L’Abbaye de Beauport, Paimpol
…A serious house on serious earth it is,
In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,
Are recognised, and robed as destinies.
And that much never can be obsolete,
Since someone will forever be surprising
A hunger in himself to be more serious,
And gravitating with it to this ground,
Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in,
If only that so many dead lie round.
— Excerpted from “Church Going” ©Phiip Larkin
Here we are at the Beauport Abbey, in Paimpol. Founded in the XIIIth century by monks from Normandy, the Gothic abbey church now lies in ruins, albeit ruins with beautiful gardens that “lie round.” Visitors are often surprised to discover that Beauport is one of four official Breton starting points for pilgrims setting out for Santiago de Compostella. Centuries ago, Scandinavian, Irish, and British pilgrims landed in Brittany on their way to Spain. The other three Camino starting points in Brittany are…
Pointe Saint-Mathieu near Le Conquet : According to one tradition, Saint Matthew’s relics were brought there from Egypt in the IXth century, after which it became a shrine for Matthean pilgrims.
Moguériec near Saint-Pol-de-Léon
Locquirec near Morlaix
And then there’s a BONUS STARTING POINT: Many Bretons would include Mont Saint-Michel , which they insist rightly belongs to Brittany, not Normandy.