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Penmarch
The community consisting of the main town Penmarch and the small coastal towns Kerity, Saint-Guénolé and Saint-Pierre lies at the southwestern corner of Finistère. The rocky cape marks the transition from the relatively shelter south facing part of the peninsula to the west-facing and thus fully exposed to the Atlantic part of the coast.
Penmarch sits a little bit inland and during summer season is a quite busy little town with the obligatory centuries old church the major cultural highlight. These churches exist in abundance in the area but this one is nevertheless worth a visit due to the strange and mystical figurative stone sculptures on its facade. The town has also some shops and restaurants and bars for a basic supply of the many holiday houses surrounding it.
The south-facing parts of the community has more holiday homes and the odd sand beach in between the rocky coastline and with Kerity a large harbour occupied by some fishing and many recreational boats.
Right at the tip of the cape stands the Phare d’Eckmühl, a major tourist attraction in the area consisting of three lighthouses. You can visit and climb up the Phare d’Eckmühl for a great overview on the cape. A few hundred meters further north along the coast you find the beautiful 15th century Chapelle Notre Dame de la Joie facing the open sea and thus the often-dangerous working place of the fishermen, who dedicated this chapel as gratitude for a safe return from work at sea.
Another couple of hundred meters north lies Saint-Guénolé, clearly still a fishermen town with a harbour still hosting fishing vessels and some processing industries bordering it. From the northern pier on the coast consists of more rocky shores with some fantastically formed rocks spread along it. After a while the coastline turns northeast until it reaches the beautiful bay facing the Pointe de la Torche with the fine Plage de Pors Carn in between.
For more visual impressions check the gallery
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