Tribute to an unknown Uncle

After years of good intentions we at last managed to visit the grave of my husband's uncle in St Brieuc on the north coast of Brittany. He was lost at sea on HMS Charybdis in 1943 during WW2. His wife knew he was missing for several years before knowing for sure that he was lost. She never wanted to visit his grave and no other member of the family did so either. We always felt sorry about this and decided that as this year would have been his 100th birthday it would be a fitting tribute.



Always eager for a little adventure the four of us (husband Paul, his brother Colin and partner Christine) booked cabins on the overnight Plymouth to Roscoff ferry.Our cabins were surprisingly comfy and we all slept well, an early start though as we arrived Roscoff 6am, giving us a good long day to drive to the cemetery and then to explore the countryside. It was a national holiday for Ascension Day so many shops were closed, fortunately some food, coffee and cake shops were open in the morning so we didn't go hungry. There were lots of folkloric events happening in various villages..local food, crafts and lots of dancing which was brilliant. Although visiting Uncle Don's grave was moving it wasn't as emotional as we'd all expected and we were so pleased we'd gone.


The war graves were just a very small part of an amazing cemetery, every grave was a big marble affair covered with flowers and plaques from various family members. After another brew up and picnic outside the cemetery gates (wondered if boiling a kettle was a bit disrespectful but after a local wished us 'bon appetit' we decided it was ok!) After that we found a couple of beaches and had a lovely afternoon with Moules et Frites for lunch. Before going back to the ferry we found a wine shop near the port (bet that never closes!) and stocked up with some very cheap plonk. After another good night...me on the top bunk which was fun, we found ourselves in Plymouth again at 6.30am. Too early to find anywhere open for breakfast so we drove across Dartmoor for a couple of hours then stopped at a lovely Hotel for a rather posh breakfast and a lounge around with their newspapers. Then managed to pull in a visit to Castle Drogo near Exeter before finally heading home. We crammed so much into two days and with having the two overnight crossings the whole jaunt cost about £250 for all four of us!