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 camp site 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.