A stone’s throw from a medieval sea fortress in the heart of Morlaix Bay in Brittany, France, on a little rocky island with a 19th century lighthouse and a white and powder-blue cottage, your Robinson Crusoe moment is waiting.
The keys to the lighthouse keeper’s old cottage –and absolute sovereignty over your own island for the weekend– can be picked up on the mainland at the local tourist office, which has been renting out the Ile Louët since 2004 when someone on the town council came up with the idea to renovate the neglected property and open it up as a holiday home.
The lighthouse has been guiding boats through these waters since 1857 and until the 1960s when it became automated, lighthouse-keepers and their families lived permanently on this picturesque island which is just 350 meters out from the coast of Carantec in the north of Brittany.
Ile Louët and its cottage can be rented for one or two nights to accommodate a group of up to 10 people and here’s the kicker– it’s only €150 a night / €15 euros per person. And for two nights (and two days) it’ll set you back €200 – for your own. damn. island.
Of course with your having your own Robinson Crusoe moment, there has to come a few compromises on the daily comforts you’re used to. There’s no bridge to the island and certainly no telephone … (easy peasy right?)
Okay so I should probably also mention there’s no hot running water (but the shower has a magnificent view over the sea) … and the toilets are in a fisherman’s outhouse. Come on, it’s only a weekend! Oh and they renovated the island’s former pigsty to make a bathroom. As the French do.
The deal is you’ll also have to get yourself to and from the island on your own accord– and you can’t ferry your entire family over on a jet ski one by one. There is the option of a local sailor however, that can take all ten people on a return journey on his boat for €100.
If none of this has put you off, which it probably shouldn’t, start picturing yourself firing up the barbecue on the cottage patio to prepare the fish you caught earlier, with the sound of seabirds retiring for the day and waves caressing the rocks of your own personal island, watching the horizon turn pink.
Find out more here or contact the Carantec Tourist Office on 00+33 (0)2 98 67 00 43 or by emailing carantec@tourisme.morlaix.fr. Given the high demand there is often a waiting time and the island is now taking bookings for 2016 (fully booked for 2015)– but remember, some things are just worth the wait.
