Tag Archives: France

Verdon and Mont Chiran

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Today we packed some extra clothes and sleep sheets. We were going to be staying out tonight. We were headed to a mountain lodge on top of Mount Chiran. There was a small observatory there where we would be able to observe the stars. The timing was such that the moon would be fairly new. Apparently we should have been there the previous day. Luckily there had been an error in the booking. The previous evening it had been cloudy, and the group who had booked the lodge that night had seen nothing, being covered in cloud. Well, there had been storms during the night. We had seen them and heard them. The new day was bright.

We headed to the Verdon George, stopping near to Blieux to examine some rocks. A short distance nearby was some Marne Bleu and Gres d’Arnot in Barreme flysch sequence. We continued driving East along the D21 and D4085 with views towards Lac de Castillon. In Castellane we turned back West and drove along the Verdon river and D952 stopping for lunch at a Le Mur D’Abeilles. We all had a jolly meal. The views of the gorge from here are fantastic. Several vultures were spotted. None close enough for a decent photograph.

After lunch, we headed to Mont Chiran. The drive was along the D17 road which soon became a dirt track. Somewhere along the D17, we turned off onto a smaller dirt track. Here only one vehicle would proceed, the track was too narrow for the larger van. We headed on up to be dropped near to the top vehicle access point. Van went back to pick up the others. Little known to us the other van was now stuck. the ground had collapsed under its rear wheels. A problem to be solved in the morning.

There was now a trek up the final track to the refuge which was at 1905 meters. The refuge was basic. Two bunk beds per room. There were a shower and toilet to all the rooms to share. They were not operational, no water. There was some basic lighting. The actual loo was a sawdust type loo with a view, perched on the edge of the mountain.

The refuge guardian prepared supper for us. A basic three-course meal, with huge gaps between each course.

The views from the top were gobsmacking, especially as the sun went down. In some of the pictures looking East you can see the shadow of the Earth which gives you the red and blue curved lighting effect.

After supper, some of us went to the observatory where we viewed the moon and various planets. Jupiter & Saturn were visible.

The Pelvoux Massif and Variscan sheeted dyke complex

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Left our campervan at 9.00 and walked up to the road to await the vans. Today we were heading North to the Ecrins National Park. We even took the peage today. Our guides had previously staged clear of it. Stopped at the final peage for a loo break. Then another drive into the mountains.

First, we stopped near to Pouillardencq on the D57 where we photographed the distant mountains. Back in the van for a few miles.

We stopped along the D985A near to Saint-Firmin and donned our Gillet Jaunes to view exposed outcrops of rock. One French driver asked us what the demonstration was about! We were able to see dykes. I think it’s amazing to think this area was under the sea, R not so amazed. These Dolerites were fine-grained and made up of hundreds of sheets with thicknesses from 50cm to two meters. Doleritic rocks of this grain size are constructed from numerous small dykes in the Oceanic crust.

We moved off to a river for lunch and then examined the metamorphosed granites. I built a rock pile, which was knocked down by Donny, our geology expert. It was built on one of his prized exhibits, an Augen Gneiss. Augen, from the German meaning eyes, is a coarse-grained gneiss resulting from metamorphism of granite, which contains characteristic elliptic or lenticular shear-bound feldspar porphyroblasts, normally microcline, within the layering of the quartz, biotite and magnetite bands.

We revisited the road stopping place once more for some more viewing. Managed to spot a small wasps nest.

It was back to Wiz for supper where we had a Pastis tasting evening. As the evening came to an end, a storm approached. Lovely displays of lightning and thunder. We were back in the van before the rain came, though we were met by the rain on the trip back from the loo.

Digne Les Bain and the Esclangon

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Left the campsite on foot at 7.40, and were picked up on the main road at the top of Mallefougasse. Our first stop of the day was just outside Digne to see some ammonite fossils. These were right beside the road in a layer of Jurassic mudrocks. You could see several layers, only one layer has these large ammonite fossils. The Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation was spectacular.

From here we drove up a spectacular valley with windy roads, steep valley sides. We were aiming to get to the start of the walk up to the abandoned village of Esclangon and beyond, to a view of the “Velodrome”. A few miles before we reached the point, there was a roadblock. Road workers were working on stabilising the cliffs. A discussion was held, and the road was going to be opened during their lunch break. Luckily this was not an issue, as we were also due to stop at the modern village of Esclangon, a couple of miles back.

Here we parked and walked to see some rock outcrops in the nearby woods. In the area, we found some special rock called Carngeules. These are originally are evaporites, which are very weak rocks, and are often exploited by thrusts. Also in the distance, we saw a row of pinnacles.

Back in the vans we were now able to head through the roadblock and stop at the bottom of the walk up to Esclangon. Before we started the walk up, we headed along the road to look at the formidable cliffs. Here we were at the base of the Tertiary, and some Jurassic limestone.

It was now a walk-up, first to the old village where we ate out packed lunch. There was a church here and a closed art exhibition. Also nearby was the original open washing area. We continued the walk up to a pinnacle where there is the viewpoint for the Velodrome. The viewpoint has a spectacular view of the valley and rock outcrops. The view shows an entire sedimentary sequence which is deformed by a very large recumbent syncline and is cut by a major thrust. Apparently it is one of the best exposed, easily accessible and largest tectonic folds to be seen anywhere in the world.

Now it was time to amble back down the path, and back into the vans. It was late enough for the road workers to have finished work and the road was open. Back at Les Mees, one van stayed there for drinks, while others headed back. We headed back as we had to move and I wanted to do it in the daylight.

At our campsite, we packed up, I showered. We were given some of our camping fees back. The French guides then escorted us to our new spot nearer to Cruis. We would be camping in the garden of a gite Mas des Grailles. This was owned by A french man and his English wife who was the translator for the group. The visitor part of the gite was not in use, so we could use the loos and shower. We were also plugged into their electricity.

The journey to supper and back was now a lot quicker, though still had to be done by van. Three course supper based around pasta and an aubergine accompaniment, and lots of wine.

Back at the gite we duly met the dog (a ridgeback) and the cat (black). These had a totally free range. It was disconcerting walking to the loo, you passed the dog in its bed. It totally ignored you.

France and Mallefougasse-Augès

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In the morning all the men had left from the chalet. The residents of the ridge tents had also left, leaving a couple behind to strike camp and pack away the kitchen, presumably they would make camp at the destination of the cyclists. 

Today we were moving on down south to where our geology course was taking place. All the others on the course were staying in gites in the village of Cruis. They were in walking distance of where our evening meal was being served. We were going to be camping in the next village along called Mallefougasse. This had been agreed, and we would be picked up before supper, and dropped off there afterwards.

We managed to pack away and head off before 10, down South. The road out of Vizelle was a long uphill road. It banned buses and trucks over 7.5 tonnes from coming down. The views were quite spectacular, but peculiar seeing signposts to Vizelle in the direction we were heading. We stopped off at Gap to do some shopping at an Auchen Drive. Large supermarket, and also parking on more than one level. Walking back to Morrison we were concerned to see a woman randomly driving around in one of those small French cars you can drive without a licence. She seemed to be clueless and we did become concerned with the safety of our van.

We continued down past Sisteron on the toll road and turned off at Espace Saint-Pierre and headed to Mallefougasse on a twisty up and down road. Arrived on to our campsite Camping Lou Pebre D’Ail. Fairly basic, a few static caravans and a couple of motor homes turned up after us. There was a group of pylon painters on site. They would leave early in the morning and come back in the evening after dark to eat and drink.

The ‘madame’ was not on-site, we phoned a couple of numbers and were told to settle in and they would come and collect the money. We paid for the eight nights we were going to stay.

The next day we read our geology books, had a lazy day and walked around the local village of Mallefougasse. It was a very small village, did have a restaurant, but don’t know if it was closed or open. There was also a church with some fascinating bells. Despite being small, the village had a Marie, a football pitch and a large recycling area.

In the evening we were picked up by Wiz, and whisked to her house in the next-door village. She was providing the evening meals and our packed lunched. At her house we met the other members of the Geology Society, plus friends Viv & Bill, had some preprandial drinks and a fine meal with wine. I enjoyed Wiz’s Provence inspired cooking, many of the ingredients coming from her gardens, or deposited by a local hunter.

At witching hour we were driven home by one of the French guides. I did sense there might be an issue on our drive back.

France and Vizelle

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We packed up just before the rain came in, and headed off down south to Vizille. This is about halfway between Bonlieux and our geology trip destination.  We drove along mainly departmental roads and got a little fed up with the constant roundabouts and slow-moving traffic. At this campsite seems google wanted to take us up a one-way street the wrong way, so ended up driving into Vizelle town and back out on another road to the campsite. Being the end of the season, half the site was closed, including one shower block and the restaurant. This site has many small chalets around the edge of the site, a disease taking hold on more and more French campsites. Thought we were going to be disturbed by one chalet where there seemed to be a group of young men who talked quite loudly. They seemed to go quiet very quickly.  Masses of rain during the night, and early morning.

Wednesday 25th

Rain eased off and we walked into town carrying our wet weather gear. Not needed as the sun came out and it became warm. We visited the Museum of the French Revolution in the town’s chateau. Vizelle apparently was the centre of the early part of the revolution and provided a safe place for meetings after the Day of the Tiles in nearby Grenoble. Lunchtime came and we were expelled from the museum. Interestingly, only a one hour lunch. Ate lunch at a small café outside the museum. After lunch a walk around the formal gardens of the chateau. Some odd art structures in the gardens. Plenty of birds on the lakes.

The actual town appeared to be rather closed, several restaurants did not open and many shops looked shut.

Our men in the chalet again quiet after most disappeared in the evening. But at 2.30 am they re-appeared and had loud conversations for the next hour or so.  Still, they were up early in the morning to go off to whatever job they had.

Thursday 26th

A sunny day ahead of us, so this time we did not take any wet weather gear with us. We went to the chateau gardens, but this time into the wilder part, following the rivers up the garden all the way to the deer park. The chateau gardens, both formal and wild are a formidable resource for the town. People out jogging, walking, sitting etc.  Watched the deer, and then walked back to the chateau and another restaurant for lunch. Again had a formula meal, this time three-course lunch. 

After lunch we went to sit in the formal park near the water to watch the ducks, geese, swans (including a black swan) and the fish.  Oh and a little snooze.

Back at the campsite, a number of ridge tents had been erected and a large number of people were there. It seemed to be an organised cycling group, with lots of small tents and one large central cooking team. Our men were quiet tonight, going to bed shortly after dark.

France and the Jura

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Thursday 19th

Set up the day before, so off at 6.30, a very good journey around M25, except for the bit before the bridge where it becomes the A282. A good pub quiz question. Does the M25 circumvent London? No there is a gap at the Dartford crossing where the M25 becomes the A282. Arrived at the terminal, hoping to be put on an earlier crossing. No luck, very busy there with loads of tour buses, and yes the crossings were also all delayed by 30 minutes. This time, we ate breakfast in the van and did not pay the exorbitant prices in the terminal. At security, we were grouped into 6-8 vehicles and made to wait. Our steering wheel was swabbed, and security staff wearing white gloves went by each car touching every door handle. The gloves were taken away for analysis, and then, after presumably passing the explosives test, the whole group of cars was allowed to proceed. This was the first time crossing the channel I have encountered this procedure.

Arriving in France it was cloudy. Soon brightened up as we headed inland. Our intention was to drive to the East and not travel too far South. The weather down South was pants. We would remain in the Jura for a few days and then head south when the weather conditions reversed. This trip we were driving on the toll roads to make fast progress.

Our first stop was at Châlons-en-Champagne in the municipal site. There were warnings in the ACSI guide about rowdy grape pickers. Indeed there were many Polish grape pickers there. Half the site was allocated to their tents and canteen. We never did hear them, though a few of them brightened up the campsite. (We failed to spot any nearby grapevines.)

I had intended to drive farther, but R does not like arriving later than 6. After setting up we had a chat with our neighbours. They turned out to be a British couple who drive over here every few months to buy Champagne from a small producer. They were very cagey about who the producer was. They also warned us about the honey seller who dutifully arrived to sell his jars of honey. We were able to sit outside for supper, and after dark. It was not totally freezing. Oddly enough, Mrs Neighbour professed great interest in geology and hence our proposed expedition.

After sunset, we walked to the pond, listened to the bats on the bat-detector and watched them feeding.

Friday 20th

We were off to the Jura today.  Most of the drive was on the AutoRoute. Stopped off for lunch at an Aire. This time quite a clean place. Ate our sandwiches in the sun. At around Dijon, we headed East towards the Jura. Stopped at an Intermarche to fill up and buy some food. There was a good display of local produce and some quite tasty Jura fizz. Much to R’s surprise she found some glasses that she had bought on a visit a few years ago, but had failed to find since. Possibly because she’d never look in an Intermarche?? She bought another set, but wondered afterwards whether she should have bought two sets.

Arrived mid-afternoon at the campsite in  Bonlieux. The reception was closed with a notice to visit the restaurant outside the campsite. Checked in at the restaurant. The site was on a slope, but nicely terraced. Each pitch had its own hedge with a large tree in the border for shade. The tree was not so useful for those who tried to tune in to satellite TV! Quite private, but not claustrophobic. Sunny weather still. Mobile phone connection is rubbish here, and data downloads almost non-existent during the day. Early morning and after 9.00 in the evening, not so bad.

We camped at the bottom of the site, with a walk-up some steps to get to the loos and showers. We are due to stay here for a couple of days, until the weather breaks.

Saturday 21st.

Today we went for a walk. Decided to do the Hedgehog Falls. In French, it sounds sexier, Cascades Du Hérisson. Seems like there is a circuitous route to take.  We started off walking on the road (2K), before turning off onto a track to the top of the falls (2K). The Hedgehog Falls are a series of six waterfalls which you can walk down alongside. The pictures in the leaflet and on the web show some spectacular falls. For us, they were not spectacular at all. The first fall, I had to walk right up to before I saw it. The trickle of water falling down was almost invisible. On our walk down, R was accosted by a young lad who showed her Wikipedia images of the falls as they should be. We were all disappointed. Still, we met a group of photographers on the walk down. I suppose we were at the wrong end of a dry summer, so could not expect to see a full-flowing river.

We saw a man cycling up a portion of the path leaving markers for the next day’s triathlon. R gave me a look to warn me not to move any markers.

We also saw a couple of dippers on the walk down.

Still, the trek was enjoyable, down through wooded areas with a sometimes steep path down. We arrived at the bottom and then tried to find the way out. Nope, there was no way out on foot, other than back the way we came. Yes, there had been a path signposted Bonlieux, but it had a notice saying it was closed.

R was daunted by the prospect of walking all the way back UP the falls (it had taken 4 hours to get down). So I decided to be chivalrous and leave her (temporarily!). I raced back up the falls, the road and to the campsite. Back at the van, I removed the canopy, lowered the roof and made sure there was nothing likely to fall off the shelves and drove off to pick her up. This is where things went wrong. The internet connection was so bad, I could not get Google Maps to plot me a route. I had to drive with my eyes on the map, went wrong several times and took almost as long to drive to her as it had taken to walk up. Oh, the walking route was a little over 6K, the drive to the bottom of the falls was over 20K.

Sunday 22nd

Today was meant to be a rainy day, but it seems overnight the forecast had changed and the wet weather was back a few hours. The morning was spent lounging around in the sun finishing books. After a small lunch, I headed out for a quick walk around the local lake. This lake feeds the Hedgehog Falls. Many small fishing/rowing boats were moored in the lake. Very wooded around the lake and forestry tracks travelling for miles. Lovely marked tracks ideal for off-road biking along well-made tracks.  Saw several small red dragonflies on the walk. Back at campsite some small brown damselflies. After a 5-mile walk, still no rain.

Managed to cook supper and eat outside. Just as we were clearing away the rain came in, and now likely to be persistent all night until midday tomorrow.

Monday 23rd

Not much done today, we did walk into the local village of Bonlieux. Everything closed up. The bar/restaurant was closed. A typical rural French ghost village. Last night our bins had been raided by some predator with paws.  It could not open the sealed bin but had distributed the contents of a plastic bag around the inside of the canopy.

Tonight as we were leaving, we had taken the canopy down in the dry, so most of the waste had been thrown out. But during the night we heard the small bin being moved around again. I bravely and quickly opened the van door and spotted a fox running off into the hedge. The waste bin, still unopened was now several meters away with a slightly chewed handle.

Camping at Eve near to Sainte Nazaire

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Saturday May 18th at Camping Eve

Dried up now, so was able to pack away the awning in the dry. Our VW van neighbours also packed up and left. The mother and son opposite with the Tesla X car were staying on for several days. We had a brief tour of her car which she was very proud of. She relayed the issues at the Tunnel exit in England where there are several Tesla chargers, but you can charge only when going from England to France, and not the other way around. She had to be escorted especially through the barriers to be allowed to charge.

We arrived in Sainte Nazaire and stayed at the Eve camping site. Cheapest campsite yet at 16 Euro including electricity. Not quite what I expected. It seemed busy, even for a weekend, but there were so many chalets and little camping. Camping was all mainly on a slope. Because of the slope, we set up the awning, now nicknamed ‘the shed’, on its own, .

We did a quick walk down to the beach, to which the campsite had its own access tunnel under the road.

In the campsite cafe/bar, there was a stage. During the evening there was an entertainer followed by a disco which went on to 10.30, After that, I could hear quieter music, including great English classics from Pink Floyd, must have been a couple of bikers camping a few pitches up. 

Sunday May 19th Saint Nazaire

The reason for coming to Saint Nazaire was to see the old German submarine basin. We drove in and parked. Seemed very easy to do, lots of free parking everywhere. A huge Tintin painting greeted us. We later spotted another. Seems Tintin et al boarded a liner here in “The Seven Crystal Balls”, a book I do not own, but will be remedying the defect very soon. In fact, there was even, at certain times of the year, a Tintin walking tour.

The submarine block has been converted into offices and entertainment areas. There was a boxing ring and match going on in one area. We bought a ticket which included four exhibitions.

Escal’Atlantic

An exhibition of the cross Atlantic liners from the 1880s to the 1960s, which St Nazaire had once built. You walked up & along a gangplank, then into the “liner”, walking from room to room looking at the cabins, the view from the stern, the staterooms, the lower deck cabins, kitchens, engine room, the deck and bar. Very cleverly designed & built. We were caught by the French lunch and were told we had only another 20 minutes left and had to hurry through the last part of the exhibition.  If you are there, it is well worth visiting. As you exit there is a bar where cocktails are on sale, alas missed these as we were herded through a theatre to watch a film, and then into lifeboats to be lowered to the ground level where we exited through the gift shop.

Submarine Espadon

We then walked over to the fortified lock where the other exhibitions were. Here we went onto the roof with good views of the shipbuilding, several cruise liners in the process of being fitted out. Also saw one of those artistic paint jobs where you stand in one place for all the paint lines to join up in one grand design. Probably as not as impressive as last year’s at Carcassonne, but still very neat. This artistic design is permanent.

Watched a fishing boat go through a lock, and the bridge swing open. A man was standing on the bridge photographing the fishing boat, totally oblivious to the bells ringing. He was told by someone on the bank to get off. He moved off just as the harbour master came out of his control cabin to shout at him.

Now it was 2pm, ie after lunch, so we made our way to see the submarine. It was a French submarine, built after the war based on the German U boat design. It was preserved for viewing as it was the first French submarine to break through the ice of the North Pole.  Well, work viewing, seeing the cramped space. Interesting to see the periscopes were viewed from the conning tower, where you could hardly stand more than a couple of people. Not at all like in the films.

EOL Centre Eolien

An exhibition about offshore wind farms. Started off with the history of electricity and its usage in France, then onto the building of the wind farms of Saint Nazaire. Sixty 8 Megawatt turbines.  Ah well in the UK we are well ahead of this with many sites with far more turbines and even larger ones coming online.  What the French do well is produce these little exhibitions and tell everyone how well they are doing. Rosemary impressed by one part of the exhibit where you could listen to various professionals involved in the build. All in French, but the impressive aspect was the number of females.

Ecomusee de Sainte Nazaire

The final museum was the history of the area. Some prehistoric, but soon went into the industrial age, and shipbuilding. Unfortunately all in French. Also a lot about the aircraft they built before and after the war which was mainly seaplanes. Of course, Saint Nazaire builds the fuselage for Airbus.

The disappointment for me was that was not to be here on a Wednesday where there are tours of the Airbus factory and cruise line shipbuilding. Will put these on a to-do list when we are next passing through France.

Back to Morrison, and to the campsite. On the way, we stopped at a Dolmen in the city, Dolmen des Trois Pierres. At the campsite, we had time to cook and eat a nice late evening stew.

Monday May 20th Meeting Monsieur Hulot

Lazy day today. We had thought of going to see some archaeological sites, but these are closed until July. Thankfully some kind soul had written a review on google and photographed the entry sign. Looking at their website you would have gone and been disappointed.

So instead we were having a lazy day. The campsite is deserted, we tried for a mid-morning coffee, but the bar was closed (despite the people standing inside drinking coffee). So to google maps, where I spotted a nice place nearby in the village of Page de Saint-Marc. Coffee and beers at the Bar Le Phil’Good and then photographs of Monsieur Hulot. Walked on the Plage de Monsieur Hulot. Then it was back to our beach which was being resculptured with two diggers. Ready for the season. Then we discovered the beach was actually closed. We had come in a back way.

Lunch in the van, reading and writing blogs. R had spotted several white cats with a variety of different coloured tales – tabby, black, whatever. A beagle was roaming free and seemingly not owned by people on the site. A scurry in the bushes caused R to wonder if the dog had found a cat. But no, a beautiful tabby emerged. His head was at an odd angle, a result of the goldfinch in his mouth. Not a busy day.

Tuesday May 21st Le Bec Hellouin

Packed up. The Shed was not entirely dry as there was fog this morning. You could hear fog horns out to see in the Loire Estuary. We packed up and left. First stop was a mound, Tumulus Dissignac, a few miles away. Yes, it was closed as the Google Local Guides had indicated.  Photo from the outside, and then on to ‘La Roche aux Fées’  Oh oh, inundated with French school children who at least were lingering over lunch and playing in a field. So we were able to walk around unobstructed.

Back on the road, stopping at a Super U to buy some Jack Daniels and Ricard, and then on to Le Bec Hellouin where we arrived at 6.00.  Moules for supper.  The campsite was pretty full.

Wednesday May 22nd Home

Final drive to the tunnel, where we arrived several hours before our departure time. We were offered and accepted a crossing an hour earlier than our booked one. The trip home was “relatively” painless, the usual slow down to cross the Thames, and unfortunately arrived at Aylesbury for 6, so a long queue getting into town.

Camping de la Baie in La Trinite-sur-Mer

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Tuesday, May 14th 2019 Carnac

It was a pity to leave, a lovely campsite, but we decided to head on off.

Packed away a dry canopy and off we were to Carnac. First stop was the stones, here we took a 40-minute tour ride, passing the stones and then a circuit around the coast pointing out the historic and a few more prehistoric sites.  Picnic lunch at the site, and then a walk around the nearby stones. You don’t have access to the stones, you have to look at them from behind a fence, a bit like Stonehenge. But so many, many standing stones!

Stopped at the SuperU for some beer, wine and food, and then onto our campsite. Nice pitches, but all a bit busier than we have encountered. The first time we have had to pay an extra Euro for 10 Amp, above the all-inclusive ACSI rate. Also had to use the ‘French adapter’. Didn’t know they still used them over here. Also, Madam had to come and connect you. Ho hum.

Steak for supper, much better than the restaurant steak. I do cook a mean steak, or so I am told.

Took a walk down to the beach for the sunset, alas it was over, and too far around over the land. Nice beach, sand and rocks. Must investigate the restaurant and bar later.

Hopefully tomorrow we will walk around to the harbour where there are over 1000 yachts. Biggest marina in France.

Wednesday, May 15th 2019 La Trinite-sur-Mer

Sunny day, better than forecast. Some wonderful Mare’s tails (Alto Cirrus Clouds) in the sky. Beautiful, but a precursor to cloudy days.

Morning walk along the beach and around the headland to the other beach and back to the campsite. Passed by one thatched house, very close to the sea. Very cute, but thatched near the sea? The beach, as I already mentioned is quite pretty, a mixture of sand and rocks. Lots of natural oysters were embedded into the rocks. Inviting bar and café overlooking the beach, the menu contains Moules, so hopefully will be some tomorrow for a meal.

Lunch back at the campsite, English cheddar cheese and a bottle of Adnams. Very French! 

I went for a walk to the yacht basin. Apparently the biggest in France. Some huge trimarans. On the quay were notice boards giving information about each of the boats and their skippers.

Back at the campsite, tea and then the duck breast (aka Magret de Canard) and “chips”. Had a starter of stuffed vine leaves, wanted somewhere to put the excess duck fat to freeze, so the vine leaves tin came in handy. Of course, some of the duck fat was used to fry the parboiled potatoes while the duck was resting.

One lot of rather noisy campers.

Thursday, May 16th 2019 Camping

Woke up to a cloudy day. Despite the no-rain predictions of the day before, today predicted some precipitation. This caused R to take rucksack and waterproofs. S pooh-poohed this and was proved correct, no rain.  Morning meander along the beach towards Carnac, then inland to see the nature reserve and the renovated salt pans. Who would consider eating that black looking salt when you can buy pure salt easy flowing salt for a hundredth of the price? Especially when you see the sea birds nesting in the nearby lakes. Maybe the salt tastes fishy?

Back at the campsite, the noisy Belgians were packing up. Hopefully a quieter evening. How can people have so much to say at such a loud volume?

We got to see the inside of our new neighbours’ campervan. A German couple with a VW. Same popup roof as ours. They bought it from a company near Stuttgart which buys VW vans and sends them to Poland to be converted. Nice to see some real wood in their van.  They had incorporated a hand shower at the back and an emergency loo. The lady had made an external shower curtain which hung off the tailgate when in use. Could not understand why anyone would want a cold shower when there are hot ones available, but who knows. Their van seemed to have more room for packing in stuff. They slept upstairs, though they could also do so downstairs. I think the answer to storage is many European conversions is to raise the height of the bed, to increase storage underneath. This does mean sleeping downstairs when the roof is down, could be claustrophobic.

Watched a small lizard whizz around at high speed where he intercepted another lizard on a similar outing, a quick tussle and they went their own ways. No idea if it was a fight or l’amour.

Lunch of bread, cheddar and Cornichons, then a walk around the lake and some birding.

The local birds at the campsite are very friendly, hop around your pitch and come very close. A female blackbird keeps offering me a beak full of worms, she even establishes eye contact and cocks her head. I have declined. A jay came down to take R’s apple core and I could have easily touched it. R thinks the goldfinches etc look thinner (sleeker?) than ours. Perhaps these migrate?

Supper was pasta with a sauce of tuna, onions, pepper and pesto.

A new Dutch camping neighbour arrived this afternoon, driving a Tesla X. I think she runs a business because she was always on the phone in several languages. Anyway, I have been invited to look around her car.

Friday, May 17th 2019 Lunch out

A quiet day, slow start and then went for lunch at the local beach restaurant. Quite a nice meal. I started with six Oysters, and then a plate of Sardines and potatoes. To finish a crepe called ‘The Beach’ I suppose it was meant to look like a beach, Chantilly cream, nuts, ice cream and a gooey sweet mix. Lovely. Rosemary had a sweet and sour salad, followed by cod stuffed with bacon and leeks, with a cream sauce. Her dessert was a chocolate mousse served in a full-size Bonne Maman jar! Rather more than she expected. The meal was swilled down with beers. We now have a loyalty card, so have to go there next season!

Afterwards, we went bird watching on the salt making areas. This time we watched the mating ritual of some Common Terns. Didn’t understand the fish offering, nobody came for it for ages, and when they did, off went the receiver of the gift, leaving the giver on his own. All very strange.

Back at the van, the rain came in as a light drizzle.

Castel Camping de l’Orangerie de Lanniron in Quimper

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Friday, May 12th 2019 Camping l’Orangerie de Lanniron

Another sunny day, we packed up the tent and moved on to Quimper.  Selected an called Castel camping l’Orangerie de Lanniron near to the centre of Quimper. It is set in the grounds of chateaux, (not up to Rosemary’s exacting standards, cos no turrets) overlooking the river Odet, which at low tide is a mud flat. Good grounds, with, I am told, rhododendrons, azaleas & camellias.

Large campsite with gites and a huge camping area. There is also a 9-hole golf course and a couple of restaurants, épiceries and a swimming pool. Alas, out of season most of this was closed, though the bar and restaurant near the entry are open, probably because of the golf course. A couple of weddings were underway in the grounds when we arrived. Expected lots of loud disco music into the late evening, but no, it was all packed up and gone by late afternoon.

The grounds are gorgeous, trees, flowers, birds and open spaces. R says not as claustrophobic as the previous campsite. There should be a 2K walk into the centre of the city which misses the main road in. We shall see tomorrow. Reckon we have struck lucky here, lots of bird song, and relatively quiet despite being near to the main roads. There was so much blossom and flowers. Very tranquil.

The afternoon was warm, T-shirt weather. Cooked alfresco and ate outside. Still writing this outside at 9.30 as the sun is setting and still not cold. Makes a change from a few days ago. Will it be cold tonight?  Last night was, could have done with the thicker duvet.

Saturday, 13th 2019 Camping l’Orangerie de Lanniron

Hurrah, another Sunny day, walked into Quimper. The gate to the footpath was closed, so had to walk quite a long distance to the campsite exit, and then double back along the outside fence. Yes, this was quite an extra walk as this campsite is very large. The footpath then headed down a leafy lane towards the city, under a road and then alongside some city gardens. There was also a field with named Breton rare breed cattle.  

First stop was the bar for a drink of beer. Downmarket bar, part of a Tabac. R, after she went to the loo, decided women weren’t encouraged to drink here. Then on to the tourist bit, cathedrals shops and lunch. The disappointment of the day was lunch, ordered a steak rare and it came out tough and overcooked. Long walk back to the campsite. Did my heart paces, steps and move minutes today. Supper was purchased on the way back at a small supermarket. R had not written a shopping list, so much was forgotten.

At the campsite, we did a final walk around, found the ‘canal’, which did have a load of midgies, and some toads making the most goddamn awful racket. Could not think what it was to start with. A nice place.

Camping de L’ile Verte in Saint-Benoit-des-Ondes

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Thursday, May 9th 2019 Neolithic sites and Saint-Benoit-des-Ondes

Packed away in the dry, not a lot to do as no awning to pack. We backtracked to see a couple of Neolithic sites, before heading on to our next overnight stop.

The first Neolithic site was La Pierre Toureresse, a 25-minute drive. Google took us down a residential road to a field and wanted us to continue on an agricultural road where, according to a sign, only farm vehicles were allowed. We stopped, parked and walked down the track. After a few hundred meters we came to the site. The site had been excavated and documented. Not a great amount to see and we were soon on our way. No signs to the site.

The second Neolithic site was the Tumulus de Colombiers-sur-Seulles, a further fifteen-minute drive. This was a larger site with a large barrow. There was a small car park off the side of the road where we parked safely. Then we could walk a few meters to see the barrow. An earth mound with a lot of neatly placed stones at the base. A lot of reconstruction had been done to make it look like how the archaeologists think it should be. Some explanatory notes and also a reconstruction of a Neolithic dwelling (or shed).

We drove to the coast at Arromanches-les-Bains and sat at the cliff top to eat lunch and look out at the sea at the remains of Mulberry harbours built during the D-day landings. It is so sad, but amazing how quickly these engineering achievements were built during wartime.

Headed on to our new campsite in Saint-Benoit-des-Ondes, passing around Bayeux. Before we arrived at the campsite we visited our third archaeological site of the day, called d’Outre-Tombes. This one again Google wanted to take us up some rather grassy uphill roads. We ignored these and found a road which was signposted, metaled but narrow.  Again a not impressive array of stones, which did not correspond to the map. Presumably, because the French had used this site to demonstrate the way stones could be moved without machinery. One stone had the following notice on it. 11 Juillet 1999 a l’aide de cordes, 173 personnes ont deplace a la force de leurs bras, ce bloc de granit de 31.5 tonnes, sur une distance de 13.11 meters. A second block had: Juillet 2000 l’equipe de ‘C’est pas sorcier’ est venue filmer por la television, la technique de levage de ce menhir.  All I can say is in 6000 years some archaeologists excavating the site will be confused by the locations of the stones.

Arrived at the campsite Camping de L’ile Verte in Saint-Benoit-des-Ondes, erected awning, achieved an impressive time for this, and then went for a walk. The campsite had nice large pitches with high hedges. Made for privacy, but R was claustrophobic. The site road was narrow, and the hedges went to the road which did make parking and positioning a tad difficult, especially with the caravan across the way having its towing hook almost on the road.

During our walk, we noticed a few restaurants and oyster outlets. The place selling oysters had its own washing tanks and large arrays of oysters in tanks of water. Impressive. Could not understand why there was no security over the tanks.

Friday, May 10th 2019 St Malo and Cancale

Today was meant to be a wet day. Stayed dry for longer than expected. We travelled to St Malo to fuel Morrison. Down to his last 70 miles, he had done well with 644 miles on the one tank of fuel from the UK. 111 Euros spent and he was replenished. The supermarket was huge, R bought herself a sweater, so was now warm. Can’t say the vegetable counter was any good, so little choice. Also, the cheese counters seem to have shrunk from what they used to be. A few ingredients for meals purchased.

We then attempted to park in St Malo by the docks but failed in this endeavour. All carparks have a 1.90-meter height restriction, and most parking on the street required payment at meters and we had no coins.

We gave up and went for a drive around the headland and back to the campsite. Stopped at a nice beach called Plage de la Varde , ate lunch and managed a walk, and then down came the rain. Continued to Cancale and looked at the hundreds of fruits de mer shops.  Back at the campsite supper and then the rain all night long.

Saturday, May 11th 2019 Lunch out in Saint-Benoit-des-Ondes

The ground outside was very soggy after the overnight rain. Slow getting up, waiting for the sun to show behind the clouds. Went for a walk along the shore, investigating the restaurants. We eventually chose the nearest, called Carte Sur Table. Quite a nice looking restaurant inside. It does have two outside areas for dining. The front terrace and the garden terrace at the back. We chose to dine inside as it was not yet warm. Unfortunately, when we entered we were the sole dines, though a few more turned up later.

An Amuse Bouche was immediately presented. It was very tasty cold mushroom soup.

 I chose Oysters to start with, and Rosemary a salad. Her salad was huge, while I received more oysters then I thought were arriving. Oysters were predictably lovely.

For the mains, I chose John Dory. John was quite large and was presented with potatoes, cauliflower and carrots with a sauce on the side. R started with a salad (again!), followed by cod stuffed with leeks and bacon in cream sauce. For the end, R went for some vanilla ice-cream, while I had a selection of smelly, local cheeses.

The afternoon was predictable spent snoozing in the warmth of the canopy. A quick walk by Steve to earn his Heart Points.