In the Suisse Normande

Sunday 24 September 2023

Nido's parked up at a free aire with eight other vans in Saint Rémy, in the Suisse Normande area, which is in the middle section of Normandy.  It's an area we've not visited before.  The Suisse Normande starts about 25km south of Caen, along the gorge of the River Orne, between Thury-Harcourt and Putanges.  Whilst there aren't any 'swiss' mountains, the region is quite distinctive with cliffs, crags and wooded hills. It's a bit like Devon mixed with Yorkshire.

We left Plestin les Grèves on Friday morning after a peaceful night.  This was the first morning it's felt a little chilly first thing; since then it's only been about 10'C in the van in the morning, so the heating's been on for a while each day just to take the chill off.  Our destination was the Camping Car Park site in Hirel, right on the huge estuary overlooking the Cotentin Peninsula, with a view of Mont St Michel in the distance.  We stayed here last year.  With the recent rain it wasn't so full, so we were able to pick a pitch on the grass that was well drained, unlike some of the others.  The afternoon was spent walking on the vast beach - avoiding the mud flats with the tide way out - and watching the sand yachts zoom along the hard surface in a very strong breeze.  The sun was shining though and with the combination of this and the wind, we returned to the van with colour in our cheeks.  The evening was spent catching up on YouTube.

Yesterday was another fairly long push east to get into this area.  We stopped off at a Le Clerc supermarket in the town of Flers to fill up with food and diesel.  Driving into the town, it was evident it had been part of the recent riots in France, as there were lots of burnt areas of road around some of the suburbs.  Topped up we rolled into the small village of Pont d'Ouilly.  The aire was about 500m out of the town right next to the River Orne.  Each pitch is separated by high hedges and, as we sat outside with a late lunch, we had a good view of the slow moving river, with a fisherman trying his luck from the next-door van, plus many people kayaking down the slowly moving river.  It was a warm, sunny autumn day but once the sun disappeared it was a bit too cool so we moved inside.  There's a Sunday market in the village, so after walking Salty and wandered into town, leaving Cathy to have a clear up.  Previous reviews suggested one of the roads into the village was closed off on market day, so I was expecting quite a few stalls.  Disappointingly, there were only three - a fruit and veg stall (where I purchased a few items), a clothes stall and one selling the sort of tat you find at a car boot sale.  We've noticed that many of the markets are now much smaller than we remember, much like at home.  Perhaps it's the same impact of Covid and the cost of living crisis that's impacting so many towns and villages in Europe; such a shame.

Our original plan was to park up at the aire in Clécy, as I had a circular walk planned from there and it's down as one of the 'beau' villages of France.  The aire has five official pitches but when we arrived, there were a couple of vans and the rest of the spaces were taken up by cars due to a football match on the adjacent pitch.  But I had a reserve aire just a few kilometres up the road, here in Saint Rémy.  It's not as quiet due to being close to a road with many (VERY NOISY!) motorbikes driving past, much to Salty's dismay, but it's flat and free.

It's been a very warm and sunny day, made all the better by friends back home on Anglesey telling me about the horrendous winds and rain they currently have!  The aire's right next to one of the Voie Verte cycling and walking paths, an excellent initiative that has utilised the many miles of disused railway track.  This one is 100km, starting in Caen. It's being well used by all ages and it's lovely to see....UK take note, once again you're far behind the curve in encouraging people to be fit and active.  

I found another circular walk of just under four miles, that took us through ancient deciduous woods and tiny hamlets, although the start point was about 2-3 km from the aire, so we must have walked about 7 miles all told.  But it was good to get out and stretch our legs and have a good nosy at the lovely houses, many with old outbuildings and potager gardens.  Back at the van I made some halloumi burgers with salad and it's now quietened down.  The sun is dropping and the noisy motorbikers have gone home for their tea....work for them tomorrow!

Perched on a hill on the walk - Chapelle Saint-Joseph, in Saint-Martin-de-Sallen

Inside of the church. Built in 1871, destroyed by fire in 1890, rebuilt in 1919

On the north coast of Brittany heading east

Thursday 21 September 2023

Nido's parked up on an 80 pitch aire in Plestin les Grèves.  It could get quite claustrophobic if all the pitches were taken, but today there's only about half a dozen vans here.  Although sunny and warm when I took Salty out for a walk this morning, the return leg of this afternoon's walk was in heavy rain and the showers continue to pulse through now.

After Trégarvan, we stopped off at a Super U to do the laundry.  Next the outdoor laundrette was a motorhome service point, so the van was serviced after lunch, whilst waiting for the dryer to finish.  It was then a short drive down to the aire at Roscumunoc.  It's right on the coast, with a good view of Ile d'Ouessant (Ushant).  We took a walk past the 'chiens interdit' beaches and on to a cove where they're allowed on a lead; Salty enjoyed some beach time.  The Fiamma awning winding handle broke today as I wound it in, so that'll need replacing when we get home.

Dhoby Day!

The following morning we walked in the other direction, along the cliff top coastal path.  We were able to get down on to one beach via a large number of steps zig-zagging down the cliff face and had it all to ourselves.  It was some great off lead time for Salty, who was caught out a couple of times by the very large waves as they washed further up the beach!  Back on the cliff top we walked on a little further until reaching La Pointe de Corsen.  This is the most westerly point in mainland France - next stop America.

King of the beach

You can see all of our paw prints

Sadly it wasn't open

Back at the van, we had a quick lunch then hit the road towards the inland town of Saint Thégonnec.  It was a free aire with the pitches separated by low hedges.  On a quick mooch about I noticed a pizza van on the car park on the opposite side of the road, so fifteen minutes later we were having an early tea!  The rest of the evening was spent chilling out.  In the morning I walked to the boulangerie for a baguette and to get one of the free jetons to allow us to fill up with fresh water.

On the way out yesterday we made a quick stop at the Decathlon in Morbaix to pick up a couple of things before driving down to the aire on the fishing quay at Plougasnou Le Diben.  There was plenty of room and we bagged a spot overlooking the sea and rocks.  It rained heavily all day, so we didn't venture far, until later in the afternoon when we went to the local bar - Kfè du Port - on the port, for moules frites.  We arrived at 5.30pm and found out food didn't start being served until 7pm.  So do we head back to the van through the rain and come back later, or do we stay in the bar and have a couple of drinks until it's time to eat?  By the time our food arrived I was about three glasses of Leffe in!  The moules frites were really enjoyable and a great treat; we've not had them since our 2019 trip to France so they were long overdue.

This morning was the first time I felt some chill in the air, but it's still shorts weather.  As we were finishing breakfast, we felt the van being nudged from behind.  If we had a YouTube channel, I could have done the 'scream' shock-horror face in the thumbnail, with a "An A class smashes into the back of us - is this the end of van life!!?" clickbait title! I went out to find the huge A class motorhome that had been parked behind us had driven (albeit very slowly) right into the back of our van.  I was completely perplexed as to how the driver managed it, as there was plenty of space for him to reverse before moving forward.  The driver seemed as perplexed as me; his wife refused to catch my eye, and just stared straight ahead, probably in sheer embarrassment!  Once he reversed off I could see he had hit the bike rack.  A quick check showed no damage though and he apologised before driving off at haste.  I think he was trying to avoid the Police Municipal Officer who arrived about 15 minutes to collect the (very reasonable) €5 night fee!

There was a Super U on the way to this stop, so I pulled in to top up with a few essentials before we settled in to this aire.  Salty and I took a walk in the morning to give Cathy some peace for her online Welsh lesson.  We took the GR34 path down to Saint Efflamm  With the beach out of bounds to dogs (although a few were running about on it) we walked along the promenade in warm sunshine, before returning for lunch.  This afternoon's walk was in the opposite direction to a small harbour and a tiny beach.  The return leg was in heavy rain, so we're now back in the van, drying off coats and chilling before our evening meal.

Morning sunshine - Plage Saint Efflamm

Inbound rain in the afternoon

With about ten days left of this trip, I've pretty much mapped out our return route to Calais, including some stops in the Pays d'Auge and Suisse Normande areas of Normandy.  Salty has his vet appointment a week today for his worming tablet, then we'll be ready for our return on the tunnel.  But until then we've more to explore.... whilst dodging the showers.

Plonévez-Porzay and Trégarvan

Sunday 17 September 2023

Nido's parked up on the old quay side by the estuary in the tiny hamlet of Trégarvan.  It looks very much like similar estuaries found in Cornwall.  It must have been a port at one time given the many bollards along the jetty, but time and silt have clearly made it impossible to now moor alongside.  The parking area is noted as an official aire, but there are no facilities here except for a couple of bins.  

We stayed another night in Kerhillio on Friday, mainly because the forecast was decent and we fancied another sea swim.  Salty had a good walk in the morning, including some beach time but also excitedly investigating the many rabbit burrows in the low level sand dunes - one of his favourite pastimes!  He then stayed in the van in the shade while we walked through the huge municipal campsite and on to the beach; by the late afternoon the tide was in so we had an hour of alternating between swims and drying off in the warm air and hot sunshine.

Yesterday was a Super U shopping day and a diesel top up.  Super U is one of my favourite French supermarkets; the variety and quality of produce is always good and at a reasonable price, although most supermarkets in France (except Lidl and Aldi) are more expensive than at home.  The pile of live crabs and lobsters on the ice table in the poissoniere section were very tempting, but would be extremely messy to dress in a small campervan!

Last night's park up was on the free aire in Plonévez-Pornay, a few miles inland from the coast.  It has space for about 20 vans on grass, although by the end of the day they were tagging on the ends or any space they could find.  Again, all were French vans except for us.  We've seen very few British vans over the past month, not even many Dutch, who are usually around in large numbers. We took a walk into town to get our bearings, having noticed there would be a market the next morning.  This is the first time a night stop has coincided with a village market, so we were keen to have a look.  The town has all the usual shops, plus some selling Bretagne products to tourists.  I cooked a fish Thai green curry later.

This morning was showery although still warm - in the low 20s - and a couple of times we had to take shelter from heavy downpours at the market.  There were some lovely fruit, vegetables and cheeses on sale, some from local organic producers.  There was also the usual olives and saucisson stall, another selling hot cooked couscous and another selling rottiserie chicken; at €14 per kilogram though it was a bit too pricey for us. We were already topped up with food, so nothing was bought.  

On the way to Trégarvan we visited a couple of beach park ups to see if Salty could have a bit of a run around.  The first now had a sign banning all motorhomes from parking at any time and the second had a sign banning dogs from the beach at any time, so we just headed here instead.  This part of Brittany is very much like Cornwall (and Anglesey), with small fields enclosed by hedgerow and rolling hills.

On arrival I sat on one of the bollards with a pot of tea and just watched the wading birds in the estuary mud and the skies as dark streaks of cloud marked the blue sky.  The tide was on the turn and on its way in. After a quick lunch the idea was to take a walk along the estuary, but we had an hour of very heavy rain, so chilled out in the van instead.

Eventually the rain cleared and we set off along the path running by the estuary.  It took us through temperate rainforest, which was now steamy and humid with the hot sun shining through the greenery as we walked.  Salty managed to get in the flowing stream which runs into the estuary and enjoyed himself pawing at and biting the waterfall!  The route took us up and onto a lane for a circular walk back down into the village and the van.  

Dinner was eaten overlooking the still water of the estuary at high tide and as the sunset, peace and quiet followed.  And what a sunset it was.