The beauty of the Pink Granite Coast

Wednesday 10 July 2019

Nido’s parked up at a free aire in Pleumeur-Bodou, surrounded by several French vans.  It’s a still evening and everyone’s out cooking, chatting or playing board games - it’s a very nice atmosphere.  We’ve had a lovely relaxing day on the beach plus walking around the coastal path and the huge pink granite rocks.

Yesterday morning we left Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile heading north and planning to break our journey at Josselin, a town we’ve stayed in previously.  Still on the island, we stopped to photograph one of the salt pans and buy some of their salt - only €1 per kilo.  We made good time and would have arrived at Josselin around lunchtime, so decided to keep pushing on to get to the pink granite coast of northern Brittany.  So it was a longer travelling day and we arrived at the aire in Trévou-Tréguignec at about 1630.  A beautiful white sandy bay was just across the road, so we were soon changed and legging it across the wet sand to reach the sea at low tide.  The water was a lot cooler than we’ve been used to, fed from the Atlantic, but very refreshing and gin clear.  Wandering back, we noticed a restaurant next to the aire and decided to eat out tonight.  So showered and wearing slightly better clothes than our normal day to day clobber, we managed to bag a table outside.  Cathy had a steak and I had moules-frîtes, both delicious, followed by a creme brûlée and a chocolate pudding, which we shared.  The bottle of Samaur cremant sat outside the van beforehand, white wine with the meal and a couple of rum digestifs meant we were a bit squiffy when we returned to the van and a little less lively than normal this morning!

So this morning, we drove off to find a boulangerie, before heading for a large car park in Trégastel, where we enjoyed our breakfast and a pot of tea.  Lunch made and packed up with a towel, we walked the short distance to the beach.  The pink granite coast is about 22km long and is absolutely stunning.  The rocks have been carved over time into all sorts of shapes, some of several hundred tons seem to balance precariously on others.  We found a spot to spread our blanket and towels on the warm granite and had a beautiful swim in the cool, clear sea.  It had the feel of the Caribbean but also reminded us of the Isle of Mull and, of course, our lovely home island - a bit like Rhoscolyn or Trearddur Bay.  After our swim we took a walk along the coastal path, passing more outstanding sandy beaches and rocky coves.  Our final stop was on another amazing beach where we swam around the huge granite rocks, watching the youngsters tomb-stoning off them into the sea.  All swum-out we both enjoyed a snooze (and no doubt a snore!) on the sandy beach, before slowly heading back to the van.

We stopped off in Tregastel to get some cash and bread before arriving at our current aire.  The Breton language is very different to French - Celtic with more in common with Cornish and, in some cases, Welsh.  We recognised a few similar words to Welsh and noticed many of the roadsigns had been defaced by the Breton National Front (or whatever they call themselves!).  When queuing for the cashpoint I had a chat with an elderly gentleman and when I mentioned I was Gallois (Welsh - I’m not but it’s been fun saying I am!), he was delighted to meet a fellow Celt! 

Dinner tonight was a bavette steak, boiled new potatoes and salad, with a Sablé Breton Caramel cake for pudding - well it is my birthday so we needed some form of cake!  After a very ‘social’ evening last night, I suspect we’ll crash out early.  Tomorrow we start to head east, back towards Calais.

Salt pans on Noirmoutier-en-L'Ile

Trévou beach

Trévou aire

Pink Granite Coast at Tregastel

Fancy a dip?

On Noirmoutier-en-l’île

Monday 8 July 2019

Nido’s parked up at an aire in the north of the island of Noirmoutier-en-L’île, close to the beach.  It’s quite a busy aire and earlier today we were all packed in, awnings partly out to catch some shade, but it’s emptied out a bit now. Even at 9.30pm, it’s still very sunny and warm and an hour ago I was swimming in the sea.

We enjoyed our day on the beach at Saint Vincent-sur-Jard yesterday, taking a picnic and our beach shelter, soaking up some sun and having a cooling dip in the sea.  Mid-afternoon we packed up and headed for an aire at Olonne-sur-Mer.  It was €8 per night including electricity and servicing; on arrival I plugged in and the electric worked straight away. It looked like a couple of vans had been here for a while, so I suspect the tickets aren’t checked by anyone from the Commune.  So I could probably have got away with not buying an aire ticket, but I’m too honest for my own good.  Besides, the village has provided this aire, so I believe in giving something back, paying the fee and using the local shops.  We had good long, hot showers to wash off the salt and sunscreen and I cooked a couple of pork chops on the cardiac, with a salad.  

This morning we woke very early and after breakfast stopped off at the Super-U supermarket for food and diesel.  I’ve noticed food and fuel are much more expensive in France these days and the budget’s taken a bit of a hit, but we have to eat and we have to move!  The drive to the island was about 1.5 hours, heading over a long bridge similar to but smaller than the one over to Ile de Ré.  The island has a feel of a mix of Ile de Ré and Ile d’Oleron, with muddy estuaries where wooden shacks and restaurants are selling the local oysters and mussels, either raw or cooked on the premises.  

Arriving at the aire I, along with a German, a Belgian and even a Frenchman (sounds like the start of a joke) scratched our heads at the payment machine - why do they have to make them so complicated to use?  All worked out in the end and I came away with an overnight ticket until 0900 tomorrow, although parking here during the day is free.  A quick lunch of prawns (always a special and enjoyable treat when in France) and bread, we were changed and walking along the coastal path toward a beach in the distance. The coast directly opposite the aire was rocky, so no chance of a swim there, but it only took about 10 minutes to reach a gap in the rocks and we were soon enjoying the clear, very salty and quite cool sea water.  We walked on to the large sandy beach, which reminded us of parts of Rhosneigr, Rhoscolyn and Trearddur Bay at home - we didn’t need to have come this far after all!

Back at the van, we chilled with a cup of tea before I made us a meal.  Later in the evening we popped down to the beach for another dip before returning to the van to spend the rest of the evening lazing around. We’re both feeling quite tired at the moment.  We’ve been in the sun quite a bit and travelling some distances over the last few days, plus we’ve been waking up early.  Hopefully we’ll catch up on some sleep tonight before heading toward the rose granite coast of north Brittany. 

Noirmoutier aire

Nice spot to sit and eat

The Coasties are back on the beach - and loving it!

Saturday 6 July 2019

Nido’s parked up at an aire in the seaside resort of Saint Vincent-sur-Jard, in the Vendée region. We’ve travelled a long way north since my last post and it’s SO much cooler and more comfortable.  We’ve walked, swam and relaxed more since we arrived late this afternoon than I think we have at any other time during this trip - we belong by the coast!

After leaving Le Malzieu-Ville yesterday, we drove to Vieillevie and stopped at an aire by the river Lot.  It was really still very warm and, despite a quick dip in the river, it wasn’t somewhere to try and cool off, so we decided to move on and keep heading north to escape the heat.  The cab aircon helped as the temperature climbed into the high 30s again.  I’d plugged in a point way up towards Brittany as a point of aim, and when we’d had enough driving, I pulled in and took a look at the Search for Sites and Park4Night apps, to see if any aires were close around us.  I found one in Chirac about 30 minutes away and we eventually parked up in this lovely quiet village, the only ones there.  The aire had a couple of picnic benches outside and some meadow and trees, so plenty of birds and wildlife.  It was still very hot - in the mid-30s at 7pm, so dinner was eaten outside at the picnic table, with a bottle of Languedoc red.  Cathy took a walk around with her camera while I caught up with some Môn SAR emails, sitting outside well into the darkness of the night.

At about 5am the next morning there was a massive storm with almost constant thunder and lightning and heavy rain, but we were safe and dry in the van and both drifted off to sleep again once it moved on.  Once up, we serviced the van and got back on the road.  In the village of Champagne Mouton (what a great name!), we found an excellent artisan boulangerie and I hopped out to buy a breakfast baguette, some bread and a couple of café eclairs - our naughty but nice treat.  There was a lovely little aire in the village so we stopped there for breakfast, before carrying on towards Aulnay, in the Charente region.  Several years ago (probably about 12 or 13 - I can’t remember), we holidayed in Aulnay, in a lovely little one-bedroom gîte with a wonky first floor!  We had a lovely time there so decided to return to the village.  As always, it looked completely different to how we remembered it.  It was stifling hot on the aire - 39’C - so we had a quick cup of tea, keeping the engine running to benefit from the air con, before deciding to punch on north to reach the coast.

This eventually brought us to this aire at Saint Vincent-sur-Jard.  This is very much a seaside holiday town.  The aire has 60 pitches but there were only about 8 vans when we arrived.  I paid the €9.20 fee and we parked up; within ten minutes we were changed, across the road, through the dunes and on the beach!  Although a little cloudy and breezy, the 32’C air temperature felt so comfortable after the stifling heatwave in the south. We so enjoyed that first sea swim in water that, to us, felt quite warm (we swim regularly in the Irish Sea!) but to the locals was decidedly cold.  At least we have a good tan, compared to some on the beach who I guess are on their first outing of the summer.

Back at the van I made some babaganoush and a tomato and garlic sauce to top the sliced bread I bought earlier - a tasty, vegetarian bruschetta meal eaten outside in the warm evening air.  Later we took a long walk along the beach, paddling in the sea and sitting on the sand watching families play, barbecue and enjoy the sunset.  Although a bit breezy, I’m sat outside in the warm air past 10pm, with plenty of light still in the air, listening to the waves crash on the beach.

Our plan over the next few days is to follow the coast slowly up towards Nourmoutier-en-l’Ile and then on into Brittany.  We’re loving being back by the sea.  We’re Coasties - we always have been and we always will be.

Vieillevie aire

Walking down to the River Lot from the aire

All quiet in Chirac

Preparing for dinner on that picnic bench

Breakfast in Champagne-Mouton

On the Beach!

Aire at Saint Vincent-sur-Jard. Beach just over the road

A quiet day in Thérondels

Thursday 4 July 2019

Nido’s parked up at another free aire in the small village of Thérondels. The actual aire’s on a large grass meadow next to the free service point, with views over the surrounding fields and hills.  On arrival we could see the meadow had been cut ready to turn and bale into hay, so not wanting to upset anyone, we parked on the adjacent grassy area by some picnic benches.  It’s a lovely quiet spot in a quintessential French village, which has a friendly feel about it.

This morning was misty and quite cool, so I actually donned a fleece to wander into the village for our bread and croissants.  After breakfast we took a walk around the village, through the three medieval gates in the thick, high walls that protected those inside.  The locals were about their business and the children playing in the school playground, so it was clear this place has a buzzing community.  We enjoyed our walk around the narrow, cobbled streets; remove the cars and cover up a few cables and it would be ready for filming a period medieval drama.  Back at the van, I emptied about a large bucketful of water out of the bottom of my bike cover, soaking my feet in the process, much to the delight of some old French chap passing by - we shared a laugh!  Servicing done we got on our way for the 1.5 hour journey to our current location.

It was hot and sunny so we ate lunch in the shade of the awning and spent the rest of the afternoon just chilling out.  The village dogs (well - three of them) lazily checked us out, walking around the van before flopping in some shade or taking a dip and a drink in the water-filled trough close by.  Cathy wandered around the village pond and wild areas to take some photos and I did a bit of research for our next stop.  She cooked a delicious paella (we brought the paella dish we bought in Barcelona) and after washing up and showers, we joined some of the locals for a perambulation around the village.  The bar/restaurant was open with a few of the old boys sat inside and, although the village shop was closed, it looks like we it may have enough items on our list to allow us to stock up here in the morning.

So not much done today.  I’ve enjoyed watching and listening to the hundreds of swifts flying overhead and, as the sun sets, expect to see the bats out soon.  But the mozzies are also out in force so I may need to retreat inside the van soon!

One of the gates in Le Malzieu-Ville

 

 

What I always wanted!

Another free and peaceful aire all to ourselves

Nido all on his own!

Thunder, lightning and in rain…and some bloody big hailstones too!

Wednesday 3 July 2019

Nido’s parked up at a free aire in the medieval town of Le Malzieu-Ville. It’s a small aire for about four vans, on the side of the road, with easy to use free services. It’s next to a flowing chalk stream and the village pétanque courts in the shade of some trees, although the courts are currently under about a centimetre of rain water after a massive thunderstorm which lasted a couple of hours, complete with hailstones the size of broad beans; the skylights survived but I’ll need to check on the state of the solar panel!

We slept well last night and didn’t wake until about 0845.  It took a while to strike camp, fill up with water and empty the tanks, before stopping at the village boulangerie for a baguette.  I drove us up the route I took on my bike yesterday, until we found a quite place to pull off the road for breakfast.  Cathy cooked the last of our UK bacon with some scrambled eggs, stuffed into a half a baguette and eaten outside in the sunshine with a bit pot of tea - lovely!  There was plenty of butterfly and insect life around to please Cathy and all I could hear was her Nikon D3500 DLSR clicking away!  

Moving on, we had a lovely drive through the countryside and many small hamlets and villages in the Haute-Loire department.  We stopped at a small chapel, with a small well or font outside and handkerchiefs tied to the railings, with the white water river below. The sign says "Fontaine St Méen", which seems to have some connections to a Saint from Normandy who was able to cure the ill and inflicted.  The chapel was small, with bench pews either side and an altar with a guest book and a bible, plus somewhere to light a candle.  A lovely little spot for quiet contemplation.  We also suffered some local commuting traffic - a small herd of cows being moved to new pasture!

We took up the third of four spaces on the aire at Le Malzieu-Ville and sat on a bench by the pétanque courts with a brew, before taking a walk along the river.  We passed the usual excellent communal sports facilities, with tennis courts, well maintained football and rugby pitches and a busy outdoor swimming pool.  The town has lots of medieval features so I’ve read, but with the heavy thunderstorm it’s not been possible to explore yet, so we’ll take a look around tomorrow morning.  I cooked our supper of sauté potatoes, bavette steak and salad, helped along with a bottle of Provence rosé.  We ate outside the van, sat on our chairs on the grass, until we had to retreat inside as the rain and then the large hailstones started.  It was a bit of a worry as the hail become larger and more frequent, but I think the van’s survived.  Cathy enjoyed the loud thunder and bright lightning!  Washed up, showered and another cup of tea down us, the rain has stopped and the van side door is open once more to enjoy the evening air, refreshed by the downpour. 

Breakfast stop

Nothing to do but switch off the engine and let them pass!

 

Just below the chapel

 

Le Malzieu-Ville

They're not going to be playing petanque tonight!

It's cooler up north!

Tuesday 2 July 2019

Nido’s parked up at a municipal campsite on the shore of Lac d’Issarlès, in the top left corner of the Ardeche department, bordering the Haute-Loire department.  We booked in for a couple of nights to escape the heat of the south and to get some laundry done - both accomplished.

The heat of the south coast became too much for us.  Given the exceptional heatwave over the past week, the temperature hadn’t reduced that much and the forecast was for more of the same.  Poor old Nido’s metal skin and insides had heated up, such that everything inside him was redders - cupboards, drawers, bathroom, garage.  We just couldn’t keep cool and Cathy in particular was suffering from heat exhaustion, so we took the decision to move north and leave this area and The Camargue for another time; it’s not going anywhere.  Most times, we’re looking to leave cold, wet weather and find some warm sunshine, but this was the opposite. But that’s the beauty of travelling in a campervan - we can change our plans at the drop of a (very sweaty!) hat.

So this meant a fairly long run of three hours to our current destination. It was a hot journey, but we’d resorted to using the cab aircon to keep us cool.  We stopped at one of the outside laundrettes at a Le Clerc supermarket in Nimes, but it was broken (as were most of the roads for getting in and out of the city!).  We had another hold up not far from here, when a HGV piled high with hay bales realised it would not make it under a bridge.  It pulled over but had no way of turning back or around.  This coupled with roadworks on another bridge soon brought all traffic to a standstill.  There was nothing to do except switch off the engine and watch everyone getting out of their cars to gesticulate or try to unsuccessfully turnaround.  Anyway, the lorry must have found a way out because half an hour later we were on the move again and arrived at the campsite at about 1730.    Checked in, I sussed out the washing machines and we found a suitable pitch and set up camp.  With the first load in, we enjoyed the much cooler air, watching a thunder and lightning storm roll over the hills towards us, which led to some rain later in the night.

This morning I was up early to get the second load of washing in, ready for Cathy to collect and hang out later, before heading out for a bike ride.  The roads around here are excellent for cyclists, with long sweeping hills and some good hairpins.  I was soon puffing up the first of these, but enjoying the views of the rounded wooded hills and valleys and the wild flower meadows.  I rode through some lovely villages, before realising I’d gone about 17 miles and didn’t really know where I was.  The day had started off a bit misty, with some cloud on the hill tops where I was at around 1,000m above sea level, but this burned off to leave a hot sunny day with a nice breeze.  I really enjoyed pushing up the steep roads and then free-wheeling at speed down the hairpin bends.  By this time I was running a bit low on water and hadn’t found any shops to buy a cold drink, and if I had they’d have been shut for a few hours for lunch!  So Google Maps was employed to provide directions back to the campsite.  Mrs Google Maps, however, decided I wasn’t on a road bike and sent me on a short cut across the hills on what started as tarmac, then turned into the sort of white, dusty tracks seen in the Italian Strade Bianche professional races in Tuscany!  This turned into sharp lumps of cinder, so I had no choice but to dismount and walk across about 200m of this, carrying my bike on my shoulder, cycle-cross style, before rejoining a tarmac lane.  An hour later and I was back at the van, where my Soigneur sorted me out with a can of fanta and some food!

I was ready for a swim, so we walked the two minutes down to the lake edge, set up our stuff on the small, sandy beach and enjoyed a refreshing dip in this very large lake.  By now the thunder and lightning was building, and later a few spots of rain.  So back to the van, a long, hot shower in the campsite facilities then an omelette, patisserie and a cup of tea, I’m refreshed - and have probably put back in all the calories I expended on my bike!  A bit of research as to where to head for tomorrow and it looks like directly West, looking to mooch around the The Lot region for a bit.

Nice shady pitch

Up above a village I road through

You want me to cycle up there Mrs Google Maps!?

Nice lake beach

Thunder and lightning starting to build

Made it to The Camargue

Sunday 30 June 2019

Nido’s parked up on a large aire in Fontvieille with only one other van for company in a distant corner and nestled between some trees that provided welcome shade in the late afternoon and early evening, before the sun set.  It’s now 2200 and still 29’C outside.  The air is thick with the sound of crickets and cicadas.  

We enjoyed our last day around the pool at Les Salles-sur-Verdon yesterday and really missed a refreshing dip and snooze on the sunbed today.  On my way back to the van yesterday afternoon, a large A Class motorhome with French plates was parked near us, with two small dogs playing outside.  I went to make friends with them and the owner popped his head out and explained in French that they were calm and friendly. When he saw me walking towards my van he reverted to a broad scouse accent. His name was Gary Rimmer and has lived and worked in France for 30 years, latterly living in the Alps in the small village of La Rochette, near Chambery, not far from where we stayed a week or so ago.  We got chatting (over a pastis!) and he explained he’d decided to try something new, having been a long-distance lorry driver most of his life.  So he sold up, bought the motorhome and has now been full-timing for all of two weeks.  His story about his early years and how he ended up in France was fascinating and we had a good chat late into the evening, having invited him to share our supper of chicken curry, rice and chapatis.  He’s in the process of developing a website to document his travels - happy2dream.com and is also on Facebook and YouTube.  This is all very new to him and he’s not sure where to head (although he loves the mountains so he’ll most likely head for them), so he was interested to learn more about full-timing and what people do.  I suggested a couple of blogs for him to follow.  It was a lovely, funny and interesting evening and he was good company and I’d recommend taking a look at his social media links; he’s already getting loads of interest from followers.

It was very muggy and hot this morning, so we took our time striking camp after breakfast.  Having said goodbye to Gary and the two dogs - Millie and Happy, we hit the road, heading for an aire in Saint-Chamas.  Our route took us through some lovely Provence villages and countryside, with fields of vineyards, lavender and sunflowers and we stopped at a picnic site for a lunch in the shade.  The aire at Saint-Chamas is next to the marina and right on the water’s edge of Etange de Berre, a saltwater lake on the eastern edge of The Camargue.  However, the aire was closed due to road and marina improvements, although we were still able to park up.  It was really hot but there was a good, if warm, breeze blowing off the lake.  The water was warm and a bit ‘syrupy’ with plenty of algae on the bottom and floating around.  It wasn’t that refreshing and the parking spot was in full sun, so we decided to find somewhere with a bit more shade.

This led us to our current spot in Fontvieille, about 500m from the town centre.  The aire’s hemmed in on two sides by steep limestone cliffs, but there’s plenty of trees so we were able to find some well-needed shade.  Cathy had been feeling the effects of the heat today, so she took some cooling down.  We’ve done very little here except try to cool off, take in fluids and chill out.  I’ve cooked supper and we’re now sat looking at a sky turning purple towards the west.  Thankfully there are fewer flies here than in Les Salles-sur-Verdon, so we’re able to sit outside without resorting to the Avon Skin So Soft to keep the blighters at bay!  We haven’t had the energy to explore the old windmills that we can walk to from here, or the town, but may take a look in the morning.

Given it’s still going to be hot for several days at least, I’ve found another wild swimming spot about 40 minutes to the north, so we’ll head there tomorrow for what we hope will be a cooling river swim.  After that perhaps we’ll be refreshed and ready to explore The Camargue.  In the meantime I’m enjoying sitting outside in the late evening, listening to the cicadas in the trees and grass and the swifts calling as they fly above us.

A shady picnic spot in the Provence countryside

Parked up at Plage Des Cabassons - Saint-Chamas

Swimming in salty warm soup!

Fontvieille aire