Welcome to traveller 5. Because many now read items on a phone or tablet we have tried to make it more app like to read on these devices, it will still read on laptops and desktops.
Crit’Air: Visiting France? Might be useful to check if your Crit’Air sticker is still valid as some Cities in France have reduced the classification.Crit’Air: Visiting France? Might be useful to check if your Crit’Air sticker is still valid as some Cities in France have reduced the classification.
In This Issue:
- A few days in Dorset
- Pitchstop France
- Lost in France . . . well not quite
- When in Bristol
- We went to Brittany
A few days in Dorset
We thought we would have a few days away, so booked into C&MC Haycraft. We have been many times before. From the site you can walk to Corfe over the fields just over two miles away. Corfe has the castle, pubs, cafes and a museum and worth a visit.
Depending on the weather, another favourite walk, depending how we feel, is walk to Corfe and up on the hillside which you can see from the campsite. Once on the top the views are spectacular over Poole and Brownsea Island and on to Swanage. You can then catch the train back to Haycraft or by bus which will stop at the quarry by a lane which takes you down back to the campsite. Another favourite is up through the fields to Worth Maltravers and on to Dancing Ledge, and then follow the coastal path to Durston Park which has a nice cafe, and then to Swanage.
A visit to Studland Bay is a must, you can walk the huge stretch of beach to the chain ferry which will take you to Sandbanks. Studland Bay, National Trust, Dorset https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/studland-bay An ASOC member making the stroll towards the famous nudist area of the beach. How do I know? They were wearing an ASOC baseball cap, and perhaps that is all they will be wearing to keep the sun off. Parking is free for National Trust members and £7 per day for non members. Motorhome and campervan parking is available with toilets, cafe and shop. Many activities are also available to hire.
PitchSTOP FRANCE
Le TREPORT
A very pleasant location to overnight located on the northern tip of the Normandy Coast. The large aire is on the top of the cliffs adjacent to a free Funiculaire down to the town level where there are many good restaurants on the Quai François 1er.
LOCATION 50°03’29.5″N 1°21’45.7″E 50.058184, 1.362685
LEON
Six free spaces. No services, but alongside the town ramparts and with super views
map reference: 49.563150, 3.629633
Lost in France . . . well not quite
Having arrived at the tunnel just thirty-five minutes after leaving Black Horse Farm, we were somewhat ahead of ourselves to say the least. It meant we arrived in France at just after 8am and were off.
Our first intended stop was Neufchâtel-en-Bray, but as it was only 10am as we approached our turn-off we decided to carry on to Brionne. This was a mistake as it turned out, since the campsite we had intended staying, was closed – permanently. To make matters worse Peter reversed into a boulder whilst trying to turn around! We did, however, find a charming campsite a few kilometres away at St. Nicolas.
On to Saumur – a long haul but we cheated and used toll roads, which made the journey quite easy. We spent 3 nights on the Aire Camping Car Park and had a couple of days sight-seeing in Saumur, where we encountered a band from Dorset playing on the forecourt of the Town Hall. Turns out they were guests of the Marie, Wimbourne being twinned with Saumur.
Then on to Aixe sur Vienne, where we met up with Liz, who had motored down from the Hook of Holland, having stopped off at Zell am Mosel to collect some ‘rally wine’. The camp site is on the banks of the Vienne and has rail access to Limoges, the reason for the stop. The old city is quite charming with half timbered houses and narrow streets, but it’s the railway station that grabs everyone’s attention, an impressive structure built in 1924 with an adjacent clock tower named The Benedictins Station.
From Aixe, we drove down to Vezac for the rally. After Vezac, we bounced and swayed our way across country to the west coast largely because most of the roads, as well as being fairly narrow, were either subject to chantier (road works) or chausee deformee (damaged road hardly explains it!). However, we eventually reached St. Georges-de-Didonne where we met several of the ralliers who’d also headed west. The campsite is situated about a 15 minutes walk from the town itself, and on our first foray along the promenade we were treated to a sort of ‘regatta’ type event, with windsurfers, boaters and paragliders. St George itself is a nice town, popular with the French and has lots of eateries.
From St George, the plan was to head to La Turballe, via St Hillier de Riaz, which we did, but when we arrived found they were so busy we could only stay one night. However, the Campsite Manager recommended an Aire in Piriac-sur-Mer, which they were loosely associated with, and we headed for it the following day. We stayed on the Aire, which was actually once a commercial campsite, and again it was a short walk from the town, which was very picturesque with a harbour, shops and quite a few restaurants. It also has 3 accessible beaches around the headland, we spent an afternoon on one, and whilst the weather was very warm there was quite a strong breeze, which played havoc with Liz’s quite large parasol – at one stage we thought she was going paragliding!!
We parted company with Liz after Piriac, when she headed off towards Germany and we headed towards Vannes, another campsite on a coastal inlet with a seawater bathing pool. Then on to Josslin where, after a walk around the town we decided to carry on to Dinan. Dinan is quite a pretty town and boasts a Clock Tower – the ‘Belfry’ being converted from the original municipal tower in around 1500 – which is worth a visit.
We then moved on to Honfleur via Caen, spending a couple of nights at the Aire by the harbour, which turned out to be free as the barriers weren’t working when we left. Returning home on the Sunday we were hoping for a fairly quiet journey. In that we were disappointed, but we have come to the conclusion there is no ‘quiet time’ on the roads in the UK these days, unless it is around 3am and even then it’s probably not guaranteed. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our time in France and will be planning our 2024 journey during the winter.
When in Bristol
When in Bristol, a must visit, just a short walk from the harbourside via College Green and up Park Street, the museum is on Queens Road. With Alfred the gorilla, dinosaurs, birds and the art gallery. With so much to see and it is free entry. They also have a cafe to rest before and after your visit. They have many exhibitions at certain times of the year. Check out the website for all the details.
https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-museum-and- art-gallery/
We went to Brittany
After a calm overnight crossing by Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth to Saint Malo we arrived in early morning sunshine, driving a few miles to the lovely old walled town of Dinan for coffee and croissants at a pavement café – feeling our French holiday had truly begun. We were looking forward to Brittany. Apart from the first three nights booked in a campsite in the city of Nantes we had not booked any sites but had a rough idea of where we wanted to go.
Nantes is an interesting city; the most unusual attraction is the Iles de Machines with its Grand Elephant and other fantastical mechanical creatures and rides inspired by the travels of Jules Verne, a resident of Nantes. These contraptions form part of the rejuvenation of the former dockyards, when Nantes was an important ship building centre on the banks of the Loire. We camped in a very pleasant site, found in the ACSI guide which lists continental sites endorsed by the Caravan Club and giving discounts. We caught the efficient, modern tram from outside the campsite and were in the centre of the city in no time.
Not able to resist a small detour into the Loire valley to taste and buy some Muscadet sur Lie Sevre et Maine, spending the night in an Aire close to the river. Before this we got our bikes off the back of the van and cycled along the valley, past heavily cultivated fields of strange-looking crops. The French farmer in his ubiquitous little white van explained that the green plants were “mache” or lamb’s lettuce, the salad leaves found in supermarket chill cabinets, and the other things were tiny grafted grapevine plants which he exports all over the world.
We were now ready to move on to Brittany, our intended destination. Our first stop was a lovely campsite near Asserac on the edge of a large bay where the tide goes out over the sand/mud for about half a mile to mussel beds. We had discovered this last year and were not disappointed on our return. We dined as before at a little restaurant called le Gros Bill overlooking the bay and eating its produce – mussels for Roger and oysters for me. It was 21st June – la fete de la Saint Jean – celebrated throughout France as a music festival – so we cycled to the nearby village of Penestin where we sat at a bar in the village square listening to a local group – what could be nicer!
We couldn’t be in Brittany without visiting a menhir or standing stone – or two. We didn’t actually visit Carnac but found some lesser-known places, very well preserved where we could get up close to the stones and walk inside an ancient burial chamber. That night we found a lovely campsite again through the ACSI guide at the mouth of the river Aven, within cycling distance of Pont Aven, the little town made famous by Gaugin before he moved to more exotic climes. It is a real artists’ mecca these days.
We were rapidly realising that we did not have time to do everything we had planned. So many lovely and interesting places to visit – and leaving time to chill out. We needed to keep going if we were to complete our trip round the Brittany coast back to St Malo.
