Le Pouldu

It seems that we are having similar weather to home - it turned quite cold on Monday with lots of heavy showers. So we moved on and spent some time in Hennebont - an attractive little town but with hardly anybody about in the grotty weather. But it was our day for a meal out and found a delightful little restaurant where we enjoyed the menu du jour. We actually heard English voices for the first time - at the next table were 2 English chaps being entertained by 2 French ones - a business lunch. We are managing with our limited language, making ourselves understood pretty well - we are a bit of a double act as I can quite often get the gist of what is being said and John can put an answer together quicker than I can!
After lunch we went for a stroll in their lovely park - not really the best conditions for a g-hunt but would you believe it - we actually found all the clues (except one which we were able to guess) and work out where the treasure was to be found - all in the pouring rain! Funny we didn't see anyone else in the park that day - can't think why! A swan was sitting on its nest, strangely very close to the edge of the park and the road.

And so to Le Pouldu - what a beautiful place - a seaside town with a big sandy bay but also a little cove beside the rocks and a tiny harbour. This smaller bay is 250m from our campsite. Decided to stay a bit longer here in the hope that the weather would improve.


It rained quite a bit more on and off yesterday too, so we did some shopping in Quimperle and had a walk by the Riviere Laita. By the evening it was all sunshine again so down to the beach for a photo or two.


Off for a coastal walk today as it is a lot brighter this morning.
Talk again soon .....

Plouharnel

As it has been several days since we had opportunity to blog, we have quite a lot to catch up on this afternoon. As we write, I realise that the St. George's Day Parade should be happening right now! Here it is sunny, but not very warm today, so hope it is dry in Horsham this afternoon.
Back to Wednesday - we drove all of 11 miles to our next stop! Found the most beautiful campsite at Penboch, with a huge pitch surrounded by clipped hedges with a view towards the Gulf of Morbihan, just waiting for us. A lovely walk on the coast path under ancient pine trees - met a large group of walkers going the other way - could they be the local Health Walkers? The site also has a covered swimming pool, so we took advantage of that too. We had bought some fish in Vannes, so John was happy to be cooking his first barbecue of the season.
Got the bikes off the back of the van the next morning for a ride around the Pointe d'Arradon with its magnificent views across the Gulf and then back 'home' for another dip in the pool.
Friday - on our drive west from Penboch we stopped off at 'La Trinitaine' - we had read about this factory and its many shopping opportunities around this area. This is the main factory shop and therefore the biggest. What do they sell? Food! Cakes, biscuits, meat and fish products (tinned) - great to look around and buy a few samples. Drove around the southern bypass of Auray and south to Locmariaquer and then walked to the pointe. This is where there is a tiny entrance to the Golfe du Morbihan and we watched the tide coming in. Next was the promontary at Kerarno - so lovely, and we found a pretty little sandy bay to enjoy the sunshine by the rocks.
Very rarely we find ourselves at a 'Camping de Grotte', but today we found 'Camping le Ripoff'! They called it les Palmiers. It was our most expensive site to date and very very poor. Madame was charming, though! But it was in the right place for a night halt.
Yesterday took us around the coast at La Trinite sur Mer and Carnac, although we actually missed out the Plage at Carnac, preferring the little ones. We were just parking up to have our lunch when we abused from the other side of the road(!) - we were spoiling the view from his front garden! He may have paid for the view, but he didn't buy it! To appease him we moved on and found a better view anyway! It has been quite chilly and windy this weekend, so sitting on the beach was not so comfy for a picnic. Then we drove inland a bit to see the pre-historic Alignements, so famous around here. Wow, what a spectacle. We walked around those at Kermario - there are 990 menirs in 10 rows, approx. 1k long and 100m wide. Then we went on to walk in the woods and see the Geant du Manio and Le Quadrilatere - the first, a tall standing stone and the latter a rectangle of smaller stones. This was also the place of a geocache - a nice easy find in the woods close by. Just here, too, was a riding stables and it was lovely watching the little children on the shetland ponies. The main footpaths into the woods were topped with broken oyster shells - quite a useful local commodity.
Then to Plouharnel and another geocache which required one to park by the Church in the tiny old part of the town. We chose the same time as a wedding was about to start! We got in the parking first though - most of the guests arrived late! We then had to find numbers and dates from houses and a small chapel, before a walk to two fontaines (natural spring wells) and along a bit of coast path to find the cache under rocks on a pretty gorse-covered headland. And so to our campsite just along the road from Plouharnel - a good one this time, so staying tonight too.
Today have driven all around the coastline of Quiberon which was once an island, but is now joined by a sandy isthmus. The west coast is called the Cote Sauvage and it certainly was today with a strong westerly wind - waves pounding on the rocks. There are a lot of motorhomes around here and particularly on Quiberon - but there is not a lot of parking for them! Most carparks have high barriers or no motorhome signs. We found several spots where we could stop on wide verges beside the road and walk for a while in the blustery wind. The scenery was magnificent and well worth the trip. Our campsite guidardien told us about this internet cafe in Plouharnel, so that is where we are now. Moving further west tomorrow, so more news when we can.
Love to all.

Day in Vannes

We've noticed we now have some friends - we're pleased about that!
Lovely blue sky this morning and we had decided to stay at this really nice site (Camping de Rhuys near Theix) another night, so a good day to put some washing out! Then out to the bus stop - pity Madame le Camping had thought the buses ran at half past the hour into Vannes - we discovered they actually went at five past the hour, so we walked a few stops and then waited in the shade of a tree for the 12.05. Vannes is beautiful - it has some very ancient overhanging buildings which almost touch at the roof-tops but with plenty of space on the ground for your horse and cart to go through, well-preserved ramparts and well-cared for gardens. Lunch was served in the Brasserie des Halles (recommended) and we set about seeing all the landmarks - again courtesy of geocaching plus the AA Keyguide to Brittany (an excellent loan from Horsham Library). We needed to find dates on some of the buildings to solve the co-ordinates of the cache and that took us beside the Port de Plaisance with more of those sailing boats, to start a hunt in the bushes. But no, not this time, a pipe coming up from the ground about a meter high and open at the top was the hidey-hole!

One of the interesting sights of Vannes is the early 19th Century lavoirs or wash-houses built beside the shallow river which were used until the 1950s. Has very picturesque slate roofs. This is just outside the city wall which has turrets and towers and a chateau with flower gardens.

Nearly to Vannes

On Sunday morning there was no morning walk in the park - rain stopped play! Surprising how much colder it turned too. It just meant that we headed off sooner to the southern coast of Brittany and began our travels around the coast at La Roche Bernard, a bit inland on the River Vilaine. It stayed chilly all day but no more rain. We actually had a bit of trouble getting into the port of the little town because being Sunday it was market day - not the fruit and veg sort - the bric a brac sort. All routes were barre as all the streets were lined with stalls loaded with - well, rubbish really! We found another way in from the south and after lunch in the car park at the port got settled in the campsite and walked up and over the big rock (Bernard was the chap who built his chateau on top of this rock in 11th century) to look at the junk on sale. John lost interest very quickly but I told him - you could find just what you always needed, so we carried on looking. He refused a ancient, but very interesting contraption that could have been anythng from a lemon squeezer to a tubular chip maker! Adam would have loved the toy cars (even the extremely battered ones) and I could have easily fallen for a beautifully dressed porcelain doll for Emilie, but of course - we left with nothing. Enough of the market, so down to the riverside to admire all the moored yachts and read the info boards about the building of the several bridges that have spanned the river over the centuries. The huge and high one here now was built in 1960, in the same place as two previous ones. But one that was built of stone in 19th century has gone, but the huge arches are still in place on either bank. After our dinner in the evening, we climbed a path through woods up to see the view from the bridge - wow, made our legs go very wobbly!

Today began quite overcast and misty when we set off but gradually warmed up over the day. Firstly we wanted to make a proper beginning to the journey by driving into Morbihan on the coast, so that meant going via Penestin to Kersequin, turning round and coming back from Loire Atlantique to Morbihan (with a photo to prove it)! Parked up by the beach at Kerandre - the tide was out, leaving a whole lot of mud where several groups of people were digging. When they had filled their buckets and came back up the beach, we saw that they were gathering oysters. Then to the Barrage d'Arzal just down river from Roche Bernard - we had read about the salmon etc. leaping up through the weirs so we went to see it. The determination of those fish is amazing! Also spent a very happy hour watching the sailing boats through the huge lock beside the dam and the road bridge being lifted to let them through, raising them to the river level. The barrage is closed as the tide rises to prevent salt water mixing with the fresh water.
Next stop, geocaching came into its own - we probably wouldnt have found the lovely Moulin de Pen Mur without it. Fellow geocachers can see the scene at GC139AF. In beautiful sunshine, we climbed a path with the aroma of gorse in full bloom to look down on the old mill by the stream.
Now for our night at Theix near Vannes. Visiting the town tomorrow so more news then.
Love to all.

In the wrong order

We are so glad I didn't have to redo the Honfleur day - for some reason it did not publish immediately, but we see tonight that all was well after all. But it means the order of events has gone astray! Sure you can sort it out.

Our day in Renne

Thanks for the news, although we dont really understand the meaning of the word - rain! Took a little stroll in the park after blogging in the campsite reception last evening - it is very attractive with several lakes and paths through the woods. Plan to see some more of it tomorrow morning. But today we went into Renne on a bendy bus (first time we've had to pay a bus fare for a while!) and spent our first hour strolling through the huge Saturday market - two halls, one of meat and the other every other kind of charcuterie and epicerie, plus all the fruit and veg, flowers and fish outdoors - stall after stall of twitching crabs and blinking lobsters! We came away with a baguette! An interesting story about Renne is that in 1720 a carpenter was burning his wood chippings when his blaze spread to most of the city centre, so it is quite easy to spot the bits that escaped the fire - overhanging timber framed buildings in the cobbled streets of the old town. Those that were built after the fire are rather grand and stone. We enjoyed wandering the streets and ate our picnic in the square in front of the Palais du Parlement de Bretange. Later a walk through the Parc du Thabor gave us another DNF - having found the right steps and counted the fountains! and having a good hunt in the bushes for the final cache, but the gardens were beautiful and the trees magnificent so well worth the visit. By this time the sun was getting quite warm so a lovely spot to relax in.
A couple of fields away from our campsite here is where a football tournament has been held today. All the cars were arriving as we went out this morning and there were hundreds more lining the forest road when we came back - the event was compered by a very enthusiastic chap on a highly efficient microphone, so it was probably quite a good idea to be out all day! All is peaceful now as we await the sunset.
Hitting the southern coast of Brittany tomorrow and will most likely be staying on an Aire de Service, so our next blog could be a while. But more soon ...

Honfleur

Who would have thought that a simple journey to Newhaven ferry could be so complicated! All started so well, leaving home ahead of schedule for the 9.30 ferry at 7.20 and an easy drive to 2 miles before Newhaven. There we joined a very long queue to reach traffic lights around road works. Once through that we proceeded to the port only to shouted at from the other side of a high fence - not round there, thats all closed down! Ok, already nearly half hour late to check in, finally reached the booth and told to join the lane. The gate closed behind us! But there we stayed on the end of the queue for another hour and 20 while they tried to get all the huge articulates [probably redirected from dover] on the boat. Who cares about delay when we are on holiday! Not long settled in our seats when appeared a familiar face - Jane who I first knew when visiting Mum in her nursing home and now as Centre volunteers. They had won a free trip and 1 night in Dieppe.
Most enjoyable voyage then a fairly short drive to Honfleur - quite a favourite spot of ours. Found a parking place for the night on the Aire de Camping Cars - very busy but peaceful - and cheap. Enjoyed the walk into the beautiful town, answering clues to a geocache on the way. Found them all and proceeded to the little cobbled lane where the final cache should be found. But this was to be our first DNF (to those not into geoccaching this means did not find - might have quite a few of these over the weeks) despite examining every nook and cranny of the said wall! So off to look at all the menus! Found a lovely little restaurant overlooking the harbour basin - I wont go on about the scrummy salads and crepes, but they were pretty good! And then the sunset over the river on the way back "home" was rather spectactular.
This morning was bright and sunny so off into the town again for a walk along beside the river. A couple approached us and asked if we were off the cruise ship! They were, you see, and had the day to visit Honfleur before returning to Southampton tomorrow. Happily the geocache in the trees in the park along here was an easy find. We needed to place a geocoin we had had in our possession for some weeks - it was called Big Things and required one to log a photo of a big thing near one's home, but our fountain in Horsham has been surrounded by scaffolding for ages(!) so here was the perfect opportunity for a photo - the coin balanced on the sea wall with a background of the "Black Watch" cruise ship and le pont de Normandie. Left Honfleur at midday en route for ....

Rennes

... arriving at a lovely campsite in the parc des Gayeulles to the north east of Rennes. A shower of rain just before we arrived at 5.30 but since then we have been bathed in sunshine, enjoying our first meal of the season outside. Now off to walk by the lake and then home to do the washing up!
Thanks for all the comments, friends - good to hear from you.
Planning to visit the city tomorrow, travelling in by metro or bus. Watch this space.

Getting Ready

Just a week to go before our next French Adventure! We will be keeping a diary on our new blog - Brittany 2009. Lots to do before then, so watch this space .............