Sea, sand and jazz in Brittany - summer's still here!

Thursday 14 September 2023

Nido's parked up on an aire in Kerhillio at the northern end of the Quiberon peninsula.  We're on a grass pitch under the shade of a small tree.  There are about thirty pitches, although a few are still empty.  It's €15.30 per night, including services and electric hook up - that's about £13. The aire is just outside a huge municipal campsite, where vans, caravans and tents are spread all over the sandy areas, separated from the huge beach and sea by dunes. Just outside the aire is a square comprising surf shops, artist galleries and a couple of hipster-like cafe bars; it's a lovely, laid back place.  Right now Le Coota bar's playing some live music, it sounds like laid-back jazz with guitar and cello.  Its wooden decking is lit by coloured lights and there's a friendly buzz of chat over the music, with children laughing as they ride their bikes around the square.  We like it here.

We left La Pommeraie-sur-Sevre yesterday for a long haul towards the coast.  This included an unplanned tour of the docks area around St-Nazaire.  For a number of years I've used a Garmin satnav in the van.  Over time I've loaded it up with a number of Points of Interest - aires, campsites, wild swimming spots.  But I've never really used these.  The Garmin is OK, but it's constantly trying to shave off a couple of metres or minutes from the journey.  As a consequence we often follow it to turn off down narrow roads to cut off a corner, only to rejoin the decent road we were on before.  Yesterday it directed us down past the Airbus factory and towards the cruise liner berths and the docks, down to a dead end!  I now remember it did the same last year, when we were heading south. So this time we plugged our destination coordinates into Google Maps on my phone and ran this in parallel.  We ignored the Garmin's plea to turn off down single lanes and rat-runs and instead followed the sensible route of Google Maps, which was more direct and actually shorter.

We arrived at the Camping Car Park aire at La Turballe.  It's actually in the Loire region, but it feels like Brittany.  It was busy; with the recent heatwave, clear blue skies and warm sunshine; summer was still here and people were naturally making the most of it.  We took one of the three remaining pitches, right next to a road which, although busy, did quieten down at night.  The first thing was to take a walk to the beach for a long awaited walk on the sands and a paddle.  But no - it was not to be.   Approaching the beach we came up with the 'les chiens interdit' signs, even when on a lead.  Salty was not a happy hound!  He could smell the sea, he could hear the sea, he could almost see the sea.  But he was not allowed to go there.  I'd not done my research and with a bit of googling soon realised that Brittany beaches are - in the main - dog unfriendly.  I get it, they want to keep their beaches clean and pristine and people want to be able to enjoy their time on the coast without dogs running around and doing what dogs do.  But it seems a bit strange that dogs are so unwelcome in a country that has one of the highest percentages of dog ownership.  But we're responsible owners and follow the rules, so we just walked along the sandy path that runs parallel to the beach before returning to the aire.  

I'd looked at a few places to stay on the southern and western Bretagne coast, but last night was spent replanning, looking for the few dog-friendly beaches so we could at least walk him in some nice places.  As much as we love having a dog in our lives, it has changed how and where we travel.  Now we have to think about where he's allowed to go.  We have to ensure the pitch is cool and shaded if we want to leave him in the van for any period of time.  It's just a different way of travelling.  I found a few places online where dogs can still go on the beach (albeit on a lead, which is fine), mainly in the far west and north, so our travel plans have been adjusted accordingly.

This morning we stopped off at the Super U supermarket in La Turballe for a top up.  I like this brand of supermarket; it's reasonably priced and the quality of the produce is very good.  In the Auvergne, it was mostly Auchan supermarkets, but Super U reign supreme here. The fish counter was excellent, with some of the freshest seafood I've seen anywhere. The mackerel were stiff-fresh and the brown shrimps I bought (look away now if you're squeamish) were still wriggling, the bouchot moules (our favourite) were glistening and the whole squid white and opaque.  Our drive (thanks to our recent conversion to Google Maps (sorry Garmin lady!)) was easy and enjoyable, with a mix of A roads and drives through small Bretagne villages lined with thatched houses with white lime-wash walls and sea-blue shutters.

Once we'd paid and pitched, we had a tasty lunch sat in the shade of the adjacent tree before packing a rucksack and walking through the municipal campsite to the beach - Plage de Kerhillio. It's a huge sandy beach.  The southern end - towards the tip of the Quiberon peninsula - is mainly used by the kite surfers and the naturists.  Dogs are 'interdit' on that side, so we were glad of a reason to avoid it! Salty had a lovely splash around, a few zoomies and a drink of the very salty water; he always does it and always gets told off for doing it!  Once he settled down lying on the sand watching the world go by, we took it in turns to swim in the exceptionally clear and warm sea.  It was idyllic and we made the most of our first sea swim of this trip.  

Back at the van, showered and changed, Cathy sat in the sunshine listening to an audio book and I prepared the seafood paella (the shrimps had stopped wriggling!), which we ate sat watching the sun set over the dunes.  We've decided to stay another day here.  It's quiet, with a laid back atmosphere that reminds us of Tarifa in southern Spain, with weather to match.  We'll definitely enjoy some more beach and swimming time tomorrow.

Through the Limousin into the Vendée region

Tuesday 12 September 2023

Nido's parked up in the village of La Pommeraie-sur-Sevre in the Vendee region.  It's a lovely little village that's provided a free aire with free services. There's not much in the village; a hotel (not sure if it's still open, the obligatory huge church and marie's office and a baguette vending machine. The signposts here show how the village children helped put up the aire signs and plant a lovely herb garden.  The feeling of community is strong; it's now nearly 8pm and on the green next to the aire there seems to have been an after-school club going for the past four hours.  The children are aged from about 4 years old up to 10.  They seem to have a great time, with sports, treasure hunt and games to music.  They (and the adults) must be absolutely exhausted!  But it's been lovely to listen to the laughter.  After some earlier rain, it's a bit cloudy now but still plenty warm enough to sit outside in shorts and t-shirts.

Yesterday we left the lakeside where we'd spent the past six nights and hit the road again.  First stop was in Montmorillon, to top up with food at Le Clerc and fill up the van with diesel and LPG.  Although promising cooling temperatures, it was a hot journey and we spent most of it with the cabin air con cooling us down.  Our route took us through Poitiers but thankfully the satnav did its job and popped us out the other end back on to the quieter roads.

Our park up last night was in the town of Nieuil L'Espoir in the Limousin region.  It was another free aire and quite busy when we arrived, but still with plenty of room to park up.  After lunch we took a walk around the lakes, where Salty had a cooling dip, although he might not have been so keen had he seen the coypu swimming in the middle!  We carried on a circular route past some large sunflowers before returning to the van for apero hour, followed later by a cup of tea with some patissierie.  I did a circuit of the town centre with Salty later; nothing was open.  It was stifling hot and humid late into the night and none of us slept well in the heat of the van.  A thunderstorm and rain arrived in the early hours, which cooled things a little, but we were still a bit bleary eyed this morning when I walked Salty, then wandered along to the boulangerie to buy a couple of baguettes.

We arrived at La Pommeraie-sur-Sevre at about 1pm, so had a late lunch before following a well marked 6km circular walk that took us into the village and the surrounding countryside.  We walked past the old mill of l'Audriere, including the old castle, to which someone had innovatively attached a barn.

Salty finally gets a cooling dip in a stream

Having had a good lunch, we only fancied a cup of tea and (yes) some pattiserie for supper.  As I finish this off, the children are running around on the green playing some form of chase game.  The adults seem to have lost control and look absolutely shattered...I'm wondering if I should go over and offer them an apero! 

Busy doing nothing

Sunday 10 September 2023

Nido's still parked up at the side of Lac de Vassivière.  We'll have been here six nights by the time we leave, longer than we've stayed anywhere for a continuous period.  All of it has been on a simple grass area, although we did move to a different spot yesterday to have a better view of the lake and to be a bit closer to 'our' swimming beach.  On and off there have been about 8 other vans here with us, although it's been very quiet with everyone just chilling out.

It's been the ideal place during what's been an extended heatwave, not just in France but throughout the UK too.  Here, it's been about 35'C every day, but at least with the occasional breeze.  So our days have consisted of waking up, cup of tea, walk the dog, chill, swim, lunch, chill, swim, dinner, chill, watch the sunset, sleep.  It's been very restful.

On Thursday I cycled around the lake, which is almost 24km.  The route is known as the Circuit Raymond Poulidor, the famous (late) Tour de France cyclist, who lived nearby; two of his grandsons - David and Mathieu van der Poel  are also a professional cyclists.  I also realised, due to the road graffiti, that the road running to the south of the lake - right next to where we're camped - was also a part of Stage 9 of this year's Tour de France, so I've managed to cycle a bit more of that too!  Stage 9 started in the Raymond Poulidor's hometown of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat.

On a couple of occasions I drove (leaving Cathy sat on our spot with the chairs) to the nearby village of Royère-de-Vassivière to service the van on the aire, recycle rubbish and top up with food at the small supermarket right next to the aire.  This has allowed us this extended six night stop.  The solar panel has kept our leisure battery topped up.  A few days ago I had a problem with the EcoFlow River 2 Max powerbank not charging on 12V DC. It's fine charging on 230V AC, but we need to be hooked up for that.  This is annoying as I bought the EcoFlow specifically for this trip and to spend more time off-grid.  After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, I eventually got hold of someone in EcoFlow UK and they've agreed to provide a brand new replacement unit when we return home.

The heatwave is due to break tomorrow and cool down by several degrees, which will be welcome.  Obviously with that will come the westerly fronts bringing wind and rain.  We've enjoyed the hot weather, are thankful for trees to shade us and water to cool us, but now we're happy to take what ever weather comes our way and hit the road again.

So tomorrow we'll move on, heading north of Limoges to a supermarket to buy food, brim up the LPG tanks and service the van, then on a bit further north west.  The outline plan is to take a couple of days to make our way into southern Brittany, then see where we end up from there.  It's 3pm now, the sun will soon be sneaking around the awning, so time for a swim!

Canicule

Tuesday 5 September 2023

Nido's parked up on a free aire on a large grass field, in the shade of huge oak trees and about 20m from the water's edge at Lac de Vassivière in the Limousin region.  There's about seven other vans here, but it's very quiet, no artificial lights around and the owls are hooting all around us.  I can just about see the reflection of the lake in the fading light.

Given the current canicule (heatwave) here in France, we made the decision to head for the coast to try and get some respite.  We're a bit sad, as the whole Auvergne region is beautiful and we wanted to see a lot more.  We had plans for more walks and visits to some of the fortified towns and villages.  Plus we wanted to take the train up the Puy de Dôme.  But temperatures at the moment are exceptionally high and are due to stay that way for several more days.  Issoire - where we spent yesterday morning doing the laundry - was the second hottest place in France yesterday at 38'C.  Whilst the coastal areas aren't forecast to be too much cooler, we should benefit from some sea breeze and also the opportunity to cool off in the ocean.  But living in a metal box on wheels can be very challenging in this heat; not only does it affect us (and, I hate to say it, but it gets harder to regulate body temperature as we get older!) but Salty suffers too.  So it's the right decision.

We were up at 0700 yesterday morning and set off from Aydat for Issoire.  It was an admin day so laundry needed to be done and there was an outdoor laundry machine outside a Carrefour supermarket in town.  Also, there was free van servicing just across the road.  We arrived at about 0800 and luckily both washing machines were available.  We had a bit of a payment issue as neither of our payment cards were accepted, so we had to use notes and coins instead.  We thought it might be our UK cards, but a local lady came along later and had the same problem.  We explained the issue and showed her how to use Euro notes.  She only had a €20 note, but I had two tens, so did a swap with her, as no change is given.  So we did our good deed for the day!  I also popped into the supermarket to do the shopping and after an hour of using the dryer, we moved across the road to service the van, followed by a diesel fill up.

These outdoor launderettes are all over France and are now appearing in the UK too

Breakfast in a supermarket car park whilst doing the laundry - living the dream!

The original plan was to stay at a free aire in the small village of Tourzel Ronzières, high up with amazing views over the countryside.  It was a bit of strange set up as the aire parking areas were on several narrow terraces, only wide enough to drive on.  This meant that if you parked in the middle and other vans came later in front and behind you, there was no way of getting out.  But we found a flattish area of grass in a separate space and started to set up.  It quickly became obvious that it would be too hot to stay there; the shady spots had already been taken and there was a lot of shooting in the valley, which completely freaked Salty out.  So I took another look and found the Camping Car Park site in Auzon, about 45 minutes' drive away.  The reviews said there was plenty of shade and a river, plus the hill-top fortified village looked lovely, with the campsite in the valley below.

A lovely position but WAY too hot

We found a shaded spot and did our best to keep cool.  I took a quick walk and found the river was dried up.  Once the sun had dipped behind the trees we walked along a narrow road, past stone cottages, before it turned into a path running alongside the (dry) river bed.  It was a good deal cooler amongst the trees and thankfully, in a couple of places, there was enough water to allow Salty to dunk up to his neck - we were very jealous.  I cooked outside and we sat well into darkness, enjoying the cooling temperature and looking up at the stars.

This morning we enjoyed the cool, walking the dog and eating breakfast outside, before packing up and starting our journey west.  Ideally we only make short daily hops to relax and explore an area, but today was about making some miles towards the coast.  I hope one day we'll be able to return to the Auvergne and continue to explore this wonderful region.  I stopped off at an 'artisan' boulangerie on the way for a baguette for lunch.  Many boulangeries are described as 'artisan' but this one had a wood burning oven and it showed.  Alongside the traditional baguette, they made regional loaves of bread, all with the dark, crunchy crust and light, fluffy filling with lots of holes from extended proving.  It proved to be delicious as we enjoyed it at one of the many welcome picnic sites found along the roadside.

We arrived at Lac de Vassivière in the heat of the mid-afternoon.  I admit to being quite tired and hot when we arrived, so after we'd walked the dog - and he'd had his daily dip - we took him back to the van, changed and walked the short distance to the water's edge.  The long awaited swim was divine!  The water was warm with the occasional chilly patch.  We swam around for a while, washing off the heat and dust of the past few hot days (although he had showered in the van each day of course!).  The rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading and looking out over the lake as the sun set.  Dinner was a vegetable stir fry with some boiled rice.  We're using up food odds and sods; tomorrow will be some form of hotdog, onion and feta calzone made with wheat wraps in the Ridge Monkey, with a salad - don't judge us!

As it's cooler here (30'C in the daytime) we'll stay here another night to walk around part of the lake and take another dip or two, before heading further west.

Parc naturel régional des Volcans d'Auvergne

Sunday 3 September 2023

Nido's parked up at an aire in Aydat.  Actually it's more like a campsite with grass pitches separated by small wooden fences.  We've just had a walk around the wetland boardwalks that lead to Lac Aydat; the sun was almost gone and the bats were dipping low over the water (and us!) to hoover up the myriad flying insects.

We've had a couple of days in this natural park.  It's been a busy time - imagine the Peak District or Lake District over a sunny bank holiday weekend...that kind of busy.  But it is the last weekend before La Rentrée, when children return to school and grown ups return to the grindstone.  So it was always going to be busy.  It should quieten down for our remaining time in France.  But it's no surprise this area is touristy and lively, because it's beautiful.  We've been from deep lush valleys, through wildflower meadows with cows and their bells, through tiny hamlets and villages and up to the windy and exposed highest ski stations, now very quiet out of their season.

Empty and closed ski station with the summit of Puy de Sancy in the background

We left the cool of Miremont yesterday morning and drove to the heat, hustle and bustle of the city of Clermont Ferrand, the metropolis of the Auvergne.  We're not city visitors, but it was interesting to drive through.  After a stop off at a Le Clerc supermarket we drove on the the aire at La Tour d'Auvergne.  This was a free stop over and the parking was over several terraces, overlooking the small swimming and fishing lake and the old village perched on a hill top.  After a Salty walk around the lake, then dinner, we left him in the van and walked into the old village.  Despite it being a Saturday evening it was very quiet; only a couple of bars and restaurants were open.  From the viewpoint we had a commanding view for miles over the countryside and extinct volcanoes.  The skies were dark all around us, with the odd rumble of thunder in the distance, but we stayed dry through the night.  We had a good wander around the narrow lanes and steep-stepped ginnels.

This morning our plan was to drive to a parking area and walk along a gorge to some waterfalls.  Unfortunately the parking was unsuitable for the van, so plan B was a 5 mile walk starting at Lac Pavin.  Although very busy, we managed to bag a parking spot in the shade, made some packed lunch and headed out on the walk.  The lake is actually a volcano crater, with some parts of the walk close to the water and the other side much higher.  The water was crystal clear but, much to our dismay, it was 'baignade interdit'. Salty managed a quick dip at the beginning and end of the walk and we weren't jealous at all!

The walk took us along the edge of lake before we turned off and started to climb the forest paths.  Eventually we made the summit of  the extinct Puy Montchal, before descending into the grassy, tree-lined crater, where we stopped for lunch and to enjoy the sunshine, cicadas and butterflies.  The rest of the walk was along forest paths and roads, before we returned to the lake and descended back to the car park.  The temperature today was in the low 30s - so hot - but a breeze and plenty of tree shade made it more bearable.  But by the time we made it to the aire here in Aydat (after trying a couple of others that were too close to the road with many very loud motorbikes flying past) we were shattered. After showers, watermelon, a pot of tea and a red thai curry, we felt refreshed enough to take a walk to the lake before bedtime.

Swimming forbidden!

Puy de Sancy from the summit of Puy Montchal

Volcano crater

Tomorrow is planned as an admin day - food shopping, laundry washing and top up with diesel and LPG, although the LPG may have to wait until we're back up towards Clermont Ferrand.  It's quietened down now; even the motorcyclists have left, perhaps getting their work clothes ready for the morning.