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Impatient Divers can descend to the diving bit by clicking here!
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June 2008 Sunday 1st June: Enjoyed a early morning walk along the pristine sandy beach adjacent to the campsite, before returning to do some laundry! – yes I still have to do all the boring household chores and it cost €6! Criss-crossed the washing line out under the awning in an attempt to hide the washing that's not supposed to be hung up anywhere on this site and it then rained in the afternoon, for the whole afternoon, evening and night - just my luck! Monday 2nd June: Thundering and lightening! Roof vent leaking, emptied the drips from a bucket below a few times. Managed to watch BBC 1 but it rained so heavily we lost the signal! Tuesday 3rd June: Ignoring the drizzle (well, trying to,) we went for a bike ride to take advantage of the lovely flat terrain on the island. Having somehow wandered off one of the islands many excellent cycle routes, we followed a beach side road to its end and then continued along a path of soft sand through woodland that fringed the dunes and beach. The sand was too loose to ride on; Paul tried but came a cropper! I couldn’t believe the large dent he made in the sand! Eventually, having pushed and dragged our bikes for some time we emerged at Plage de Luzerande where we sat on a bench at the top of the beach eating our picnic, watching a kite surfer and at last enjoying the sunshine, it having got brighter and warmer as the day went on. We continued on, passing through I’Herbaudiere Port and the main town of Noirmoutier en L’ile before completing the circuit back to the campsite at La Guerinier – another mammoth ride, this time covering some 19 miles. Click here to download Video (5.48MB) Wednesday 4th June: Packing up and moving on back to the mainland, we followed a large flat mussel boat being transported very slowly on the back of a lorry, causing a tail-back for miles but allowing us to fully appreciate the surrounding scenery. Pulled in to fill tanks with LPG and as had happened on a previous occasion, there seemed to be a problem with the pump and we got some Gratis Gas! Carried on up along the coast to Saint-Nazaire where we had planned to stop to visit the submarine base, on crossing the bridge into the town we soon realised it was very busy and congested, so decided to carry on. We stopped eventually at Guerande, a wonderful Medieval Walled City. Having parked up in the Aire: a (free) car park with five spaces designated for motorhomes we walked in to the town marvelling at the buildings (and the wonderful shops!) and ancient cobbled streets, saying early evening was the best time to visit as it was really quiet with no tourists around – apart from us! Thursday 5th June: Up and away this morning as we had ‘explored’ last night! But not before Paul carried out a repair job on the fridge, dismantling the van in the middle of the car park. Then on to the Standing Stones at Carnac. We seemed to be driving alongside them for miles, the many stones aligned in rows across the countryside as if an ancient game of giant dominoes. Leaving the mysterious menhirs behind us we drove out along the length of Quiberon, an island-like spit of land that stretches out into the Atlantic. Deciding it was too exposed and windy we headed back inland, eventually stopping at Port Louis for the night in another Aire with a fine view out to sea. Friday 6th June: Walked along to Port-Louis Citidel, an imposing fortress that for many years guarded the entrance to Lorient’s harbour and is now home to a Maritime Museum! We both enjoyed the museum but the temperature seemed to plummet whilst we where there, joyously I found a vending machine and sat huddled around a plastic cup full of hot chocolate whilst Paul carried on exploring the many rooms and displays. Ever alert and with an eye for anything dive related, Paul picked up a leaflet for a dive centre across the bay. A chilly walk back to the van and after a quick "Team Meeting" we were packed up and ready to roll again at 6.15pm, both agreeing that we had seen all that we had wanted to. Drove around the bay of Lorient and on to Larmor Plage in search of the dive shop, which we just happened to drive right past whilst heading to the camper stop. Result! This Aire has five spaces for motorhomes right outside a campsite – strange we thought! And it was free! Pulled in and commented on how we are adjusting to parking so close to our ‘neighbours’. That evening we went for a stroll along the Prom, to discover a very pretty seaside town. Back to the van at 10.45pm and its still day light! Saturday 7th June: Woke to a damp chilly morning and walked to the dive shop for Paul to suss it out. With a big grin on his face, Paul emerged from the shop having booked himself on a dive this afternoon. Returning to Nel, we looked at the campsite behind us and seeing the reception all closed, deciphered a note stuck in the window. Having translated the note, we walked to the Marie (Town Hall) at 10.15 and spoke to a very helpful lady who patiently explained that she needed our documents and a cheque for a deposit and also that she closes the office at 10.30! A quick sprint to the van and we returned just in time armed with car documents and cheque book to obtain a token to open the entrance barrier to the municipal campsite. We left the deposit cheque (about £11) and were told we could stay for free until the 16th which is the date the campsite opens fully. What a brilliant system! Open only to self sufficient motorhomes during the low season. Found a pitch, a quick set up and Paul was off, lugging his dive equipment back to the dive shop……
.…..Saw signs for the ‘Langoustines Fisherman’s Summer Fete’ to be held over the back of the campsite and decided to go along. It was not a fete as we had imagined, but a party! Long trestle tables under tarpaulins filled with fishermen and their families all enjoying a supper of langoustine served with bread and salad, listening to a band playing on the stage whilst it absolutely chucked it down with rain! Being the only tourists, we tried to mingle and join in with the singing, swaying and laughter! The rain not dampening anyone’s spirits! My plastic beaker of wine seemed to be never ending until we realised it was filling up with rain water! A great evening had by all and as we trudged back over to Nel we laughed at the French summer weather while our jeans were heavy with rain water and our legs soaked! Sunday 8th June: Paul went diving……
I had been very lucky, Emeric had waited some time to dive U171, each time having to cancel because of poor weather/dive conditions and I had experienced this fantastic submarine with some of the best conditions possible. ……On his return, Paul made the mistake of telling me he had walked back through a market in the town square. Oh yes I said! Quick turn around and we were off to the market. It was great to look around but I couldn’t believe how expensive everything was and returned empty handed. Monday 9th June: Time to move on again, packed up and drove round to the dive shop, parked outside to collect the dive kit, to drop the token back to the lady at the Town Hall and to run into the Boulangerie for a baguette, all whilst holding up all the rush hour traffic! Hey we are tourists! Have discovered a big smile works wonders after you have unintentionally upset the natives. Carried on around the coast to Morgat where we stopped in an Aire (rubble car park) just outside the town and Harbour. In the evening we strolled around the large, tranquil harbour and adjacent beachfront, enjoying the daylight till nearly 11pm. Tuesday 10th June: Up and off again, to continue touring Brittany’s rugged coastline, stopping at Pointe de Pen-Hir, I sat on a rock watching a helicopter practice manoeuvres, winching up and lowering down men at various points on the headland. Paul wondered over with his camera and got told off by the helicopter team for getting too close to them and the edge of the cliff! Later in the day, we stopped at a campsite at Saint-Jean, along side the Elorn estuary, just south of Brest. Walking along the bank of the estuary in the evening, towards a large suspension bridge spanning the water in the distance, we saw a lone heron, patiently waiting on a rock for his supper, as a beautiful sunset tinged the surrounding water with varying shades of pink. Wednesday 11th June: Sunshine! Did some hand washing and strung it between Nel and the trees behind. When using Aires it is usually prohibited to hang washing up outside your motorhome, so when on a campsite its nice to spread out a bit, hang washing up, use the facilities, put the awning up, put the table and chairs outside, cook outside using the electric grill, etc. We were lucky enough to be on an (empty) site with an indoor heated swimming pool!! Ye ha! I like camp sites! Thursday 12th June: Left the campsite at midday, grabbed a baguette on the way, and several miles later pulled into a lay-by at Pointe De St-Mathieu, to eat and enjoy the wonderful, light, fresh French stick; great, but they are a nightmare to cut up in the van, with shards of bread shooting in all directions and embedding themselves into the upholstery. (We have since learnt to cut them outside and this has now become one of Paul’s little jobs - while I prepare the filling he is usually rummaging around trying to find the tape measure to ensure ‘Fair Do’s’). Looking at the map to plan a route, I couldn’t believe that all the towns and villages in this area start with Plou – nightmare for the map reader! As we crossed a bridge over a river named Aber Wrac’h, Paul instantly recognised the name as being that of a dive centre recommended to him by Emeric and explained that we just simply had to go and find it! Found the Harbour, walked around to check it out and with the dive centre now closed for the day, decided to stay the night, parking up next to another van in a large open car/coach park. Settled in for the night and utilised a free wifi connection to book our ferry back to England (Le Harve to Newhaven) for later in the month. Scary! (In passing conversation, Emeric mentioned that a dive centre called Aber Wrac’h, in northern Brittany, was the one to find if I wanted to dive “the largest shipwreck in the world” - had I heard him correctly? “Do tell me more" I said, “you remember the Amoco Cadiz?” he asked, “Oh yeah, the huge oil tanker that spilled its contents everywhere back in the seventies” I replied, “Yes the Amoco Cadiz” he repeated “the largest shipwreck in the world”.) Friday 13th June: Paul walked excitedly across the car park to the dive centre as soon as he saw them open their doors, only to be told that they would not start diving the Amoco Cadiz until the end of June. He was disappointed as had now booked the ferry back for the end of the month, so I reminded him how lucky he’d been with his diving so far, in an attempt to cheer him up. Left around lunch time and after a few hours driving pulled into a parking space on the front in the quiet, tiny seaside village of Brognagon Plaige for a stroll. Having disembarked we realised the back of the van and the bikes were sticking out too far into the road, so we jumped back in and Paul drove the whole length of the seafront on the wrong side of the road!! It wasn’t until we parked up again that either of us had realised what he had done! Glad it was a quiet sleepy village! Changed our minds about the stroll and stopped further round in a lay-by at Plouneour-Trezfor for a sarnie in the sun! Off to Roscoff, driving round and through, it was busy but looked really nice, pretty, buzzing with lots going on; thought we may spend a day or two here, but alas the Aire was full. Found another which was sadly too far away from the town, so decided to come back another day! Roscoff has a ferry port and I made a note to come back another time. Think it would be a great place for a weekend jaunt in the smart car! We continued to hug the coast, opting for small rural roads, dotted with pretty villages, stopping when we felt like it. On towards Plougasnou we arrived early evening at Port Dibben, to an Aire in the middle of nowhere, overlooking a large, natural tidal harbour and pitched up with a front row seat! Watching the tide ebb and flow with many boats left settled on the mud when the tide was out. Apart from the few vans parked along side us, there is just no one around, it’s a beautiful area, nice and quiet too. Walked around to the harbour wall, navigating the over grown undergrowth at the top of the beach whilst the waves lapped in below us. Paul found yet another dive centre, here in the middle of nowhere! but unsurprisingly, none of the dives on offer here grabbed him today. Saturday 14th June: Spoke to our French neighbour (still getting used to staying in a car park, parked closely to other vans) he, practising his English, while we smiled, nodded and told him our names, the time, and a story about a cat sitting on a table and some ham, all in French! Note: use the phrase book in future. Later we walked across the beach with the tide out, amongst the stranded yachts to the harbour wall, and sat watching the fishing boats come and go. Saw many pleasure boats being launched from the slip way as we sat on the wall and a very large man in a tiny tender, sculling through the water to his boat moored in the middle of the harbour. I couldn’t believe how agile he was as he skilfully pulled himself up into his boat as we waited in vain for a loud splash! We walked the long way back to the van round the pretty bay with lovely houses and beautiful gardens with many flowers, it all looked deserted but very well kept, well loved and looked after. 4pm and we are off again, driving round the tiny roads seeing lots of pretty villages, all so peaceful and quiet. After a three hour drive we stumbled across an Aire just outside the town of Treguier and pitched up for the night under a row of trees next to the river. Sunday 15th June: It’s great waking up, opening the blinds to a different view everyday! It’s exciting, so is the day ahead as we never know where we are going, what we are going to see or where we will end up! Strolled into the large town and wondered around, taking in the magnificent church, the town square with people drinking tiny cups of coffee sitting outside the pavement cafe's, enjoying the sunshine while I did a spot of window shopping. (Window shopping is a new favourite pastime of mine now – we only seem to be at the shops when they are shut - hats off to Paul!) Down a side road we saw a Fathers Day fete being held at a local school with children coming away with painted faces, carrying balloons amid lots of chatter and laughter. It’s truly wonderful to watch the world go by, watch people carrying on with their everyday lives, to blend in amongst them and to feel part of it. Heading south and following the coast we pulled into St-Quay-Portrieux a really nice harbour with lots of shops and life but unable to find anywhere suitable to stop for the night, continued on around the coast to another harbour side Aire at Pleneuf-val-Andre, arriving at 7.30pm. We were awoken in the night by kids driving their cars around the car park, doing hand brake turns, playing loud music and having fun. First bit of noise we have heard in ages! Monday 16th June: Intended to go for a little stroll around the harbour but ended up (in true Stratford style) walking for miles! – not great whilst wearing flip flops! We took a coastal path round the headland, to see for miles, the land winding along in front of us with the sea stretching out in the distance and a huge blue sky above us. Scrambled down a path, dusted ourselves down and walked along the seafront prom of the town of Val Andre. A wide, long prom, dotted with the occasional bar and café, though still mostly closed up ‘til summer. We cut back into the small town, before returning through the streets and then made our way back along the coastal path to the van. Filled up with water for €2 and departed late afternoon bound for St Malo - drove in and around the town and port, then onto Cancele, passing an Aire that we didn’t like the look of (getting fussy now) and arrived at a municipal site close to le Mont-St-Michel about 7pm. Paid €8.40 for 24 hours and parked up on a large grassy pitch surrounded by hedges. Tuesday 17th June: Setting off on the 2km walk, we were soon to be met with the impressive sight of le Mont-St-Michel before us. We crossed the long causeway and as we entered the outer walls, were confronted by hoards of other tourists. It is an awesome place, stunning buildings, stuffed full, with museums, shops and restaurants, all vying for the euros, from the seemingly never ending wave of people that visit this fantastic monument. We chose to leave the crowds behind and enjoyed the views by walking around the outside, on the now exposed low tide sand. Back at the van we were surrounded by mozzies, so decided to move on, arriving at Granville for the night, early evening and parking at the top of a hill behind an Aquarium, beside some cliff top battle scared gun emplacements. Wednesday 18th June: One week to go! Still hugging the coast, we drove up through Cherbourg before stopping in the pretty village of Barfleur. Another village with a small harbour and a fishing community and it has a Pomme Frite Van! It just had to be done, I walked across the road to the van and looked on in amazement as not only did they sell chips but waffles too! Being good! I only got a portion of chips and Paul laughed as I ran back across the road armed with my booty! The frites where just heaven and soon followed by another evening stroll, again enjoying the light evenings, arriving back at the van at around 11pm.
Thursday 19th June: Before leaving town, I walked into the centre and came back with a baguette and the obligatory blue and white stripy jumper! Paul is still adamant that he doesn’t want one. On to Quineville and the start of the Normandy landing beaches, where we stopped to visit one of the many memorial museums in the area - very interesting and moving. We continued along, visiting Utah beach, Omaha beach and Pointe du Hoc before stopping at St-Honorine-des-Pertes for the night and quietly reflected on the day.
Friday 20th June: In towards Bayeux to visit the famous tapestry and had been told of its beautiful town. We drove round and round trying to find somewhere to stay, then entered the coordinates for an Aire in the satnav only to be directed to the middle of a new housing estate out of town! Drove round the town a few more times before deciding to cut our losses and move onto somewhere else – The Tapestry will have to wait! Passing more memorials and museums along the way we stopped at Arromanches and walked down through the town to the beach where we marvelled at the remains of the Mulberry harbour units still laying on the beach after all these years and forming a broken line out on the horizon. Looking out to sea I couldn’t help but shed a tear. The whole experience was very moving and humbling, upsetting and unbelievable. It’s hard to describe the feeling and I am finding this hard to write. Both in very sombre moods we moved on again, passing Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches. By this time we needed cheering up, so stopped en route for a Paris Brest, a truly wonderfully divine pastry that one just must sample. Ogled for ages at the mouth watering display of cakes, pastries and tarts all looking like works of art and edible too! We drove on through an area that we both recognised, then realised we had just driven around the Port of Caen where we’d been before on the way to Le Mans back in 2005 which seemed a life time ago. Getting close to Le Harve yet not sailing for a few days, we stopped overnight in the Harbour at Deauville, having seen lots of vans parked up in a row and pulled in next to them early evening. As usual when we stop, Paul goes off for a little scout around, often without telling me, so I wonder where he is (we aint lost each other yet) and he came back this time to tell me that he had walked the length of the harbour wall and had counted 99 vans!
Saturday 21st June: Unbelievably quiet during the night but this larger than life town comes into its own during the day, holding a large market. Walking around we took in the sights of lovely fruit and veg stalls, an interesting covered area of fishmongers, clothes, bags, shoes being sold, unusual lamps, rugs, beauty products, Choo Choos (hair scrunchies – what a wonderful name!) A couple of hours well spent, yet only a few euros! With only a few days to go, we decided to head inland to an Aire that we had highlighted in our book and also check out Honfleur on the way. Honfleur was beautiful but very busy due to a market and Antiques fair being held today, so we drove in to the towns Aire (the largest and most popular one in our book, said to hold 100+ vans) to suss it out for the night before we sail. We then continued along the course of the river Seine to the village of La Mailleraye-Sur-Seine, and pitched up on a grass verge right on the riverbank, luckily nabbing the last available pitch. A truly wonderful position, behind us a tranquil village hidden by trees and a large forest on the opposite bank; this was our view for the next few days of bliss! We walked along the river and contemplated getting the kayak out. Later in the evening we sat chatting in the van. Paul had his back to the river, I gasped! A massive cargo ship filled the windscreen behind Paul and cruised silently past us! We hadn’t heard it approach and sat in amazement as we watched that and many other huge ships pass up and down the river in front of us. That put paid to the idea of kayaking for me!
Sunday 22nd June: I went into the village for some bread and saw no one apart from the friendly shopkeeper. Lots more vans had turned up, mostly French and people were having BBQs and relaxing in the sunshine soaking up the lovely atmosphere. We watched in the evening as luxury river cruisers passed by and could clearly see the passengers dining onboard, it looked magical.
Monday 23rd June: Nearly everyone else has gone! Sat relaxing and watching the ships going past.
Tuesday 24th June: Begrudgingly leaving our magical spot about 11am we headed back to the coast and Honfleur, stopping at Decathlon: a large sports shop on the outskirts of a town to stock up on some cheap fleeces and swimming costumes! Quick "Fashion Show" in the van whilst still in their car park, before realising we needed to return an item, but the shop had just shut, 12.30 for lunch and was not re-opening ‘til 2pm! So we got our chairs out and sat in their large car park, having a sarnie in the sun! We thought we were being a bit cheeky until we saw a French van pull in, they stopped and proceeded to get their chairs out, then a table, and a table cloth, even a vase with flowers and then tucked into their feast! All in a Decathlon car park! Arriving back at Honfleur late afternoon we parked up in the massive Aire and walked across the bridge into the beautiful old town, not so busy now on a weekday. Walking past an ice cream shop we were drawn in to look at another work of art: I have never seen ice creams displayed in such an unusual way with huge chunks of fresh fruit, coconut, nuts and chocolate decorating the many flavoured ices creams. Sensory overload or what!
Wednesday 25th June: The Bread Man Van came flying round the site with back doors flung open bibbing his hooter like there was no tomorrow! Not to be resisted, fresh bread delivered to your door. As I walked back from his van I smiled at the weather, it's really hot today, typical, just as we are leaving the country! Paul checked the oil and did blokey things while I had a fine time fiddling around in the van, sorting and tidying. Left the site and arrived at Le Harve Ferry Port about half hour later having driven over the huge scary bridge across the Seine. Knowing we were quite early (makes a change) we queued up only to be told we were too early and the check-in girl had to leave her little hut, walk across the car park and open a gate for us to drive back out past the waiting queue to wait until later. With a few hours to kill and knowing we would be turning the gas off for a while during the crossing we made the most of using items from the fridge/freezer. Half an hour later we sat in the car park enjoying ham egg chips and peas! 6pm the gate re-opened and we drove on board The Seven Sisters almost empty of people and set sail to England. Arrived Newhaven at midnight and drove straight up to Redhill to mum and dads. It was great to see them again and we sat up till nearly 3am excitedly chatting and catching up. Their house seemed massive! For the first time in 6 months we didn’t have to climb a ladder to get into bed!
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