It’s incredible to think that just one and a half months ago we were still hiking through Brittany, when now we have arrived in the big city of Paris. We set off from Pointe du Raz on 5 March and on stage 42 we have completed the first 1000 kilometres of the E5’s total of around 3000 kilometres! We have a third behind us! But what is our conclusion? What did we particularly like and what didn’t we enjoy? How much did we actually hike per day? How many hours were we on the road on average?
This is our hike in a nutshell:
Total distance: 1000 kilometres
Total time hiking: 276 h15 m i.e. 11 days 12h 15 min
On stages 9 to 16, we follow a section of the beautiful Canal de Nantes à Brest (here you find all details regarding stages 6-10, stages 11-15 and stages 16-20).
On stages 1 to 4, we follow the Breton coast in the very north-west of Brittany on the former customs officers’ path – a fantastic landscape characterised by rugged cliffs, small paths and extensive sandy beaches.
On stage 24, we reach the Breton coast again in Saint Malo and experience a fantastically beautiful stage from Saint Malo to Cancale full of sandy beaches, rock climbing and, above all, huge tidal differences – a real experience!
Stages 17 to 19 of the E5 lead through the forest of Brocéliande, rumoured to be the origin of the famous King Arthur legend. Not only is this heritage displayed everywhere (in museums, stations in the forest, themed guided tours through the forest), but the forest also exudes a certain magic that does not leave us untouched as we hike through it…
We clearly love the coastal stages: on stage 4, we hike from our great accommodation in Kerklody to the small village of Le Faou, one of our favourite stages with our first summit, the Menez-Hom, and the huge Térénez bridge.
The unbeaten number one for accommodation is definitely the Sloowli, a cosy tiny house in the middle of nowhere, with Bob Marley cassettes and a yoga mat =)
Located directly on the Canal de Nantes à Brest, with a coffee machine in the room, an indoor pool, a huge breakfast buffet, a very cosy lounge and – above all – Rob as a super nice host – the Maison du Canal has everything your heart desires!
The most authentic Breton inn you could wish for: A fire burns in the open fireplace that dominates the room, wood-panelled cupboards line the stone walls and in the middle of the room is a wooden table several metres long with chairs all around. Veronique and her husband are butchers, sell their meat at the market on Sundays, have delicious pies and are great hosts.
Florent and Elena are our hosts, they just became parents and are very warm and friendly. The house, which they rent out, is not only totally cosy, but it even comes with a hot tub!
The small town of Josselin really amazes us: the medieval old town is still very well preserved, half-timbered houses line the streets and the highlight is probably the castle towering over the canal. We are just as impressed by our hotel, which is located directly opposite the castle on the canal and offers us a direct view of the castle. Beautiful!
(we couldn’t decide on just five, hence the top 15 in walking order):
Lydie, where we stayed overnight on our very first night of hiking (see stage 1)
Claudie und Marc, who gave us a very warm welcome in their little house in Kerklody and with whom we had our first long conversation in French – with a lot of patience on their part (see stage 3)
Veronique, the lady mentioned above, who rents out the original Breton house in the Vallée du Rivoal (see stage 5)
Rob, the host of La Maison du Canal, also mentioned above – a super nice Brit with a sense of humour (see stage 9)
Rosana und Larry, whose beautiful accommodation in the small village of Caurel surprises us, especially when we discover Larry’s bar – where we naturally get stuck in and spend hours chatting with him and John about the King Arthur saga and life in Brittany over good local beer. (see stage 11)
Fabienne, who rents out a small stone cottage on her farm and is an amazing woman – with thousands of projects and ideas – very inspiring! (see stage 13)
Sharon and Pete, great and very hospitable British people in Brittany, who realised their dream of a bed and breakfast and treated us to a really delicious three-course dinner. (see stage 14)
Nathalie, whose cat we have totally taken to our hearts and with whom we immediately feel very comfortable. (see stage19)
Caroline, our Irish hostess, who gave up her job in the financial sector to accommodate guests in a beautifully renovated farmhouse. (see stage 27)
Elena und Pascal, who are in the process of renovating a beautiful old stone house in Mortain-Bocage, which offers a hidden tower, great high rooms and many other surprises – who knows, maybe there’s a secret passage somewhere… (see stage 28)
Elena und Florent, who rent out a really big house, where we particularly enjoy the hot tub and are very grateful to Florent, who provides us with food, looks after his child at the same time and is generally a great host. (see stage 29)
Murielle und Christophe, who totally surprise us with their hospitality and, above all, with their keen sense of what hikers need at the end of a long day of hiking (warm soup, a load of washed laundry, a fireplace to dry their shoes, a good beer) (see stage 35)
Sandrine, who gives us a warm welcome and lovingly serves us hard-boiled eggs – one of the best hiking meals! (see stage 39)
Eudoxie und David, who rent out really nice rooms on their horse ranch and are very down-to-earth for horse people and we feel very comfortable with them. (see stage 40)
Christelle, who cooked lasagne for us to celebrate our 1000 kilometre mark – my favourite meal! (see stage 42)
…Food:
The Pizza vending machine
Nothing beats the pizza vending machine, which provides us with hot food on a long stage with no open restaurants – and pizza at that!
Before we set off and then again after stage 2, we spend the night in a beautiful hotel in Douarnenez, which has a very chic restaurant where we enjoy wonderful food – the fish and mussel dishes are particularly delicious.
Our hotel restaurant in Plélan-le-Grande offers a real surprise – the food is so good that people even travel from further afield to enjoy the three- or four-course menu on the menu.
We don’t usually expect much from a restaurant in the middle of a mega-touristy area, but the restaurant on the island of Le Mont Saint-Michel surprises us in a very positive way. I try oysters here for the first time in my life and am absolutely thrilled!
Crêperies are probably one of the highlights of Brittany. Here you can get crêpes in all flavours and try cider from the region! So of course we never miss an opportunity to visit one, but the one with the very best crêpes is without doubt the little crêperie in Huelgoat, a one-woman show with super delicious crêpes.
By chance, when looking at the map, we find out that there is a castle near the small town of Carrouges and decide to pay it a visit without further ado. It pays off, the castle and especially the furnishings are very well preserved and we feel like we are travelling back in time to several different centuries.
Saint-Malo is located directly on the north coast of France in an area with the highest tidal fluctuations in Europe. However, the thick walls protected it less from the sea than from invaders who tried to conquer the strategically located city.
Situated in the mystical Brocéliande Forest, the origin and setting of the Arthurian legends, the King Arthur Museum is rumoured to be especially great for children, but we are also very happy about the beautiful exhibition.
On stage 15, we reach the small town of Josselin with its wonderfully preserved medieval old town. I don’t think any other town on our hike enchanted me as much as this wonderful little town with its castle.
We almost cut short the detour via the castle of Alençon, but we are glad that we took the diversions after all, because the little town has some very beautiful sights.
Perhaps we have a somewhat romanticised image of Huelgoat because we spent our first – much-needed – day off here. Nevertheless, the small Breton town on a lake with its stone houses really appealed to us.
Situated on a hill and surrounded by forest as far as the eye can see, Domfront surprises us with its beautiful facades and beautifully preserved stone houses.
Le Mont Saint-Michel again? Yes, because we are also very impressed by the landscape around the monastery island: It’s really beautiful and we particularly enjoy the view as our route leads along the bay on stages 25 to 27 and the island is always in our field of vision.
Even if the paths along the lake are stony and difficult, the views along the way are totally worth the effort: the lake meanders for kilometres through a hilly and wooded landscape and is simply stunningly beautiful.
Even though we curse it at times, as it is not only difficult to find accommodation but also to find our way through it, we have learnt to appreciate it very much: the national park is full of beautiful forests where everything is beginning to bloom.
The Canal de Nantes à Brest also deserves another mention – the scenery around the waterway is truly beautiful (here you find all the details regarding stages 6-10, stages 11-15 and stages 16-20).
On stage 19, to our own surprise, we come across a beautiful, albeit very small national park, which is a real landscape island in the middle of the forests – rugged rocks and wild flowering cacti and willow bushes characterise the picture.
A great way to relax after long, strenuous stages and very relaxing to have the whole area to ourselves – we really enjoy the spa in the bathing and health resort of Bagnoles d’Orne.
On stage 25 on the way from Saint-Malo to Cancale, we can hardly believe our eyes when a 24/7 oyster vending machine suddenly appears at the side of the road. Very handy!
This was not only very practical for writing blogs, but also to be able to do some organisational things in peace – the media library in Saint-Malo with free computer access.
Whether it’s for breakfast, lunch or dinner, you can stock up on everything in the French bakeries. What’s more, you can get an insight into village life and find one or two local specialities.
And the top six…
…Encounters
The taxi driver on stage 1, with whom we talked about rainbows, Brittany and school holidays in France and who said, not without good reason, on our first stage: ‘Wow, you’ve got a long hike ahead of you!’
The Epicerie seller in Le Faou (at the start of stage 5), who gave us excellent advice on local products (mussel pâté, for example) – in German!
The long-distance hiker in the bakery in Le Faou, with whom we moaned about the muddy condition of the paths.
John and Larry in the bar in Caurel (at the end of stage 11), an evening we won’t soon forget and where we learnt a lot about the King Arthur legend.
The Belgian café owner in Tréhorenteuc (on stage 17), who was not only totally relaxed and nice, but also had a great taste in music.
The markers who were out and about on the GR 22 (on stage 37) and renewing trail markings – as part of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
…Funny Moments
The photo ‘of the owner’ (this works only in German I’m afraid) that we discover on Google Maps of our accommodation in Montauban (from stage 19 to 20).
When the waitress sneezes in the restaurant in Le Mont Saint-Michel (on our break day after stage 26), I say ‘bless you!’ loudly and we both have a fit of laughter for the rest of the evening.
When the bonnet of a lawnmower comes off the trailer in front of us and skids across the road (on stage 41).
The ‘Danger Zone de Chasse’ sign, which triggers a running gag for the rest of our hike (on stage 43)
When the warning ‘Please move off the bridge!’ sounds on the bridge of the tidal power station before Saint-Malo (on stage 22) and I tell Matthäus: ‘No, no, he certainly doesn’t mean us!’ (He did, of course.)
While trying to book our accommodation at Etang de Neal, we have a phone call (or not) with the son’s ‘dad’ (on stage 20).
…Sheep-Moments
(Top 3: because yes, we saw a lot of sheep, but most of them didn’t do anything that exciting)
The herd of sheep that comes running to cheer us on when we really need it on stage 6.
The sheep demonstrating different ways of crossing mud on stage 27.
The sheep on stage 38, which whines at least as miserably as I do.
And let’s be honest, even though most of it was wonderful, there were also a few flops:
So here are the bottom three….
…Stages
Stage 6, where I really didn’t feel like hiking after just 5 kilometres of the 30 kilometres ahead and we had no idea how we were going to get through it (spoiler alert: we arrived).
Stage 30, where Matthäus was not quite fit and we saw rivers unlike any others on the hike (thank goodness). Due to the rapid current, river crossings were no longer possible, which is why we were forced to take major detours.
Stage 35, on which we were exposed to all kinds of weather and which took us up and down small forest paths, putting our mountain fitness to the test – at least this stage ended with a deliciously warm soup!
…Accomodations
La Dragonne in the expensive Bellême, where we spend the night after stage 36 and with whom we had a heating battle: she turned the heating down to 17°C and we turned it up to 27°C, and so on…
Aubrey, our host after stage 6, where we arrived totally exhausted and were delighted to find the fire already burning, but who turned out to be enormously complicated and totally overwhelmed us with requests in our tired after-hiking-state.
Our landlord in Ploërmel, who only saw us on camera and after a phone call from us to Booking and then graciously finally let us into the warm appartement.
…Mud moments
Unseen on the rest of the hike, stage 6 surpasses all others in terms of muddiness: Mud and fallen trees are everywhere.
On stage 26, two female hikers warn us: There is unavoidable mud in front of you, including an electric fence on both sides: A warning that we don’t take seriously enough, but it turns out they are right: It is unavoidable and therefore costs us a few extra kilometres of diversions.
On stage 30, we are faced with a bridge that has been torn away and a raging river and ask ourselves: What now? Fortunately, a solution is found, but just like on stage 26, it also costs us a few extra kilometres.
So that’s the summary of our first 1000 kilometres on the E5. All in all, I would say it was a great start to our first long-distance hike, full of great moments, exciting encounters and beautiful landscapes.
