The pink granite coast

The pink granite coast owes its name to the colour of its brown/pink coastal granite. There's a lot of granite in Brittany, as the Armorican massif is an ancient volcanic area, so you'll find a lot of granite here! And the pink colour comes from its mineral composition, which is high in iron oxide and feldspar, among other things. It all makes sense! 😁.

And it's a sight to behold, all those blocks in all shapes and sizes, rich in texture and colour! There's plenty for artists to play with and draw inspiration from. Poets and dreamers will imagine all sorts of things with these blocks, just as we sometimes do with the shapes of clouds. There's no age for dreaming, is there?

During my research and scouting, I discovered just how rare this phenomenon is. In fact, there are only 3 pink granite coasts in the world! The first is in Brittany, the second in Corsica and the last in China. That alone gives us 2 in France! For the pleasure of tourists and photographers 😜. So, without hesitation, you must go... Enjoy! I strongly urge you to take a tour, if you don't know this region!

The beauty of this coast of Brittany attracts many people. Artists of all kinds, walkers, sea and nature lovers - there's something for everyone.

One of the best ways to discover the coast is to follow the "customs path".

In fact, this path is the GR 34, and runs from Mont Saint Michel to Saint Nazaire, and as its name suggests, it's an old customs patrol path used to fight smuggling. As far as we're concerned, on the pink granite coast, it's an 8km stretch from Perros-Guirec to Ploumanac'h that interests us.

You'll need to allow for a 3-hour walk to cover the 8km, and it's best to do it in the cool of the morning (as the sun sometimes beats down 🤪) or at the end of the day for photographers in search of the golden to blue hours. The colours of a sunset on the pink granite coast are quite beautiful ...

This coast of Brittany is not only beautiful for its pink granite, but also for the 'Caribbean' colours of its water, its small hidden beaches and its protected biodiversity.

Towards Pleumeur-Bodou, on the shores of the Ile Grande, you'll find plenty of opportunities for other beautiful walks, as well as birdwatching in their coastal reserve and on neighbouring islands. There are also excursions to the archipelago of the 7 islands, the largest bird reserve in France, with almost 25,000 birds, including 15 aines of marine species.

And if you go even further, as far as Roscoff, botany enthusiasts will be in for a treat with the exotic garden featuring a fine collection of plants from the southern hemisphere, each more beautiful than the last! Not to be missed by nature or macro photographers 😉 ! In any case, on an artistic level I love it!

So much for discovering the pink granite coast. If you like Brittany, I invite you to read another article on my blog, on Fort La Latte and Cap Fréhel, to the east of Brittany, close to Normandy. You can also visit my Brittany photo galleries herewhich will be updated very soon 😍 !

Enjoy your Breton photos, and see you soon,

David