We started the day by going to the tiny village
Cliffden: little open air market
and a cosy coffee place to have a delicious breakfast.
Then doing the Sky road...
A road winds through a wild windswept landscape
of jagged rocks and lush green cliffs.
It's a spectacular sight of the ocean joined by
the green of the fields tumbling down to meet
the waves crashing against the land.
The winding road runs along the coast and takes about
1 h to complete with rust colored rolling peat bogs,
white sandy beaches and fields crisscrossed by drystone walls.
We are on the edge of the world.
Back to Cliffden, Amané found a fairy site.
Fairies are often considered the descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danann,
people banished to the parallel underworld accessible via hills or mounds.
The Aos Si or Sidhe are graceful, powerful beings
close to the ancient gods.
The Banshees announce death with lamentations.
The changelings are children of fairies or switched humans.
Going to the supermarket to catch
something for our pique-nique.
The Pine Island was beautiful, but surrounded by
french people !!!
It's a small island located in Derryclare lough
in the Innagh Valley
There you have scots pine growing on the island
with the 12 Bens mountains in the background.
Those trees grow in quite rocky marshy terrain
which provide a strong contrast
with the surrounding landscape.
The heather, the calm and reflective waters of the lake,
the stone path that crosses waters to reach the island,
The 12 Bens surrounding: everything is so gentle
in this landscape.
We took the road in the Innagh Valley
and we were so amazed by all
those wild landscapes...
We stopped, had some walks...
We found some linaigrettes !!!!
It's a good indicator of healthy peatlands:
it helps stabilize the soil in marshes and attracts insects.
In Gaelic it's often associated with
the wild and simple beauty of the moors.
Some irish poets have evokated it as a
symbol of purity and fragility.
We decided to have a pique-nique here:
2 lakes, some islands, some rivers,
the 12 bens, some sheeps and linaigrette...
Discovering the hill
and what is hiden on the other side..
Peaceful your mind and body.
Amané was really attracted by sheep...
She did a lot of videos while we were crossing some
on the road
and Yuta was attracted by Amané....!!
Teenager needs to activate !!
Innagh valley is full of lakes...
This one is Lough Innagh.
and approaching the Maumturk mountains the landscape
is changing...
So wild, huge and peaceful.
Of course we go slowly...so much to see and breeze...
And then we reached Killary fjord which
stretches 16 km long
and reaches depth of 45 m in places.
It marks the natural border between
county Galway and county Mayo.
Thanks to the quality of water
there are farms of mussels there.
Surrounded by mountains like Mweelrea
the views are really impressive.
It's an other place both wild and peaceful
where we could appreciate magnificient
and timeless landcspaes.
At the source of the fjord we found a waterfall:
2 guys were fishing salmon there.
And then on the road reaching Renvyle
we needed more stops...
Lakes -one of them is Lough Fee, an other is Lough Muck-
islands,
Maumturks mountains, sheeps
rivers
let's stop and appreciate...
Our bed and breakfast was near the ocean,
Yuta couldn't help to taste the ocean !
After this beautiful day we went to the pub for diner.
Crochet has a special story in Ireland;
The Irish one from the 19 Century was used to imitate venetian lace.
It permits some families to survive during the great famine.
Now it's a leisure but really vivid with
lot of festivals, exhibitions, markets,
perhaps because of the climate...!!
Bon appétit !!
