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2017 E5 walk, day 7: Kervézennec to le Faou

I said farewell to Gîte Ty Bihan’s standoffish black cat, and headed east on my aching right ankle to the town of le Faou and beyond. The area continued to be farmland, but much of the trail was again along paved roads, which didn’t do my ankle any favors.

I didn’t actually go beyond le Faou at all. By the time I reached the town, even though it wasn’t even noon, my ankle was hurting so badly that I had to stop. After lunch (crêpes at Au Faou de Crêpes) in the plaza, I found the town’s campsite, which was incredibly bleak — an unattended, unadorned slab of grass, lying next to the river estuary, clearly intended for car and trailer camping.

I think, under other circumstances, I would have enjoyed le Faou. It’s a tiny town, charming and relaxed, small enough that there was a sheep grazing in the grass near the center of town. But with my ankle hurting, and the campsite feeling like a deserted wasteland, it was hard to enjoy.

I spent the rest of the day slowly moving around town, getting groceries at the Epicerie les Quatre Saisons and scouting for dinner. When the pain in my ankle was greater than my enjoyment from looking around the town, I sat on a bench and read to kill some time. Eventually, dinner time arrived; I ended up eating a perfectly enjoyable pizza and colossal salad at L’Authentique, with kids at a nearby table playing with Legos.

When I texted with Meghan that evening, she made the obvious-in-hindsight suggestion to see a pharmacist. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it myself, but in any case, by the time I turned in for the night, I’d identified a pharmacy that would be open the next morning.