29th August. As is so often the way our plans changed before we had even reached midday. We started the morning with wine tasting at the vineyard before waving goodbye to Val and John. A quick check of the weather forecast showed that we might be better avoiding our original destination of Il d'Oloron so we decided to change direction and headed to Les Sables d'Olonne instead. After setting up on a lovely Aire near the marina we explored the area on our bikes before settling for an early night. We only cycled 12 kms but it was nice to get an idea of the area.
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| Not quite as sunny as i like! |
30th August. Waking up to blue skies encouraged us to don our cycling kit and get out on our bikes today. After a quick ride to Lidl and Decathlon for some essentials we decided to head up the coast following a cycle route to Bretignolles-Sur-Mer. During the ride the clouds started to appear and we hadn't long been back when a few spots of rain started to fall. We had enjoyed a very nice 55km ride though and had seen some lovely scenery along the route. It was nice to be out on the bikes again after a long break.
31st August. We were pleased to wake up to sunny skies after the showers that developed late yesterday. We donned our cycling kit again and headed through the town centre and to the coast before following the beach out of town as it turned from sandy to rocky and the waves turned to white foam as they crashed on to the shore.
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| Olonne-sur-Mer |
We saw some beautiful buildings and every thing looked very clean and well maintained with excellent cycle paths and cyclist priority on roundabouts. This is definitely a cycle friendly area and with little to tax the legs in the way of hills it is also an ideal area for the casual cyclist. We only covered a leisurely 24kms compared with the longer ride yesterday but it was just nice to get our legs spinning and so lovely to visit an area that had been our wish list for some time. Our plan for the next 3 weeks is to work our way around the Brittany Coast and hope that the rain holds off long enough to allow us to explore the rugged and beautifully diverse coastline that includes the Emerald coast and the Cote de Granit Rose. We also want to view the standing stones and burial mounds at Carnac and Locmariaquer as well as seeking out the famous metal serpent at Saint-Brevin-Les-Pins that I discovered during my research of this area of France and of all the things I read about this particular exhibit appealed to me the most.
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| Noirmoutier |
1st September. Accompanied by rain clouds we set off for the Island of Noirmoutier, set in the Bay off Biscay and attached to the mainland by a causeway. Our original destination at the top of the island was full but we managed to find a space on the municipal campsite. After lunch we were delighted to welcome some clear skies and sunshine so we wasted no time in getting the bikes out and set off to explore the area. We followed cycle paths to the top of the island and then took the main roads to the south and the causeway before heading home, a nice 33km ride. It was very windy on the island but very pretty with lots of whitewashed houses with blue shutters that made me feel like we were in Greece at times.
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| The metal serpent |
2nd Spetember. I was very excited to get started today so we could go in search of the giant serpent and had checked to make sure it would be low tide so that it would be fully visible. We drove to St-Brevin-Les-Pins but were initially unable to locate the sculpture. I really must practice my French as we stopped twice to ask for directions but my description of the serpent drew blank stares!! We eventually found the sculpture as you head out of town along the coast. It is an amazing creation by the Chinese-French artist Huang Yong Ping and it's 400 foot long structure sits nestled on the edge of the sea so that at low tide you can stand inside its rib cage while at high tide it appears to be rising out of the water. After a suitable amount of time taking photos and admiring the serpent we set off for St Nazaire but finding the Aire full we eventually ended up on a campsite at Kersavary, just outside Guerande. An afternoon ride led us to the coast at La Baule-Escoublac before heading to the lovely medieval town of Guerande to explore. A faster and more energetic ride which added another 29kms to our total. Another example of how small the world can be, we discovered a couple from our old village, Dave and Sue, were also staying at the campsite so we enjoyed a lovely relaxing evening together over a glass or two of wine.
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| Guerande |
4th September. After driving to Rochefort en Terre to view the 17th century buildings and Josselin to view the medieval fortress we ended up in Baden to meet up with Val and John at another France Passion site. This time it was an oyster business right on the edge of the water. Val and John were laughing as they were parked next to a French couple and the man was a really funny character who seemed to have a thing about engines. Val told us that as soon as they had parked up he was round looking at their engine. No sooner had we parked up than he came round to lift our bonnet and check out our engine too. He advised Glynn he needed to top up his water and apparently we got off lightly as he gave John a long list of things he felt needed attention much to Val's amusement. When the barbecues came out the Frenchman insisted we tried his oysters (nice enough but won't be rushing to buy any!!). The 6 of us enjoyed a fun evening swapping wines and sharing stories in our best Franglais. The 'crazy frenchman', as we had nicknamed him, was a keen wine connoisseur and he took great delight in getting us to sample his fine wine and he even managed to try our best bargain supermarket wine without pulling a face!!
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| Quiberon coastline |
5th September. After bidding everyone farewell we set off to explore Quiberon, with its beautiful savage coastline, and then on to Carnac to see the famous stones. Wow, I had no idea there were so many of them. We stopped on the free Aire to have lunch before departing for Concarneau passing many more of the stones as we headed out of the area. Our campsite was a short walk away from a small private beach but sadly the weather was not conducive to swimming or sunbathing as the clouds had won their battle to obscure the sun and showers fell intermittently.
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| Concarneau |
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| Morlaix |
8th September. Over the last 3 days we have explored the area around Concarneau before driving to Quimper, Chateaulin, Brest and finally on to St Thégonnec where we spent the night on a lovely free Aire that even included a picnic table on our pitch. We managed to cycle another 46kms when we explored around Concarneau but haven't managed to get out on the bikes since then. The weather seems to be deteriorating with less sun and more cloud and showers each day that passes. This morning we drove to Morlaix which we explored on foot and climbed the steps to the top of the huge viaduct that passes through the centre of the town. We then followed the stunning coastline around Plestin-Les-Grèves and up to Trebuerden to see the pink granite. In spite of the cloudy sky and the odd shower the sea ranged in shades from blue to turquoise and looked beautiful. We carried on around the coast to Trégastel and then on to Perros-Guirec. It was a beautiful hilly area with a stunning bay looking out towards several small islands. It was such a shame the weather was against us so we settled for a quick admiring view of the scenery before heading slightly inland to Loudéac just as the heavens opened.
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| Perros-Guirec |
9th September. We awoke to a lovely bright morning and as we had been stuck in the Motorhome all yesterday afternoon because of the rain I had already checked the maps and planned a lovely cycle route to Mûr-de-Bretagne. It was a nice 26km ride along cycle paths with some easy gradients and we enjoyed a nice coffee stop before heading back just as a huge black cloud appeared and decided to dump its load on us. Luckily we had rain jackets with us so didn't get too wet and within 5 minutes it was back to watery sunshine. As the route back was more downhill it was a quick and easy ride and after lunch we set off again to go and stock up on some more groceries taking advantage of the rain calling a truce for now. We had managed a nice 62kms today so that made up for the previous days of enforced rest.
11th September. Yesterday's overcast but dry day allowed us to explore Rohan
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| The lake at Loudeac |
and Loudeac centre before heading around the lovely lake next to our campsite, cycling 37kms in total. We then enjoyed a quiet evening playing Sequence which I won 3-2 bringing our total to 10-10 so all to play for before this trip ends!! Most evenings we play either crib or Sequence and we are very evenly matched so it gets quite competitive!! This morning we left Loudéac and headed to Château-Gontier and a lovely free Aire on the bank of the Mayenne river with excellent cycle paths in both directions. We cycled 40kms along the river enjoying the lovely scenery and after lunch we took a walk to explore the town which had lots of lovely narrow cobbled streets with some medieval buildings leading to a nice open centre.
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| Got to have a cow picture!! |
12th September. We drove to Courville-sur-Eire and after a quick explore of the town and a lunch break we decided to carry on to one of our favourite Aires at Nonacourt. Unfortunately it is only a small Aire so it was no surprise to find it was already full when we got there. We pulled over on to the forecourt of the adjacent fire station while we looked at the map to try and decide where to head when a car pulled up beside us and out stepped a lady in a firefighters uniform. I thought we were in trouble for stopping on the forecourt and using my best Franglais apologised profusely and said we were leaving when she replied in very good English that we were more than welcome to stay on the edge of the forecourt for the night.
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| Courville-sur-Eure |
How lovely was that!! We pulled over to where she had indicated and shortly afterwards another Motorhome pulled in and joined us. Unfortunately what we didn't realise was that we would end up getting very little sleep!! We were parked next to the training tower and a hose had been left unsecured after the last training session which meant when the wind got up in the night the metal end of the hose was banging against the metal frame of the tower.
14th September. After spending yesterday on a private Aire on a farm at Grigneuseville with nothing but horses and rain for company we moved on to Le Treport this morning. In a brief break in the weather we quickly dashed in to town to buy some lovely fresh mussels and made it back to the Motorhome just as the rain started again. After a lovely dinner enjoying the fresh mussels in a white wine sauce we decided to admit defeat with the weather and called the ferry company to change our booking as we clearly wouldn't be doing any more cycling. We managed to get a ferry for 8pm tomorrow so enough time to stock up at Calais Wine Superstore in the morning!!
Well it has been a lovely trip and great to finally explore the coast around Brittany however it ended up being a rather rushed exploration trying to keep one step ahead of the rain. In spite of this we still managed to cycle 355 kms over the last 2 weeks which is better than nothing. The highlight for me was seeing the serpent at St-Brevin-Les-Pins however there were many beautiful places and there is no denying it really is a stunning area. I just managed to scrape a lead on Sequence by 12-11 and I won Crib by 7-2 We now have approximately 6 weeks until we head to Goa for the winter so time to get some more decorating done first!!
