Made a leisurely start on 30 April and headed off on the 30 minute trip to the tunnel at Folkstone. It was a very simple process to check in and clear customs. We simply drove onto the train deck and through the wagons and then stayed in the van while the train went through the tunnel. 30 minutes later we were in France, drove off the train and out onto the French roads, trying to remember to stay on the wrong side of the road. This was great value for 125 pounds including all passengers. Stopped for lunch in a very busy tourist spot looking across to the White Cliffs of Dover in the hazy distance. Drove on to Montreuil-Sur Mer. Walked around the old town wall but missed the Castle as it was close to 6:00 pm closing. Spent the night in a free Aires close to the Town Square.
Headed off to Eu on very quiet back roads. It is a Bank holiday and nothing seems to move. They roads in France are a pleasure after the potholed roads and heavy traffic in the UK. Had a walk around a deserted town before visiting the Chateau with over the top decoration and close links to King Louise Philippe. Continued on to the coastal town of Vaulette-Sur-Mer to an Aires close to the beach at a cost of EU7. I will stop quoting overnight costs and give a summary later.
Continued winding our way on the back roads through Normandy and planned to look at some to the WWII sites. Pegasus Bridge Memorial was the first stop. This was the first bridge to be captured immediately before the troops landed by sea and was vital in securing the corridor. Very sad to think about the wastefulness of war and the terrible hardships that the soldiers endured. Spent the night jammed into the Aires at Arrowmanche with a 600mm gap between the vans. Went into the village and had a lovely walk along the beach at sunset after climbing the hill at the other end of town.
Next stop was Bayeaux, the famous tapestries being a must see on Davina’s list. Parking was limited and after almost getting stuck in the one way system closed with roadworks, we parked at the Normandy Museum site. The museum was not as good as the ones at Arromanche and Pegasus Bridge. Left Normandy with a greatly improved knowledge of the D-Day landings to spend the night at Cerisy-La-Foret adjacent to a park filled with modern sculptures and a medieval abbey on the other side. Lucked out by paying 1E for an hours electricity, and the power stayed on until we left in the morning.
First stop in the morning was the Patisserie for Davina’s fix en-route along the country lanes to Mont St Michel via Abbay de Hambye. Spent the afternoon in Avranches looking around and checking on internet date sim cardss, but all very pricy, so pleased that we had brought a few spare cards from the UK. Drove towards Mont St Michel but the first Aires was too far away so headed to one at Beavious, about 3k from the buses to the island. Being after 6:00pm we took the bikes and found that we could ride all the way across the causeway to the village entrance.
Headed off on the bikes to be at the buses early before the crowds arrived. Went through the Abbey, which is an amazing structure. Hard to believe how the medieval stonemasons could design (without computers) and build these huge structures that have lasted nearly a thousand years with relatively little maintenance. The village below the Abbey is very commercialized with every building housing a curio or food establishment. Mid afternoon we headed off to Dinan. Dinan le Port is very neat and walked the 300m from the free Aires below the Viaduct for a drink alongside the river. Started raining just after we got back to the van and it continued heavily all night. Our third real bit of rain
Work up to yet more rain, so spent the morning in the van reading and writing blogs and sorting photos. Cleared a little later so walked around the town ramparts and old town and the Castle.
The next day was sunshine so got the bikes out and cycled to Dinard. It was a lovely seaside town with a beautiful beach. Sat on the beach eating fantastic French fries. Cycled back and had sore butts at the end of the 56km ride and celebrated with drinks at the bistro in the sun down by the river.
The next part of the trip was heading along the Brittany coast stopping at St Cast-le-Guildo beach, Fort Latte and Cap Frehel. Cap Frehel is a nature sanctuary with dramatic pink granite cliffs and a lighthouse. There are some amazing and interesting currents in the sea with a set of standing waves each side of the point. Mark B you would have been impressed. There is no free camping allowed in this area and the camp sites were below average so decided to head on to Plurien to catch up on washing. After setting up we went for a walk along the river and beach. Tried taking selfies but the remote battery was half dead so hilarious results with me trying to get back in time to be in the picture.
Headed off for Locronan and stopped at the pretty town of Chateulin for a drink and managed to find the French reverse polarity cable and some hair clippers, yet to be brave enough to test Davina’s hair cutting skills. Stopped at the Aires on the edge of Locronan to find a car standing on its nose up the bank. Very interesting parking, (not). Had a walk around the town before dark. The towns are all amazingly quiet with hardly any tourists around.
The next day we stopped at Concarnue and was surprised to find the old town inside the fortified walls as we were just expecting a the fortifications. Ended the day in Port Louis at an ocean side Aires. The wind was howling and rocking the van, went for a walk along the foreshore and the wind had dropped by the time we returned.
After visiting the Citadelle in Port Louise we headed off to Vannes where we had arranged to meet up with Neil and Tricia Bate, who we had met in Cheddar and again at the Eden Project. Enjoyed a lovely meal at the restaurant near the Aires.
Cycled into Vannes and looked around the Jardin Des Rampartes and the beautiful old town. On the way back we got caught in the rain but soon dried off back in the van.
Mid afternoon we headed off to Ile de Re, an island north of Bordeaux, recommended to us by Tricia. We arrived in our Aires near the north western tip of the island at around 8:30 p.m. Phoned Jenny to congratulate her on getting a job in Vancouver only to discover that we were camped about 150m away from her partner Nils’ family holiday home. What a world of coincidences as there are more than a dozen places to camp on the island and we chose this one. Davina went and sat by the cottage and painted a picture for Nils.
Following recommendations from Nils we cycled to the lighthouse at the Phare des Baleines, where we sampled the local delicacy – salted caramel. Then headed off to Saint Martin de Re, a gorgeous old town with a qaint harbour. Total trip of almost 45km through the salt marches where we saw them raking the salt off the water.
The next day was a similar routine with the destinations being Ars-en Re and Loix. On the way out we stopped at a great market in Ars-en Re and only bought some raspberries for lunch. Had to exit the Aires and re-enter as we had to pay for a further night. Managed to completely mess up the system and for the next hour watching people struggling to get the gate to open. Pretended we were not responsible. Hope it will enable us to exit in the morning. Ile de Re is an extremely tranquil island with most people cycling around the island on the myriad of cycle paths. Could have happily stayed on for another few days. Have realized that we have not given ourselves enough time to see all that we would like. Oh well an excuse to repeat the trip.
We have been finding that the people we meet at the Aires and the campsites are generally very friendly and it is a blessing with Davina’s french.
