Just when summer was around the corner at the beginning of June, I went to cold and stormy Brittany in France to participate at the workshop on Marine Ecological & Evolutionary Genomics (MEEG). It was a really interesting workshop with good faculty, great students, and situated at an absolutely stunning location: The small town of Roscoff. Roscoff is located at the Northern coast of Brittany and favored by tourists for its charming architecture and the delicious restaurants. It also has a large marine institute employing about 300 people, which has the advantage of having the fieldwork area just in front of the door. Tidal changes of up to 9 meter uncover much of the seafloor for sampling during low tide.
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| 'Notre Dame de Croaz Batz' |
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| Pier for the ferry to 'Ile de Bartz'. |
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| Typical street in Roscoff. |
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| Impressive stone houses. |
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| The 'Breton stripe' |
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| Fresh artichoke at the market. |
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| Harbor at high tide... |
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| and a few hours before at low tide. |
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| Station Biologique de Roscoff. |
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| Delicious crêpe and.. |
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| .. seafood restaurants! |
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| Or also fresh.. |
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| .. from the market! |
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| 'Onion Johnny'. |
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| Chapelle on Rue Laennec. |
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| Croaz Batz |
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| Construction site :) |
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| The MEEG2015 group.. |
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| ..was very good in socializing.. |
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| .. after the lectures and exercises. |
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We were quite busy with lectures and exercises, but on Saturday afternoon we had some free time and great sunny weather that I used to hike along the coast to the next town 'Saint-Pol-de-Léon'. I wandered along lonely beaches, narrow streets, and numerous fields growing all sorts of vegetables: artichokes, figs, onions, etc.. . Although I didn't visit the 'Jardin Exotique de Roscoff', everything was quite exotic: Almost every house had a little garden, and every garden had another variety of colorful plants and flowers. It was a lovely summer day in Bretagne!!
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| Breton coast. |
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| Beach at Promenade de Penarth. |
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| îlot Sainte Anne. |
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| St-Pol-de-Léon cathedral |
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| Art deco in Roscoff. |
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| Le pub, St-Pol-de-Léon. |
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| 'Croaz Batz' |
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On Sunday the workshop group jointly sailed to 'Ile de Bartz', an island just some hundred meters off the coast of Roscoff but even sunnier and warmer then the town itself. We just spend a short lunch break at one of the nice white sand beaches before hitting the waves again.
The coming week was again packed with lectures and exercises, but long evenings made it possible to enjoy the one or other city stroll and low-tide walk... .
It was a very enjoyable workshop!
