Plougastel-Daoulas < > Le Faou
STAGE PROFILE : 23.3 km 5h50
DIRECTIONS
00.0 – Plougastel-Daoulas. Go past the belltower to get to the shaded churchyard to view the famous Calvary. Have a look at the public space behind the church ; note a recently constructed shell-shaped fountain, with a sculptured pilgrim accompanied by his dog. Go back to the Calvary and leave the churchyard by the left and down the steps. Go down Rue de la Mairie which, bearing left after a junction, becomes Rue de la Fontaine-Blanche. Just after the sports complex 500m further on, at the roundabout, keep straight ahead in the direction of Le Rosier / Vern / Roseg (rue Colette Besson). At the following roundabout, continue to the left (ignoring the road for the exhibition grounds) along the road in the direction of Kerbrat / Le Rosier / Le Vern. At a little more than 1km from your departure point, head onto a stony road to the left, just after a Cross. After about 500m, turn left to get to the area of Fontaine Blanche : with its chapel and fountain. Turn right twice on the road ; go through a roundabout (2km) keeping to the right ; on a bend go past one path to the left before taking the second one to the left, in the direction of Kergoff. Follow the road to the mill Moulin de Kergoff, a little more than 1.4km away. Continue on this road, going up for about 200m to take the first path on the right, and then turning left 100m further on. Cross over the Loperhet-Porsguen road (4.4km) and continue opposite as far as...
1h15 5.0 – ... The bay of Penfoul (Attention ! muddy edges). Go left into a field. You soon reach a little road where you go right for 100m before turning left. 500m approx further up, cross the Loperhet-Rostiviec-Kersanton road and carry on almost directly opposite along a little tarmac road in the direction of Kerouant. Turn right after 700m ; pass through Kerouant; go down for 400m and take a left to arrive at the shoreline of the Bay of Lanveur (picnic table). Go back up via Landrevezen ; after about 250m, turn left towards Mesasten then immediately right onto an uphill path which goes alongside large greenhouses (strawberry beds). You rejoin (8.9km) a road which you go down to the right as far as Kervern Mindu. Here go back up to the left along the path which, 500m later, leads onto a road where you take a right and follow as far as the market town of ...
2h30 11.2 – ... Daoulas. Go through the town centre taking Rue de l'Église (abbey on the left, and old houses), going uphill along this ‘no entry’ partially paved street. To get onto this street, bear left on a bend at the outskirts of the town before a little carpark area. Turn right onto Rue du Pont (old mill /museum of ecology). Go left at the stopsign, still on Rue du Pont. At the traffic lights, cross the D770 and go up towards Irvillac. After a little less than 400m, go down to the right (Rue C & E des Déserts), then bear left towards Guern Dérédec. After the farm, follow the gravel path uphill keeping to the left. At a junction of paths marked by a Cross, take the path on the right. Continue straight ahead and at the second junction, arrive onto the road for the déchetterie (waste disposal depot). Turn left and head onto the dirt track opposite which goes uphill. Reach a Cross at a junction of paths, where you go down opposite, then go back up as far as a damaged Calvary, and continue opposite towards Traonévézec, Stang ar Voguer, Kerbiaounen. At the stopsign, turn left and go down right to the market town of...
4h05 16.4 – ... L'Hôpital-Camfrout. Cross the D770 at a small roundabout (take care!) and take to the side of it a small road which is ‘no entry’ to vehicles to cross the old bridge over the river Camfrout. Pass to the right of the church, then in front of the old pilgrim hospital (hôpital des pèlerins) built on a rock (on the right) (rue de la Mairie), turn left, cross the D770 again (again take care!), and continue opposite on a narrow road which goes alongside the cemetery. After a little more than 150m, head left to go around the housing development of Kerfeunteun by the right. After 400m, straight ahead, go up towards Kersespez via a narrow path for 400m. Turn right and, 150m further, cross the motorway by the pedestrian overbridge which gives access to the forest demesne of Gars. After the overbridge, go down the dirt track to the right which goes alongside the motorway and bends towards the left after 700m. Take an immediate right onto a small road which leads onto the road for L'Hôpital-Camfrout - Hanvec.
Go along this for 500m and take two rights before going back onto the tarmac road, after a left-hand bend, for just under 1km.
Come out onto a bigger road, turn right, pass under the motorway ; turn left to go back onto the D770 in the direction of Faou. Continue along the D 770. After 1.2km, go past the old Elf petrol-station, then the Magasin Vert (dangerous road). Take a left in the direction of Hanvec - Sizun and shortly a right towards Ties Nevez, along the old Roman way which goes down for 1km to the outskirts of the market town of...
5h50 23,3 – ... Le Faou. Cross the bridge over the river Faou. On the right is the headland (with Landévennec at the end of it).
- To get to Rumengol, retrace your steps after your visit to Faou (or if you have stopped there overnight). Cross the bridge over the river. Take a right into quartier Saint-Joseph, via a little road which goes up (rue du Cimetière) and follows the GR® 37. Cross the Brest-Quimper motorway by a bridge. At the junction after the bridge, take the road to the right, then go to the left before the commercial and artisan zone on the old road. Come out onto the D42. Cross it to follow a small road for 300m which rejoins the D42 leading towards Rumengol. This adds 3km to the walk.
