Algae farmers path, Pointe Saint-Mathieu, Finistere

Starting point, the village of Saint-Mathieu (commune of Plougonvelin, Finistere). Narrow paths wind their way along gardens enclosed in flowered stone walls [1]. Read more : La Pointe Saint-Mathieu and its Abbey. Pointe Saint-Mathieu is the most westerly point of Brittany, from there the panorama [2] [3] on Pointe du Raz and Ouessant is remarkable.

The coast path of Les Rospects [4] [5] [6] leads to a World War II blockhaus [7] (part of the Atlantic Wall with those of Pointe de Penhir which sheltered large calibre coast defence batteries.

On this same path, several "davieds" [8] [9] can be seen : stone "cramps" built on top of the cliffs to help farmers lift up loads of algae from the shores [10], inaccessible to their carts. A horse used to pull up the bundles of seaweeds hooked to a rope run on a pulley set in the hole dug in the stone of the davied. Usages and customs for organizing the harvest have always completed today's very strict regulations : farming was authorized only after the shut off of the lighthouses. This type of fertilizer is almost no longer in use in agriculture but industry still consumes tons of laminaria which farming is tightly regulated.

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Pointe Saint-Mathieu and its abbey, Finistere
Photographies of trains,engines,locomotives and ancient wagons on the Champs Elysees, Paris honours the trains. Ile de France.

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