Within less than ten minute’s drive from the cottage I can count at least ten beaches, five in Saint-Quay-Portrieux alone. I’ve a favourite for a swim at low tide, another at high tide, another for long walks, one for sunbathing, for exploring the rockpools, another for its beach bar and its exotic restaurant, one for its open-air sea water swimming pool.

A children’s favourite might be the one with the ‘Bouncy Castle’ or trampoline. There are high cliffs and coves… and steps! Or you can drive and park within a few yards of flat sands.

Another day you might head up the coast towards Paimpol (still only half an hour away!) Enjoy the spectacular seascapes from numerous headlands, visit the eight-hundred-year-old Abbey of Beauport with its romantic gardens and its exhibitions, festivals and concerts, take a ferry to the Isle of Bréhat, cruise round the little archipelago, walk or cycle around on this ‘Island of Flowers', or carry on towards the famous Pink Granite Coast.  

Go down the coast instead towards Erquy and Cap Fréhel (60km), and the landscape is as different again, with wild moorland and heather, beaches of fine flat sand, and spectacular sunsets.

‘Back home’ again now, Saint-Quay-Portrieux, with its deep harbour and its fleet of fishing boats and its Old Port, offers boat hire, fishing ‘expeditions’, sailing instruction, diving, and lots of history… from the 5th century Welsh hermit, Saint Kenan, who gave the original village its name, to the generations of fishermen who left this shore to fish off Iceland, and then off Newfoundland, later turning to scallop fishing, making this the ‘capital’ in France for the ‘Coquille St-Jacques’, a speciality not to miss in the local gastronomy. In more recent history the Yacht Club, which welcomes visiting members in its ‘Voile Loisir’ section, hosted the World Women’s Match Racing Championships.

And if this is all a bit too energetic, how about having a quiet game of ‘boules’ on the seafront at Binic? There’s a set of ‘boules’ you may borrow in the top left-hand sideboard drawer!