We drove from Langeais to Chenonceau which wasnt that far. It is pleasant driving the short distances and being able to relax a bit. When we got to Chenonceau we werent sure where the carpark was and a poor camper behind us thought we knew so followed us and we both went too far and had to try and turn around. We managed to find the carpark which was full and buzzing especially since it is a public holiday weekend, so we park and make lunch. There are no stopping overnight signs so we need to find the aire which is supposed to be close by. After sussing out the amount of people here we decided it would be better to come in at 9am the next day and beat the majority of the crowds. So we find where the free aire parking is and move the van and have an afternoon of relaxing after a walk around the little village.
It was a lovely clear still evening and i heard these noises which could only have been the burner on a hot air balloon. Next minute there were several balloons rising above the nearby trees. Famous Montgolfier are the company here doing the balloon rides. There were 8 balloons in total doing a trip over the Loire and the nearby castles. Not surprising on such a lovely night. What an amazing view they will have. Another 7 or so campers joined us in the little aire for the night.
We headed into the castle first thing in the morning. This castle is built over a tributary of the Loire river called River Cher and goes from one bank to the other. Quite a stunning looking castle and was lovely inside. We managed to avoid most of the tour groups and general public by starting early but this castle is the busiest of all the castles in the Loire so it is always chocka with people. The gardens werent much after seeing Villandry but they did have large vege gardens which Scot kept saying they wouldnt miss the odd vege from. He also decided that it was ok to open the door of an old Bentley car and sit in it which was situated in the middle of a ‘do not walk on the grass’ area. Self explanatory i thought and i was mortified when he did it, thinking we’d get kicked out next by the security that was all over. This castle like some others had bag searches to get in and you couldnt take any food in with you.
The castle was used as a hospital during the 1st world war housing patients and one of the rooms was converted into an operating theatre. Soldiers could wander around the grounds whilst convalescing there. The owner paid all the expenses for the hospital and its running costs whilst located in his castle. Some of his family also worked there to help out. They had some of the most beautiful horse drawn carriage cars which were restored to mint condition. The castle is owned by the Menier family – famous for their chocolates.
We head off the next day and thankfully it is a lot cooler. We are heading for Chateau Royal d’ Amboise where the comments tell us, has a lovely village to explore. The aire here is an expensive one at 12euro a night but it does include electricity and water and it is the only place you can really park if you want to go to this castle. On the way we go through an area that is quite famous for its trogliodytes, which are in effect people who live in caves but here there are many cave homes. They are quite hilarious as often you can only see a door or a chimney sticking out of the side of the hill. It was difficult to get shots so i screenshot a few we went past from mr google.
We get to the aire and a German man flags us down, eager to tell us all about the aire. He is very pleasant and we discuss travels for a bit and then he takes off and we go in and park up. We head into the village and there are a lot of people milling around. There is a wedding and because it happens to be a long weekend there are a lot of brass bands playing. We head up to the castle and pay to get in. Outside there are a few tour groups. They upset us the most as they are incredibly inconsiderate when you are trying to see things they stand all around so that you cant see a thing and also cant get past. They are our pet hate when looking at tourist destinations.
It wasnt a bad castle as they go and the gardens are pleasant. There is a grave here for Leonardo da Vinci in a lovely little chapel. We could see some of the bands playing down in the village streets below and they were quite cool. We went down and had a drink whilst watching the bands one after another and it had started to rain, another good reason to stay in the bar under cover. Eventually we left, had a wander around the streets and then ventured home trying to stay dry under the one umbrella. We had done a tasting in a cave there and like a lot of places they only let you try 3 wines. I said i wanted to buy a box of 3 wines, but wasnt prepared to buy one i either didnt like or hadnt tasted so they had let us try two more to get the 3 we liked and bought.
We were going to leave the next morning but decided we should go and buy a baguette before we head off, so go for a walk across the bridge. There was a major traffic jam on the bridge with so many people and we realised there was a market on along the riverside. I can handle these for 5 minutes and only if there is fresh produce i want to buy, but after that i get sick of the chintzy chinese made rubbish and the maddening crowd and want to leave. This one wasnt bad for fresh produce and we bought some fresh goats cheese which is a region speciality and bread and then left. Today we head away towards Chenonceau.
There are only 5 parks for camping cars at the castle carpark in Langeais. Since it is so hot we head out for a quick walk around town and end up stopping for a drink at the local tabac or bar. Tbere are a few locals there and one sits near us and starts talking to us. We establish that he was a mariner for 37 years but now he had been in the ministry for 17 years. He speaks no English but we have a great conversation about the countries he has visited. All the other locals eventually join in the conversation and before we know it we are all having a great time with part French, small bits of English, hand signals etc. Its great and i feel like every time this happens i learn that little bit more. I try to talk to Scot a bit in French so he picks up little bits of the language as well.
After a couple of local bubbles for me from Vouvray and Belgium beer for Scot we head back to the van. The temperature is still in the high 20’s and the air is still and i cant sleep. It doesnt cool down until about 3.30am when i finally doze off.
In the morning we head into Chateau de Langeais which is quite cool and right on the main town street. It isnt a large castle but is well presented with a nice neat gardens.
This is the castle that King Charles VIII married Anne of Bretagne in 1491, not the one we said at Saumur, it does get confusing after seeing a couple of them. She remarried Louis XII in 1499 after King Charles died and there wasnt a male heir which had been planned. At this stage King Louis was already married and had to have his marriage annulled so he could marry Anne. It is incredibly history when you also read about the battles that took place and castles that were fought for and won and fought again and lost. It makes you realise how little history we have on our side of the world. The owner of Langeais put a new draw bridge in which looked awesome.
We had a coffee in a local cafe before heading off to see Chateau de Villandry. This place was touted to have the most famous of all gardens and after seeing them we understood why. The castle itself was lovely with a lot of histroy and is still privately owned. It was bought in 1906 by a very wealthy American woman Ann Coleman and a Spanish man Carvallo. She spent her millions restoring the castle to its former glory and re-established the amazing gardens. The castle has several different areas of gardens from mosaic hedges with flowers to mosaic shapes coloured with lettuces, flowers and various other vegetables. The roses are to die for and they have a herbal and medicinal garden which tasted devine. There is a meditative garden with pond in mirror shape and a maze. We spent a long time in the gardens enjoying them as it was another stinking hot day ( very unseasonal for this time of year). We didnt get the full colour of the gardens as some of the flowers wont fully develop for a few weeks yet with their colouring. I doubt we will see anything quite this spectacular anywhere else, but our pictures will tell the story but will not do jt justice. We spent several hours here and when we finished late afternoon we decided to head past our first winery. We were a little late and only had time to try 4 wines before they closed. We bought some bottles as they were so well priced, but the bubbles had no suger in it at all and it was devine. On our way to this winery we passed by a massive nuclear power plant which was amazing. You could hear the water running, cooling the outside of each of the huge towers.
Back at the Langeais chateau carpark we now had company of 2 other campers for the night. We chatted to the Belgian couple parked next to us. It was still a hot night, but was cooler then the previous one. They had forcast thunderstorms with large hail which thankfully didnt eventuate here but rain would have been nice to cool it down.
We head away from the Brittany province and the seaside and head inland around Nantes and start to travel alongside the Loire river. It is a long afternoon travelling and we find a free aire at Saint Georges sur Loire which is a lovely little place with very little in it really. The water is free here which saves a couple of euro in filling up our tank. We have a wander around the nearby streets and find a lovely old building which used to be the hotel de ville but now looks to be a government building. Scot is desperate for a haircut but when we ask everyone seems to be full before we even ask. I do start to wonder if they are saying no just because we dont speak French well.
The next morning before we head off to our first castle we need to find a supermarket and a laundrette. I find one at Chalonnes sur Loire and we sit for the hour and a half it takes to get sorted. The supermarkets here often have a couple of washing machines in the carpark and 1 dryer. It is quite strange really standing out in public view literally showing off your dirty laundry for all in sundry to see. Afterwards we head off to this nearby castle which wasnt actually on our list but it is close by and we are keen to start the castle viewing so we go there.
The castle is Chateau de Serrant which seems a bit expensive for what it is but we figure what the hell. The place is not well cared for and the grounds are unfortunately in need of some tlc. The inside also appears to be the same, but we hear that there is a huge difference obviously between a privately owned castle and a publicly owned one. This one is privately owned by the Prince and Princess de Merode. The interior has badly flaking paint and the items on display are quite well worn, but it gives us an idea of how it used to look.
We leave this castle and head to a close by aire right on the Loire at La Daguenniere. This is just down from Angers which seems like one of those cities you dont want to stop too close to as it seems heavily populated and not quaint and cute like some you see. On the eastern side there is a huge gypsy camp which we want to stay well away from. They have such a terrible reputation in Europe and it is irrelevant what country they are from as they could be from anywhere really.
This is a lovely little spot we stop at and it is a very warm day so since the washing has been done we take all our mattresses and bedding and sit them in the sun. We look a bit like bogans when doing this but it is necessary every few weeks. We would love a dip in the river but it is flowing a little too fast to do that. We have walked into the little village to ask the hairdresser if they have any free appointments, but for about the 5th time now its a no.
The next morning we continue following the Loire around until we reach Saumur. This place seems really lovely and the castle looks out over the entire town centre. There is a free camper park, but only for day time and it isnt a far walk into town. This castle doesnt have any grounds to speak of being on top of a hill but they are doing quite extensive renovations to it which is necessary to preserve its history.
This castle was owned by a private owner who bought the castle after he fell in love with it and wanted to preserve the history of the marriage between Anne of Bretagne and King Charles. He ended up giving the castle to the French government to keep the history alive. It was a very interesting castle and this fellow seemed to have collected items from the era including many talestries and paintings. After the castle we walked into town where we finally found a coiffure who would cut Scots hair. He walked out a new man….half his luck. The hairdresser quipped in his best English that he now looked like a teenager after cutting his hair.
It was a dreadfully hot day, probably into the 30’s. We walked around town, buying a sandwich and a beer at the carrefour before making our way up the very steep hill back to the carpark. We continue driving to another free park for the night, stopping on the way for a picture at Chateau de Ussy which was already closed for the night. We ended up in a little village called Langeais in the castle carpark all on our own.
When we leave Plouarzel we decide to head down past Quiberon where we visited 7 years ago and loved it. We drive down past Brest and around the western peninsula. We come to a lovely little village called Audierne which i would loved to have stayed for the night but if we stop at every place like this we wont even leave Brittany before we have to leave France. So on we go and we arent going to make Quiberon today since we have taken the long road, so we find an aire at Concerneau. It is interesting when google decides which roads we drive on as just entering this town we drive on a single lane road that i am wondering if we are going to get stuck and not be able to continue. It is a Saturday afternoon and there are a lot of people on the roads and how awful would it be if we couldnt get the van through. Actually we did go to drive into one town and i went to turn right into the town centre when i was suddenly confronted by a low overhead bridge. It was only 2.6m high which would have taken the top off the camper, so i had to stop and try and turn in the middle of traffic and go back another way. I am sure all those around us must have thought we were dumb bastards.
We get through these narrow roads and as we drive into Concerneau it is totally buzzing and there are people absolutely everywhere. Apparently this is the 3rd most important fishing port in France and it is a popular seaside resort. We find the aire which is at the train station and there are a lot of vans there but thankfully there is room, although we are squeezed alongside each other such that you can probably hear everyone fart in bed at night. Not my favourite way to park up but its all we have here. We pay our 6euro and walk down into the port area to see what is happening. They have a walled village on a little island with a walkway leading into it. It looks like a smaller version of the old city in Dubrovnik with its walls and inside village. You can hardly move for people which surprises me as really there are only souvenir shops and food places. I wouldnt have thought the French would come here to buy souvenirs but maybe they do. We walk around just to see it all and then stop at a wine bar on the way back to the van.
We drive onto Quiberon the next day but we are getting thunderstorms and rain along the way. The aire here is a few kms out of the town in a paddock type area and as we drive in we see surfers in the ocean and menheirs in the paddocks. It isnt a cheap place to stay but we want to look around for a couple of days so we ignore the 12euro a night charge ( we are on a tight budget) and park up. Despite the threat of more rain later on, we decide to bike into the centre to have a look. An absolute favourite house is still there right on the sea front, i think it was for sale last time we were here, but is now under renovation. It is well out of our price range. The sun is shining still so there are lots of people around. We look around the centre and find that it seems to have changed and we dont remember the large open squares that are there now. French villages dont normally have ones this big and it does look new. We do find out that Quiberon had a makeover 3 years ago which for me has spoilt it a bit as now they have this large vacant tiled area they use for markets and it isnt the quaint little village it used to be. As we go to head ‘home’ another thunderstorm hits so we stop in a little cuban style bar for a drink to wait till it passes. Trouble is, it has already well passed by the time we leave and another one hits us as we start to walk our bikes back through the town. It absolutely buckets down and although we have coats they dont keep you dry from the water and dirt flicking up from the road.
Scot just laughs and says isnt this great whilst i am cranky as my clothes are filthy and wet and when living in a van it is difficult to dry them and we only get to find a laundromat once a week to wash.
We decide to walk into town the next day as it is easier to stay dry when you walk and the bike isnt flicking shit all over you. It is a windy day and we walk around the coast road which is a typically rugged west coast. Although i have mentioned that France is generally very clean and free from rubbish, the thing i hate the most is that they dont clean up their dog poo at all and you have to watch where you walk. We wandered around the shops and had a drink and went home. We only just made it back as it had started to rain again.
We had to quickly bike back in the next morning to buy Scot a t-shirt before we left. We had sat and planned our next move the last night as we have no idea where we are heading. We both need a dentist so really should be heading to Spain, but then we realised the Loire Valley started only a short distance from where we are, so figured we would do that first and then head south. We will have to hope that it hasnt gone too crazy by the time we head south and our teeth will hang in there.
The aire we are at, is near St Malo and its called Rotheneuf. It is really busy and although its not far from Cancale the forecast is for high 20’s and we think we need to be near the coast for its coolness and a swim. We stay here 3 nights and although the tide is right out during the day we manage a walk along the beach in the morning and a swim late afternoon. On the 2nd day we are here Scot has found a historic site where faces are carved in the rocks so we head off about lunchtime to see them. In typical fashion the site is closed between 12 and 2. We go to leave and come back later but we get chatting to an elderly English lady and before we know it, its 2 oclock and we head back.
We then realise its cash only and we havent any on us, but the lady shouts us to get in. It is another stunning day and the view is lovely from the cliffs where the rocks are. The rocks were carved by a local priest in the 19th century over a 25 year period. They depict a story of the Rotheneufs who ended up pirating the English channel and stealing lots of booty. They are incredibly clever, but what we didnt realise at the time is that you have to climb to the seafront to see some only seen at low tide. The rock climbing was not for anyone frail as it was quite trecherous in some parts. We end up buying Rose a drink at the restaurant nearby before we leave since she paid for us to get in.
We set off the next day and we are heading to the western coast of Brittany. On the way though we travel around the coastline which really takes quite some time. Before we know it, the day is getting away on us and we decide to stop at Paimpol where we have found an aire. On arriving at this little port town it is absolutely pumping with people and the road we need to travel on has been blocked off because the circus is in town. The deviation would take us through the tiny cobbled streets which will lead us into trouble, so we stop all traffic by doing a 3 point turn and head back the way we have come. We find the aire taken over by the circus so head to the train station carpark where it seems all other campers have settled for the night. We park up and head out to look around. It is a lovely port area but the circus has well and truly taken over the whole area even blocking businesses. There is a steam train on the tracks not far from our park and the coal fumes are taking over our van inside which thankfully dies down around bedtime.
This area seems to be plagued with kids on 2 stroke bikes. It is all we hear all night but thankfully they do stop only to restart again about 7 in the morning.
We are headed for another couple of high temp days and we think again staying on the coast is the idea. So we head to the most western part of France which is Plouarzel. There are 2 aires here not far apart but the first one we stop at is a small distance from the sea and it feels like there isnt any breeze and already it is too hot for me. So we head to the other which it looks like all others have done as well. It is absolutely chaos here in terms of cars and people and then we realise it is a public holiday – ascension day – here in France. No wonder the small beach is crowded. We still park up in the aire and settle for the night.
It is hot the next day so we head down to the beach for a swim and thankfully there are not so many people. There is a lot of seaweed here which they look like they are harvesting and drying in a nearby paddock. I wouldnt mind betting they are selling it to pharmaceutical companies for its iodine properties or perhaps the japanese. We have a swim and the water is really cold. No wonder few people have ventured in. Once in and your body numbs it is ok. The top foot of the water feels ok, so when you swim its bearable but putting your legs down chills you through.
We sit and watch the sun go down here, it is just stunning. Its not ofter we are on a west coast to see this so we sit until about 10.45pm until it has disappeared. We love these long nights but if you want to go to sleep around 10ish it is still sunny and light.
The next morning standing in our bathroom the floor feels very wet and i discover our newly installed bathroom tap is leaking again. Something isnt right about it but we arent sure. I take everything out to dry and keep a container under it to catch the water. We arent sure what the problem is but we cant do anything where we are. We will have to keep an eye on it until we get somewhere we can take it apart again as we will need to empty some water out to look at it. Its a pain in the butt having this happen as we have to keep the pump off all the time.
We leave Cabourg on Thursday morning as its raining heavily and we need to move on. As much as we love places we stay, its nice to move on and see other countryside and spots.
Here in France Scot wants to see the centre of the country and I just love to be near the seaside as i think it is the best part. I hate living away from the sea anytime really. We will get to do both as there will be enough weeks before we need to leave.
We head south of Caen and i have marked up a small village La Ferte Mace in the midst of greenery. The app we use tells me there is free power, water and toilet dump etc. So we head away and eventually come across the village. It looks to be just a normal town carpark and although there are facilities, it isnt a place i would like to park for the night and we wouldnt get our van hooked up to the power there. We still decide to stop as we havent had our coffee for the day yet and we need a break. We walk down the street and come across a little English tearoom. Normally we wouldnt stop at these but i want a good sized coffee not the tiny cup the French serve up. The French also dont often have anything to eat with coffee so these people have scones and cake. We have a lovely cup of coffee, a scone and quiche and head back to the van.
We always have to be careful in small places like this as you can get caught driving down tiny village streets and find you almost cant fit which nearly happens here. Scot gets lost navigating and i have to drive where i think its ok which turn out to be small one way streets, but its ok we make it out unscathed and head off. I have found a place near here that has a proper Aire to stop at. This place is La Ferriere Aux Etangs. The aire is right by a small lake and it is really peaceful.
Since arriving in France we have noticed how amazingly clean and well kept the country is. England is full of rubbish on the sides of roads where people deliberately dump it – called fly tipping. It is so sad really that the country is like this and it seems that councils just cant afford to get rid of the rubbish. After working for a company that looks after the cleanliness of roads and highways i know that very little is done to keep the place tidy. It isnt like that everywhere but most of the places we have been it is quite bad.
Anyway, this little place is quite lovely and we spend 4euro to power the van and fill it with water and then park up. The Aire is free to stay unless you want power or water. There are a couple of others here and it is a quiet night. Scot goes for a evening walk around the little lake and sees some ducklings and what we believe is an otter. In the morning the sun is out again and after a walk around the small village, a coffee and our staple baguette, we pack up and head off. As we are driving out of the green belt we come across a small medieval village called Domfront where there are also castle ruins. Scot hasnt quite got the hang of driving on the other side of the road as we have to turn left and he ends up on tbe wrong side, then drives over the medium strip only to try and go down the wrong way on the other side. Its not so bad if its quiet, but when you have traffic approaching you its a bit unnerving. People look at us like we are crazy until they see the GB plates and then must think dumb British…..lol. thats if they dont see the kiwi sticker on the back.
The castle remains are lovely and beautifully maintained. This was built in the 10th century and the walls are so thick its amazing. Not a lot is standing, but it is good to see. The medieval village has a lot of tudor style buildings that look like they come from around the 13th century. It is delightful to look around. The church in the village is quite unusual as it had glass that is only blue and yellow in its windows. On the front it looks like it is almost inlaid with coloured bottles but i guess it is just coloured glass. We would stop for a bit longer but our van is parked on the side of a roadway not near anything and we always get concerned about it. There are storm clouds all around and we get a few downpours as we travel towards the coast.
Initially we were heading towards St Caste le Guildo where we have been before, but i change my mind and decide to go somewhere different. We end up driving down a long esplanade towards Cancale and here the tide is out a long long way like it gets at Mont st Michel as we are on the same bay. I imagine this place in about 6 weeks will be chaotic, glad we wont be here then. We arrive at the aire in Cancale and park up. This place is not free and we guess it is because it gets so busy here that they can charge what they like. Its 10euro a night which is quite expensive for an aire and includes nothing. We take a walk down along the waterfront and find a very cute town indeed. There are lots of restaurants here and it appears to be a huge oyster location. We walk to the far end of the esplanade where the oyster beds are and there are oyster sellers selling fresh oysters by the dozen. Scot gets a dozen and polishes them off. I only like cooked oysters so give it a miss. We decide that perhaps tomorrow night we might shout ourselves a meal out as you can get a plat de jour for 16€ which is the menu of the day consisting of 3, usually smaller than normal, courses.
We head back for the evening. The next morning a lot of vans head off, so we walk into the top of the village where there are a few shops to have a coffee. We have a bad habit of getting out of the van a bit late only to find shops almost closing due to lunchtime. Anyway, we walk around, buy our baguette and then head back to have it at the van. When we get back a few french have gathered and look like they are discussing how some of us have parked. The parks here arent long enough for our van so we had to park across 2 spaces but there are heaps of others so we dont see what their problem is. We dont show any interest as we havent done anything wrong. Later in the afternoon we head back along to the top village for me to make some purchases and then we head down to the waterfront where we try to choose a restaurant. It is always difficult as you never know what you will get. We choose one and go in. In hindsight i should have got my tablet out and looked at reviews first….damnation that i didnt.
Anyway, i get suspicious when my main comes out and its 5 tiny sardines with 2 small blobs of old potato that is hard on the outside like its been sitting a long time, or it has been microwaved. Scots moules are so tiny, i will be surprised if he feels full at the end as well. My crepe comes out at the end and has definitely been microwaved as some is so hard you cannot cut it and the rest is rubbery. No point complaining as i cant speak enough French to do that but i tell the ignorant woman there it was terrible. There is no tip from us and they dont even bother to say goodbye which they have to others leaving. I guess you live and learn, reviews are a good thing and when i look everyone else has had a dreadful meal too. Should have checked. Out of a possible 25 restaurants i picked the only 2 star shitty one, how bad is that! Next time there will be no next time, as we will eat in.
Back to the van and its all quiet except when i get woken up by some distant yahooing that stops before long. In the morning we head off and we want to see St Malo which means driving around the coastal road. There are so many motorhomes around it isnt a wonder people get sick of them. The Brittany coastline is stunning though and people want to stay along it. We come across a few people parked up 5 minutes from Cancale so we stop to look. There is a wonderful walking track right along the clifftops around the whole coast here. The coastline is stunning as the day is brilliant sunshine. Tbere are scuba divers or snorkellers down in the water that although looks lovely and clear, also looks cold. I am trying to pick up the amount i am walking now that my foot should be mostly healed so we do a little walk along the track before heading back. We keep driving and come across lots of little campsites, aires and beaches well before we even get to St Malo. We end up stopping and decide to head back to an aire near the beach. We feel the need to walk in the sand and salt water and if the weather holds a swim. This aire is good value, 7€ which includes power.
So we take the ferry from Portsmith to Caen or Ouistream which takes about 5 3/4 hours. Brittany ferries are our favourite so far. Their food is good and not overpriced like some and they are clean and comfortable. The French definitely know how to do good food. The sea was calm and the crossing enjoyable. We arrive at Ouistream at 9.30pm and drive off the ferry to park up in the closest aire which is right at the port. We dont have a good start as Scot thinks the entry is down the road and when i realise we have gone past it, i attempt a turn around but as we begin to head back the other way i realise it is a one way street, with a car coming towards me, oh shit, so i stop, back up and head down the first street i can to get off this one way one. Its bad enough having to start driving on the right hand side but then driving down the wrong way puts the wind up us both. Anyway we head around the block, go in the correct entrance, which as we are paying, a lady comes over and says our back light isnt working. It was checked before we left, so crap, we dont know quite what has happened and we hope its not serious. We park up and get some sleep after the last ferry leaves for England at 11.30pm.
The next morning is a slow get up and after breakfast we check out our light. The French we have been told are very vigilant at picking up GB vans at the moment due to Brexit and anything not working will give them a good excuse. We had already had a clean air sticker sent to us from France as they are now required of all vehicles regardless of whether you are going into Paris or other cities or not. We were told they are picking up anyone without one so there we are safe with that one. We cannot figure out why the light wont work as the bulb is fine, but as Scot plays around with it, the plastic surround breaks and now we decide that we need a garage. Trouble is these parts are not available anymore so not sure what we will do here. We sit and discuss our plan for the day. We havent even decided where we are going or which direction to head so discussions take place. We figure it would be nice to stop a couple of days in familiar territory to relax and get some idea of where we are going to go. Cabourg and Holgate were favourite areas and there is a large camping aire there so we head off.
Close to Cabourg we come across a Peugeot garage and decide to see if they will have time in the morning to look at the light. So in we go and in my best French i say we have a problem with our back light and could he look at it in the morning. I am feeling quite pleased with myself at being understood, when i then dont understand him telling me to come back at 9 oclock – now not feeling quite so clever. I had hoped when i said La Derriere Lumiere that he didnt think i meant the light shining out my butt!
We arrive at the site which has a lot of vans and just happen to park next to probably the only other GB one. A nice couple at the start of a long adventure around Europe. The site is just gravel and you really arent allowed to put out chairs but a few have. There are no facilities except a toilet dump and you can pay for water – 5euro to fill your van. The good thing about these places is that they are free which helps to keep the cost of travelling down to food and gas only with occassional water and electric costs. We could probably continue all year if we were frugal here in France.
Scot went for a quick walk up the road and back and we had dinner. The next morning we headed back to the Peugeot garage to have the light looked at and the guy fixed it very quickly for us. The light wasnt touching a small metal piece on the side where the plastic had broken and he put in a new bulb. Voila! He then didnt charge us anything which was nice, but he could have at least charged us 10 or 20 euro just for his time. It was really nice of him. We then headed into the area of shops near the aire and saw a laundrette so stopped to do our washing. I helped an elderly lady there who didnt know what the machines said. Although she knew my French wasnt good she chatted away to me anyway and i got the general gist of her conversation. I figure that the longer we are in France this time the better my French will get. After finishing the laundry we headed back to the aire we had been staying at.
Scot biked down to the Lidl near by for a baguette for lunch and we then decided to bike into Cabourg as we hadnt actually seen much of the town centre. Unfortunately everything closes for lunch anytime between 12 and 3 or 4 so we window shopped. A lovely place and at the end they have a Grand Hotel on the beachfront. We both felt like a swim as the day is very warm but in an aire where there arent any showers we are more reluctant to get sandy and salty. Yes we have a shower in the van but we have never felt like trying it out.
After heading back to the aire we sit in the sun reading until dinner and time to head indoors. Unfortunately the next morning i have a massive headache, but despite that we head into Holgate on our bikes for a walk around. We stop at a cafe we went to a year ago but we are disappointed with the coffee as it is nothing like it was last time here. Thats ok, it helps the headache which the heat is doing nothing for. It must be at least 28 degrees today and again we feel like a swim but decide not to bother. It is nice to sit and relax with a good book after buying a couple of things at the Carrefour in Holgate. The souvenirs here are quite funny as it must rain a lot. We see nudist characatures with raincoats on, scuba divers with umbrellas etc, so it obviously does rain a lot here in Normandie.
The next morning it is pouring rain. We knew the forecast had said this and it is ok, we feel we do need to move on. A large number of other campervans head off as well, as do the Brits beside us. We are heading due south to a green belt area.
We head away from Zumaia and drive along the coast road. It is really buzzing and there are heaps of cyclists biking along the coast road and many walking the paths. I guess because it is a beautiful day everyone has come out. The countryside is really lovely here and as usual wish we had more time to stop. There is a small place we could have parked right on the waterfront we pass but you never always know of these places until later. Just before we cross the French border we recognise the roads that we drove on 6 years ago when we drove across the border and back again. The roads are really busy since it is a beautiful day, obviously everyone is out for Sunday. We drive into St Jean de Luz and find a camper stop that is very close by the town. There is one park left for us which is great. There is only water and toilet dump facilities here, no power and it costs a few euro to park here for 24 hours. We park up and walk into the main part of the town. It is absolutely bustling and there are people everywhere. We would like a coffee and a snack but most cafes are full. We walk around the town and along the beach front which is quite crowded with people stretching out in the sun enjoying the day. It’s funny how you think you can remember a place and know the exact streets you went into years before but when you get there you don’t seem to recognise things or things don’t actually face the same way you thought they did. This is how it seemed for me as we walked the streets I struggled to recognise where we parked our car up and walked 6 years ago, but then as I thought we were lost I found the main streets we had walked around and I felt at home again.
We found a café away from the water that wasn’t so crowded and went in and had some lunch. After Spain everything now seems very expensive even though it really isn’t that bad. We had a nice lunch and I enjoyed speaking my little bit of French. I get a real thrill out of it when I know they can understand me and I understand them back. We head back around the streets and come across a New Zealand rugby shop which I can’t believe they would have here in France. I can’t imagine a Frenchman buying any All blacks products. We come across a shop that has a pun on All Blacks, we are in the Basque region and they have a pseudo type silver fern on a t-shirt with All Basques, very clever. We head to the very busy part and decide to have a wine amongst the several hundred people on the most popular part of the town in the sun. There are so many people we are wondering what it will be like tomorrow – Monday when it’s just a normal day. We enjoy a couple of drinks and watch a bit of drama nearby where an ambulance has been called for some reason, then head back to the van. A few vans around us have left – obviously only here for the weekend. We have a train track right behind us with a busy road in front but thankfully it is all quiet through the night and we don’t even notice this.
In the morning we head back into the town as I need a French sim so have a shop pegged to go into. Thankfully the lady does speak some English as it can be difficult to make yourself understood as to what type of sim and what plan you need. The lady helps out but has trouble getting it working. She mucks around for about an hour and then says it must take an hour to activate so says come back in an hour if it’s not ok. So off we go and wander around some more but after an hour nothing has changed so we head back to the store. I am not someone she wants to see as I think she is very frustrated and really is not sure why it won’t work. It really shows when she has to phone her own help line and she keeps getting put on hold and then transferred. I am sure she is swearing in French but she has to get it working for me. After another hour she finally gets someone on the line who knows what they are talking about and murphys law it is only one tiny little configuration change that needs to be made – nothing major. Bingo we are working now and on our way. So we wander around a little more and eventually head back to our van for the night. It has been a lot quieter today than yesterday and a number of shops don’t even open.
In the morning we head out of St Jean de Luz. Until next time, I am sure we will be back. We have already decided we will drive up to another place we have stayed at before called La Rochelle. We had a nice motel that looked out over the ocean last time we were there but this time we will be on the other side of the town. It is really busy on the road – a far cry from the roads we have been on in Spain and Portugal. Traffic is everywhere so we need to make sure we know what lane we need to be in so we don’t make a mistake. Thankfully we don’t encounter many tolls in this part of the country which is unusual. It is a rainy windy day – a far cry from the beautiful day we had on Sunday. It is a long day on the road and late in the afternoon we arrive in La Rochelle. We navigate through peak hour traffic and find the marina that we are allowed to park up at. There are about 20 odd vans there already and it is a big carpark. There is a fun park on the nearby block of land which is playing lively music but there aren’t many people there due to the rainy, cold weather. We park up and go for a walk to see what there is locally. It looks like a number of places are closed up and perhaps only open on the weekend or even in summer. We stop in one of the little bars and have a drink, but it will only be one as it seems rather exorbitant. I don’t recall France being this expensive so I can only think it must just be the south west coast that is this expensive.
La Rochelle is a fairly wealthy town from what I can recall and I guess the prices here reflect that. We head back to the van and a quiet night before we head out in the morning. We were going to drive to Quiberon but we figured perhaps we try a different place nearby and check it out. We head towards Quiberon recognising a few places from 6 years ago but turn off before you head towards the town. This way is slower so takes a little longer but we are rewarded with quaint villages reflecting the quiet coastal lifestyle. The houses are nicely done up unlike a lot in other rural French areas. We arrive into Port Louis and it is right on the coast and we have two camps to look at and choose which will be better. We pass the first which is overlooking a beach and the ocean. It is a hard stand with only a couple of campers but we decide to check out the second one before making a decision. There are old stone walls and forts in this town and it looks really lovely. We can see a peninsula across from the main road but it appears to be a long drive around to it and we wonder whether you can even drive campervans on the roads there.
We arrive at the second site and it is mostly a grassy park encompassed within fort type walls which is very quaint, but the grass is very wet and muddy and we decide the hard stand is much better to park on since it is only one night. It is a cold day and after setting up back at the first camperstop we decide we don’t want to walk anywhere as it is a little late and we can’t see many places that are nearby. We try to pay for the park which is only 5euro for the night including power but our card is playing silly buggars and it won’t work and there is nowhere for cash. If anyone comes to check we will just tell them what happened and pay them cash but by morning no one has worried us so we head off to our next destination.
We have found a little spot that is on the north coast of the large land peninsula of France we are on so we head north and a little to the east. We come across the little town of Saint Cast le Guildo which again looks like a very cute town. The camperstop happens to be a carpark that is right at the end of the town overlooking the marina. We start to drive down towards it but come across a barrier that is only 2.6m which we can’t quite get under so we have to find another way. Google maps tell me the only other road going there is a one way road heading away from the carpark towards where we are trying to drive to it. However in our tripping around the streets to try to find a way, I see other cars heading down this supposed one way road, the wrong way according to Google. So buggar it, we head down it too and find it is ok and not one way and we eventually reach the carpark. I also send Google maps a note to change the road direction to two way. We park up along with a couple of other vans and head down the road towards the marina to see what is around. There is a lovely boardwalk that heads right into the heart of the town and towards the lovely beach they have. Along the boardwalk there are several restaurants but not many are open at this time of the year.
There are a few people out walking the boardwalk and we join them for a bit and then decide to head back and have a drink at one open restaurant before heading back to the van for the night. The prices aren’t too bad and we sit and plan our next days travel and see where we should stop. We aren’t far from St Malo and as we suss out the map I spy Mont Saint Michel which I have heard of but have never seen. It is where an 11th century Romanesque Abbey has been built and it apparently has the highest tides in Europe. The abbey has been built on a very tiny island off the mainland to which they have now built a road out, however the road can get cut off at high tide and people stupidly try to walk around the outside of the island in the very quicksand like sand and some have been drowned because of the fast rising tide and they can’t get out of the sand.
25 February 2016
Anyway we left Saint Cast Le Guildo early the next morning and drive the short distance to Mont Saint Michel and know we really only have about 3 hours to look around and we will then have to leave and drive to a camper stop for the night. The parking for Mont Saint Michel is quite a few kms away and is quite expensive but they have free shuttles out to the island and you don’t have to pay to walk around the whole island village just the Abbey. So we park up and walk to the shuttle which is really well organised. It only takes a few minutes before one arrives and we are off to the island. It really is quite a spectacular sight seeing the Abbey high on the hill of the island in the distance, it really stands out. No wonder it is touted to be the most visited tourist attraction in France even though I am not sure it would beat the Eiffel tower. We get off the shuttle and head into the little island village. It is quaint and quite amazing. It is gated off so if the gates are closed you couldn’t get in as it as high walls around the base of the whole island. We wander and decide to get to the abbey before the main crowds hit here this morning. The abbey is an amazing piece of architecture but inside there are no items at all. I keep saying to Scot that the monks didn’t have things so there wouldn’t have been rugs and paintings and furniture as they lived so frugally but I am not sure if this is the reason it is so stark and empty or someone snavelled all the items during the war or similar.
We ended up having a coffee at Mont Saint Michel before we left which was the worst most expensive coffee we have had in a while, but it had to be done. Since we are on a time frame we didn’t see everything but it was ok, we really needed to get up closer to where we are taking the ferry back to the UK. So we took the shuttle back to the carpark, paid their expensive fee and headed up north towards Caen. We mainly travelled on the highway as we needed a quick trip. I would love to spend a few months travelling around France, this country has such awesome history and the buildings are amazing. I had thought we would head to Blonville sur Mer where we stayed years ago as it was so amazing, but strangely as I perused the coastline looking for a memory of where we had stayed it didn’t seem right. It turns out that I had in my mind this cute town on the coast that we stayed in a pink painted b&b or hotel where we had a small balcony looking over where ferries came into a tiny port area. Down the road was the centre of the town with cute shops and cafes. But this picture was actually of Quiberon, not Blonville sur Mer so when we actually did visit there I was quite disappointed that we had missed a favourite place that I had remembered even though the name was wrong.
We ended up in a place called Houlgate which is near Deauville and Blonville sur Mer. The camperstop at this location was at a marina area right on the front of an inlet. At low tide the water went a long way out and you could get across to the other bank easily but the tide came in so fast it was quite frightening watching the speed. We stopped here the night along with several other vans after doing a small shop close by. We spied a laundrette which we will use tomorrow as they are rather few and far between. It was a quiet location until the morning when the fish shed nearby opened early to sell freshly caught seafood. The locals appeared to come in droves to buy their fish and mussels so we had a constant stream of cars coming and going. Scot figured that as the locals like it then it must be fresh so he buys a bag of mussels for tea that night. After getting up we walked along the waterfront into Houlgate town. It was a freezing morning and we had almost all our gear on – gloves, hats, scarves, warmest jackets etc and we still felt frozen as the wind cut through our clothes like knives. We had to stop in a café for a coffee just to get out of the wind and have something warm to calm the chill creeping in.
After coffee we decided to head back to the van and drive back to the laundrette and get our washing done. Its great when there are free machines and you don’t choke on the cost. Washing in and dried whilst reading our books and it was back to the van spot for the night. Unfortunately being a Saturday night a whole lot of other vans had taken most spots as there weren’t many and we thankfully got the final parking spot. I don’t quite know where we would have gone if it hadn’t been free as we weren’t ready to move on. We contemplated going back into town but decided it was really too cold and a night getting warm under covers with a hot water bottle in the van was the order of the evening.
Sunday 27th Feb
We wanted to check out Deauville again before leaving so we headed north along the coast. The scenery became familiar and we recognised places we had been years ago. It was a lovely sunny day but still quite cool in the breeze and there were heaps of people around. We drove along the main area and since it was close to lunchtime thought it might be nice if we treated ourselves to a lovely meal out as a farewell to France and our Europe trip. We drove around for a bit and because it was so nice and there were markets on, there were people everywhere. Parking was at a premium. There was a camperstop which I thought we may be able to stop for a couple of hours and even empty our toilet before moving on, but it was full, the vans parked only feet from each other where you could probably hear the conversation going on next door. We did empty our toilet and moved on to a paying carpark where there were spots.
The markets were just finishing up and people were packing all their stuff into vehicles. Everyone was now sitting in the many restaurants and cafes that dotted along the waterfront leaving not even one spare chair for us. It was packed and eventually daunted by the lack of vacancies(and to some extent the cost) and the likelihood of food taking forever to come we headed back to the van and possibly our own home made lunch. Perhaps that was more of a tribute to our travelling than a café meal since it represented almost all our lunchtime eating. Walking along past the market stalls we are always horrified at the amount of rubbish that gets left behind. The market being on the waterfront was allowing heaps of plastic rubbish to be blown over into the waterway. We hate seeing this as there is no need for it if everyone takes all their own rubbish from their stall home, but these people don’t care, just like most country markets we have seen over the year.
Back in the van, we thought maybe we head back to Houlgate and the little coffee shop we had been the day before – perhaps they make nice food. We head there and find a park which nearly stops the traffic in the street as it is terribly narrow. We make sure a few cars and a bigger van can pass by and we walk down to the main street. The little café is still open but food is off, buggar, it just isn’t our day for spending money on lunch, so we do have coffee and head back to the van. You know it was about 5 weeks ago and I just can’t remember what we ended up doing, but most likely it was a couple of pieces of fruit as we headed for the camperstop out at the port from Caen which is called Ouistream. We passed a few of the historical war memorials(part of the major invasion area for 1943 D-Day and Pegasus Bridge which he is reading the history of) which Scot wants to go back and spend time at down the track although if we are truthfull, there are so many places we want to go back to and just see a bit more of I think we need another 2 years in the van to see them all for a reasonable amount of time……anyone want to help fund another adventure for us???
We arrive at the port camperstop and there are a few vans there and a ferry is just leaving so I race out to take some photos but it is still freezing in the wind here so I don’t stop long. We try to pay for the stop but the machine is broken along with all the facilities. I figure everyone must be getting on the ferry early in the morning being parked up here, but I find out I am wrong as we seem to be the only one who does leave. This is a great place to leave France and get back to England as there are no refugees here and Calais where we came into has the refugee camp being broken up so there is chaos there. We have read that most people are avoiding going via Calais because of the new problems that are now presenting themselves there. Ouistream is small, easy to find your way and still quite cheap to get back.
Monday 29 Feb 2016
Up at about 6.30am, it is still dark but I want to be lined up well before we need to leave so there isn’t anyway we can miss the ferry. A quick cup of tea and brekky and we head the short distance to the port. They are really lovely here, no nasty Greek style treatment, although I should think they could justify a search and more checks than they do. Checking in is a breeze and we are lined up ready to leave. Thankfully the wind has eased so the sea won’t be as rough as it has been on some crossings lately. 8.30 and we are loaded, plugged into electricity which they go out of their way to help us with, and up on board sadly saying goodbye to France and the last of our European adventure. There are mixed feelings and I am sad that this part has finished, but also excited by the housesits we have managed to get already in England which will see us out of the van for a bit and in a normal bed and house. There is also a part of me that is fully daunted by what we will now have to do and workout as we look to live and work over here for whatever time we wish to stay. Decisions have to be made and once made all the work that goes along with them.
This ferry is one of the best ones we have been on. The staff are really lovely, the food good, prices acceptable for a ferry and facilities clean. We are impressed after the dreadful experience of Grimaldi line trips in southern Europe. The ferry takes about 6 hours to get back to the UK and we find ourselves backing into port in Portsmouth in no time after passing by the Isle of Wight. Portsmouth looks great and we pass navy ships and base facilities. Back down to the van and we unhook the electricity and prepare to disembark.
We are very behind on our blogs because since we left La Marina we have not had wifi for the laptop to upload photos or our diary. But we will update them once we get back to England. However a brief overview of we have done and where we are now is following. We left La Marina and travelled down to Gibraltar where the next day we took a ferry across to Morocco. What an amazing place that is. Although they have a high alert for terrorism at present it feels safer than other countries we visited with the most amazing people. We would go back in a heartbeat. It was vibrant, busy and very real. We were shocked on arriving but once adjusted we loved the atmosphere there. We only were able to stay 4 days upon which time we took the ferry back to Spain, even though most were cancelled due to high seas and winds.
Once back we picked up our van we headed for Portugal. We didnt have enough time to see Portugal very well unfortunately. We spent a couple of nights in the algarve which was amazing and although it was winter there, there were so many campervans around, mainly French and Dutch. We headed up along the west coast of Portugal which again was stunning and had very big seas, which lent itself to feeling at home like it was NZ beaches. Peniche, Vila do Conte and Viana do Costello are place we want to see more of as they were incredible. Portugese were lovely and mostly spoke some English which helped. As we headed into northern Spain the countryside was dramatically different from southern Spain and it was green, snow on hills and spectacular. I think we need another year to see all these places we had to skip by as there is so much to see. We travelled from northern Spain into southern France and stopped in St Jean de Luz. We stayed there 6 years ago and loved it. We still think its amazing. We then travelled on to a place called Port Louis just near Quiberon where we also stayed 6 years ago. What an amazing place too. We are on the coast north of there and and stopped today and saw a lookout and a fort. All the places we have stopped in Portugal, northern Spain and France are free camperstops which are wonderful. Some have water, toilet dump and waste water dump and the odd one has electricity that you pay for. It certainly helps you spend less to see the countryside. We are in Saint Cast le Guildo tonight and tomorrow after stopping off at Saint Mont Michel, an amazing tourist destination, in fact the most popular in France, we then head off to Deauville or Blonville Sur Mer. On the 29th Feb we take the ferry back to England.
Our travels are then over as we have a house sit for a couple of weeks whilst we contemplate whether i go back to work in Aus, or we stay in England or maybe travel some more, although i think we would have to sit Scot on a roundabout in Spain to earn some money to do so (roundabouts in Spain are where the prostitutes sit).
We have loved every minute of our travel and i am sure i am not the only one who wasnt sure we would make it the whole way round (or the van). We have seen 28 amazing countries, travelled almost 34,000kms and gained more friends and experiences than in our entire lifetime. But we need to get off our band wagon or we will go on about it. If there was any of our friends contemplating doing this we would be happy to help them with any questions etc.
So in a week or so’s time we will have more details up about the brief you have just read as we will be back in the very cool temps of England, actually west of London near the Chilterns hopefully in a very warm house with some lovely pets to keep us company whilst we make decisions about our future.
