Bagpipe playing restaurant owner in Piriac-sur-Mer

Bagpipe playing restaurant owner in Piriac-sur-Mer

Piriac-sur-Mer is a small seaside town and pleasure port in the Loire-Atlantique department of France between La Turballe and Quimiac. It’s often overlooked by tourists in favour of more well-known resorts such as Pénestin and La Baule, the fishing / pleasure ports of La Turballe and Le Croisic… not to mention the very glamorous resort of La Baule that is just on the other side of the salt marshes of Guérande.

Ladybird Invasion

We stumbled across Piriac-sur-Mer last year during a Sunday afternoon coastal drive. We had left La Turballe in rather a hurry after being overwhelmed by the largest gathering of ladybirds we had ever seen – seriously, there were tens of thousands of them, dropping into our lunch, getting caught in our hair, getting squished on the pavements… it seemed almost biblical. They bite as well!

Anyway, we went back to Piriac the other day, parked in the main car park by the port, wandered along the Quai de Verdun, and found a nice little creperie / restaurant called Lacomere in the Rue de Keroman. After a perfectly decent 3 course lunch (around 18 euros) the owner came out onto the terrace to serenade diners with his Breton bagpipes – not my cup of tea, but surely the most unique after-dinner entertainment you’ll find.

Origins of Piriac-sur-Mer

The name Piriac-sur-Mer originates from Pen Kiriak (which means “Pointe Mauvaise” in Breton). It’s not difficult to see how it might have earned this name. The Piriac coast is quite rocky around here, and sticks out into the Atlantic.

Another fact that surprised us was that the area around Piriac was, until a few decades ago, a source of Uranium, and the remains of some Uranimum mines still exist close by.

All in all, Piriac is a really nice place to spend a few hours. The covered marketplace looks like it might be worth coming back on market day too. Check out the market days for Piric-sur-Mer and other markets in Brittany and the Pays de la Loire.

 

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