Day 90: Michel Sardou

Day 90 - Sunday, July 1st 2018: Clifden to Errisbeg (Gurteen Bay) 23 km / Total 1862 km, 18°C, cloudy

Wind. Wind in the trees. That was the sound of my night. Wind in my ears, the sound of my day. But the weather was definitely cooler, something I really appreciated, with grey clouds which is the normal sky I expected in the Connemara landscape.

After leaving my campsite, I made a stop at Clifden supermarket to get some food for the next few days (meaning a heavier bag) and couldn't resist getting a French croissant and a Portuguese pastel de nata. The road in the morning was turning and turning all the time, with bramble hedges (I tried not to scratch my hands) so no visibility, which was quite boring because there was a lot of traffic, and I had to stop each time I met a car.

There was two interesting History fact in the area. First, in 1905, Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian engineer sent the first wireless transatlantic message, in morse. Second, in 1919 the British aviators' John Arthur Alcock and Brown made the first transatlantic no stop flight from Newfoundland to Clifden (but as Ireland was still part of the UK at that time, all credits went to the British).

Just before Ballyconneely, I reached beautiful beaches, where someone was kitesurfing. With the wind, he seems to enjoy it a lot.

I made a stop in the village for lunch at the pub. There were 2 games on TV: GAA (Gaelic football) AND World Cup (soccer). GAA got more attention though.

In the afternoon, the road was between the sea on my right side and many lakes on my left. Now I know why Michel Sardou named his song "Les lacs du Connemara" (the lakes of Connemara). The landscape was just rocks, tall grass and lakes. 

And suddenly, the road led to a beach. A beautiful beach. White sand, turquoise water. That was Dog's bay. Then on the other side of a tiny land lane, there was the same beach in Gurteen Bay. My campsite was there.