafood, really good ice cream, and the insanely tasty kougn amann, a Breton pastry soaked in caramel. The most famous wine from this region is Muscadet, just perfect with the oysters and mussels which are served everywhere.
We just stayed one night, with two full days on either side, as the ferry left at 11pm on Friday night. A gorgeous dinner, lunches, breakfast watching the seagulls swooping and the tide coming in, ice-cream stops, and coffee and kougn amann mid-morning filled the days easily, with the obligatory shopping in between.
This trip isn’t for everyone, I know. Firstly, you have to like boat travel, and not suffer from sea-sickness. It’s also more expensive than flying, and slower, but for us, the whole trip was the experience, not just the destination. There’s weather to contend with, which can’t be planned around, but that can affect any holiday plans.
I am a lover of slow travel, and the overall dropping of tempo which comes with it. For my mother, whose mobility is fine for short walks, planes and airports are hard work. The pleasure and ease of this boat journey gave her the joy of realising that she can still travel to foreign parts, and the journey is all part of the fun.
• brittany-ferries.ie
• Hotel Mercure, Roscoff
