Bertie goes to Brittany

Monday 6 May 2013

In the morning we had a leisurely rise and by the time we had showered it was 09.30. Carrefour was of course open and Petra went over to do a weeks shopping. Kevin in the mean time cleared up from breakfast and drained the grey tank. It wasn’t until 10.45hrs that we finally left the car park and headed off towards Brittany.

The vast majority of the journey was on toll free motorway and in any case only an hour and a half from Pontorson. About 20km from our destination, Port Plerin, we found a MacDonald’s to used the Wifi to update the blog and send emails etc.By the time we had done all that it was 14.00hrs before we arrived at the free Aire at Port Plerin.

The Aire was lovely and is situated in between the mouth of the estuary leading from the sea to a sea lock and on to a really long yacht marina/harbour that stretched at least a mile or so from the lock. From our front window we watched the ebbed tide flood at an amazing rate and for at least 4m in height. The Aire included water and dumping facilities totally free. 

The weather was beautiful today and we enjoyed our lunch sitting in front of Bertie watching the birds and small craft sail by. As is our way we had an hour doing van work Petra cleaned and vacuumed and Kevin took apart the bathroom skylight to remove 3 years of grime. It all went off without a hitch and now sparkles in the sunlight. He also had to get the fly remover out of the garage. On the way here we went past a rape seed oil field and we were bombarded with flying creatures. Some of them were set like concrete.

Once our jobs were done and we were all clean and bristol fashion again we sat outside for tea and cake followed by a brisk walk up the hill along the coast towards Plerin. The walk was short but steep and well worth the effort. We were rewarded with some delightful views across the bay and harbour entrance. 

Our view from Bertie.

Top of the hill

The gorgious Petra

You would think there must be a better form of transport to go against the tide? We walked quicker than this chap.

Tuesday 7 May 2013

Brittany is a beautiful place to visit, you can see why it is the number one place for Brits to visit in France. They say it’s like Cornwall! Well not sure about that but, it is green lush and very beautiful so no complaints there. 

Now we are in Brittany, there seems no rush to leave so we are going to travel around  here for a bit. There are simply loads of free Aires to stay all over Brittany so it is ideal for us. Another advantage is the mileage is kept down so we can move just a small amount and see a completely different part of the region.

Today we travelled only 67km to Treguier but not before visiting Paimpol a super harbour town with a maze of cobbled streets. As luck would have it Tuesday is Market Day and the stalls were out in force and took over the whole of the town centre. They sold everything from Breton sweaters to Artisan made trinkets. At the far side of the town the general stalls gave over to food and the smell of cooked chickens on the spit was very inviting. The fats from the spit ran down into a trough full of potatoes! Get your bird and roasts all together I suppose. 

We made three purchases, the first being a bag of stoned olives stuffed with pepper. Petra nearly died when he told her that would be €8. As it happened they were wonderful so worth it. Second, was a pair of nice stripy tea towels. Not for drying the crocks but to use and table cloths (until something better comes along...) They are in Bertie colours so look resplendent. Finally, a french stick a for lunch, it never ceases to amaze the difference in the bread region to region. It is always fabulous especially with Brie or Camembert and baby plumb tomatoes.

It was really nice walking round the market at leisure everyone was so friendly and we chatted away to many a stall holder. In the end our legs and tummy’s told us it was time to go and we made our way back to Bertie and onto our final destination for the day.

The Aire at Treguier is again free but is lacking in some of the things we have come to expect. Most notably Water!! Luckily, Bertie runs fully charged for just such occasions. We have enough water and food to last about five days. 

After lunch we decided we were both tired and decided we would not explore Treguier until tomorrow and we would stay two nights. The Aire is really lovely overlooking the tidal inlet from the sea and why would we move so soon. So its all to come tomorrow and we think we are going to give the bikes their first outing for a very long time. So, Petra did her tapestry this afternoon and Kevin took a nap (old bugger!). We also watched the tide rise 6m from low water to high tide. We had no idea they had such high tides in Brittany.

In the evening Petra cooked one of her curry’s which was great but a bit hot and put us off the Hardy’s 1853 Shiraz. It also resulted in the Patchouli oil burner being forced into action (love Patchouli). We then whiled away the evening playing games ie Domino's, Backgammon and Rumikub. 

Wednesday 8 May 2013

As we decided we were in no hurry to leave Treguier and our rather nice view of the river, we took a leisurely walk into the town at about 10.30hrs. Wouldn’t you know it it was market day again. Well, it would be rude not to have a look around. Most of the stalls were the same as yesterday but in a different location it was still fun exploring. 

The town is on a hill which we had to walk up to get to the centre and the market worked its way down the other side to the now compulsory marina, chandlers and tourist information office. We had a good look around the latter and relieved them of several fine publications including one on the art of the region. Walking back up the hill up a different road we came down on we stumbled on more market stalls and Kev bought a really nice Breton scarf white with a blue stripe.

The Rough Guide states that the only thing that Treguier has to it’s name is a fine Cathedral called the ‘Cathedrale St-Tugdual’ it has three towers; one gothic, one Romanesque and one 18th century. The last, financed by Louis XVI with the winnings from the Paris Lottery. It has holes in the shapes of playing cards. So we had to have a look inside. It really is a lovely church with some amazing contemporary stained glass windows. We spent much longer in the church than we expected.

 A considerable amount of time was spent looking at the Tomb of St Eves a native of the town who died in 1303 and for his incorruptibility - became the patron saint of lawyers. Apparently, attempts to bribe him continue today and if you are successful a small thank you plaque made out of marble is inscribed with the gratitude of the recipient and placed on the outside of the tomb. At the foot of the tomb was a rather unexpected relic.....his skull and other bits....placed in a gold glass fronted box with doors to shut the poor fellow in. We thought he must have had a bit of a tussle or two in his time as both his front teeth were missing. Anyway, the locals and the like love him and there were dozens of candles lit to attract his favor.

After our visit was over we made our way back to Bertie and through a civic centre of the town to a small square that has (so we understand) the most important statue in Brittany. It  represents the pain of a woman for the death of those who gave up their lives during the wars. She is sitting down and is in traditional clothing worn by a woman in mourning. As we passed by there was a ceremony taking place to which looked like a memorial to a fire fighter as there was a guard of honor there from the fire service. They gave a few speeches and played the most beautiful moving accompanied solo in French. It was very touching to watch.

We spent the rest of the day in Bertie relaxing and enjoying some quiet time.

This was just one of the many fantastic windows in the Cathedral 

Sorry about the poor picture....Camera and Kev not man enough for the job!

Normandy

Friday 3 May 2013

On the road again this morning at the start of another beautiful day. The birds were singing and the air was full of the smells of spring. France in the spring is such a lovely place and we are so pleased we decided to venture along the coast to Normandy. 

Today our target destination was Honfleur it was only 50km from Fecamp and an easy straight drive. We drove through some picturesque countryside with fields of oil seed rape in flower dotted here and there highlighting the slow undulating hills interspersed with small coppice. 

We arrived at Honfleur at 09.45am and found the Aire which turned out to be brilliant. For €10 (payable at the machine) we got free disposal of grey water and toilet waste along with electricity and water. We settled Bertie on the riverside and set about settling in and plugging in anything that would hold a charge. We have a whole cupboard in Bertie designated solely for the purposes of holding all the leads needed to charge things.

As soon as everything had been locked and loaded we walked into Honfleur a mere 10mins away from the Aire.

Honfleur is the best preserved of the old ports of Normandy and it is well worth a visit. It is situated on the Calvados coast and is a near perfect seaside town that lacks only a beach. It did have one once but the river silt from the Seine put paid to that. The ancient port still functions and still has fishing vessels in the harbour.

We made our way to the centre of the town around the Vieux Bassin, where slate-fronted houses each one impossibly to high not to fall over create a splendid backdrop to the water front. It is of course lined with cafe’s and expensive restaurants too expensive of the likes of us peasants. We walked on and enjoyed a very nice tour of the shops which sold mostly artisan goods and wine.

We meandered our way to Honfleur’s most remarcable building the church of Ste-Catherine belfry (one of Monet’s favorite subjects in his youth). It is made entirely of wood and has a separate bell tower on account of its weight. A fascinating building and we spent some time walking around it.

So we continued looking in the art galleries a plenty and made our way back to Bertie for a 2pm lunch. The rest of the day was spent cleaning and charging things. Strangely it’s the first time since we have had Bertie that we have had the opportunity to give it a good clean and polish since we have had it. Needless to say he is looking a lot better for it.

Saturday 4 May 2013

We really enjoyed our stay in Honfleur but at €10 a night we would rather move on. Today we wanted to see the Bayeux and in particular the Bayeux Tapestry. Bayeux is 80km from Honfleur and we hit Bayeux at 09.30 straight into Market day, the roads were quite narrow but Bertie weaved his way in and out until we arrived at the car park/Aire. As it market day the car park was bursting at the seams and cars were double parked all over the place. As luck would have it the driver of a motor home signaled to us that he was going and in seconds we were parked up and ready to go exploring.
Bayeux is a perfectly preserved medieval town with a magnificent Cathedral and of the world famous tapestry depicting Harrold getting an arrow in the eye for not keeping his promise to William (the Conquerer nee Bastard). It is situated only 10km from the sea so it’s other claim to fame is it was the first town to be liberated in 1944, the day after D-Day. In fact it was occupied so quickly that it escaped serious damage and became the capital of Free France.

We walked down the High Street which ran from the car park towards the Cathedral and on to the Centre Guillame Le Conquerant Musium and to the Tapestry. On entry €9 each, we were given the electrical proximity gizmo that gives a running commentary as you move along the line. The 70m (yes 70m) 11th century tapestry is housed vertically behind glass in an air conditioned room. It depicts how William (King of France) gave Harold and his army a good kicking and changed the history of our country forever. The commentary was interesting and the tapestry fascinating. We didn’t realise it was made in England?

70m later we got to the end of the story Harold gets his dues and William is given his new title Conquerer. However, the last pane of the tapestry is unfortunately missing! It was a bit like reading a good book only to find that some considerate so and so has pinched the last page. Following the viewing we sat in the cinema and watched a short film. To be honest it was great just to sit down for a bit. Petra (as is her norm) almost fell asleep. We had a quick whizz around the museum display on the Tapestry which again was informative and left thinking it was a well worthwhile visit.

After a quick lunch we walked to the other side of the town to visit the British war Cemetery  which was quite sobering when you read some of the inscriptions placed there by the families and the ages of the fallen. Most were in their 20’s. It really is a nice Cemetery and  is beautifully kept with spring flowers at all the graves and freshly mown lawns. It was nice to walk around with your thoughts and understand how lucky and privileged we are to be free to wonder wherever we want without fear.

Returning to Bertie the car park was a busy as ever so we decided not to stay the night. I am sure we would have been fine but it was a bit too busy for us. Tomorrow we are off to Mont-St-Michel so we decided to do the hour and a half trip to a place called Avranches about 15km from the mount. We parked in a free Aire which is situated high up in the town but had little to offer it other than it was free.

Sunday 5 May 2013

Low mileage day today, only 33km to le Mont-St-Michel. We were up early again and turning into the car park for St-Michel for 09.30. The car park was very big and new and Motorhomes were pushed to the outer part of the car park giving us the longest walk to get to ‘le shuttle bus’ certainly over 1km. We could have walked to the Mont but it was at least half an hours walk and when you get there it is all up hill.

Mont Saint-Michel is much larger in every respect to its Cornish cousin. But at least we can now say we have the set. One of the first differences is the Mont is permanently linked to the main land by a causeway it was done so in the 18th century. They intend to return it to an island very soon as they are building a state of the art bridge to link the two. When it is complete they will open the dam and let it flood as nature intended. Needless to say the shore level does resemble a building site.

The Shuttle bus take you across the causeway and drops you off at the foot of the Mont. A short walk and you are in the enclave and you immediately commence a steep climb through a very atmospheric shopping street lined with souvenir shops and restaurants. As we wound our way up the cobbled stones we passed the Dungeons and a beautiful chapel.

Out of breath we arrived at the top of the Mont in front of the Abbey. We had a welcome break of half an hour whilst we waited for the English speaking tour guide to come and show us around. The tickets were €9 each which included the tour. We found out this was excellent value for money. The tour starts at the top of the Monastery 15th Century and works it’s way down inside three levels all the way to the year 708 when St Michel poked the local Bishop in the head and told him to build him a Monastery. 

It is a fascinating journey through time and architecture which gives you a great insight into Monastic life through the centuries. The Church is breathtaking as is the cloisters. We descended down and down until we came out of the Roman sector on the ramparts and we were back in the shops. At the bottom of the Mont we sat on a stone bench and had our lunch before getting le shuttle back to Bertie.

The rest of the day was fairly domestic in that we camped over night in an Aire at Carrefour car park, did all our washing in a local launderette (much needed, ed) and we sat in the sunshine on our new chairs drinking Gin and Tonic’s, wine and cans of Pedigree with fellow campers Brian and Jan. They have been on the same routes as us and had noticed Bertie at Honfleur and Bayeux. Brilliant day.

Back in France - Normandy

Tuesday 30 April 2013

It was with great excitement that we went to bed last night, We have had a really busy time in the UK and we are really ready to set off again on our travels. We have booked an early ferry 07.30hrs so had made all the preparations ready for a quick escape. 

We awoke this morning (05.30hrs) to the sound of the dawn chorus in full throw. It was made all the lovelier by the hammering of a woodpecker in the distance. It’s so rare to hear these days and was such a treat. We lay there for a while waking up and readying ourselves for the day ahead. 

Once up we ad already decided that we were going to wait till we were at Dover Eastern docks and in the queue to board before we breakfasted and had a cup of tea. By 06.10hrs we were in the queue behind and old Tesco van with all the stickers ripped off enjoying a nice mug of tea and a bowl of Kellogg's best Special K. 7am and we were on the ship and sitting in one of the many cafe’s planning our destination for the day and night.

We arrived at Calais 10.00hrs local time and before we knew it we were off the ship and on the Motorway to Dunkerque. We managed to depart from the ship really quickly simply because we were one of approx 20 or so lorries and a couple of Motorhomes on board. It was as quiet a trip (less the bad weather) as our return journey to the UK. How they make it all pay we have no idea. 

Anyway it was a great crossing, and even more to be driving on the right side of the road for the Motorhome. It really makes a big difference and Kev adapted really quickly to driving on the other side of the road. It was also great to be back on European roads they are so smooth and quiet they are a joy to drive on.

At 11.00hrs we arrived in Dunkerque and parked Bertie in a large mostly empty car park only a few meters from the beach. We had a lovely sunny day and enjoyed the walk along the sea front for a good mile and a half. It is still out of season here and it was lovely and quiet as we happily walked along. The beaches are fantastic, soft white sand and immaculately kept.  On the beach taking advantage of the good easterly wind we saw a man in his sleek black swept back ‘Landyacht’ whizzing too and fro. Both he and his machine looked very cool indeed and we wondered if we could get one on the top of Bertie? 

We ended up at the ‘Memorial Du Souvenir’ which is a museum to commemorate Operation Dynamo and the evacuation on the British and French soldiers from the beaches of Dunkerque. It holds an impressive display of military equipment and arms, film shows and maps showing the placements of troops etc. 

At first sight the museum looks a modest affair as it is located in the fortifications that were built in 1874 to reinforce France’s coastal defense. Bastian 32 served as the headquarters for the French and Allied forces during the the Battle of Dunkerque and operation Dynamo.  Despite the place looking like the bricked in arches under a railway bridges at the back of Back Street Basin (Brum) it was of course wholly appropriate and we had a very interesting couple of hours walking around. 

As we returned to Bertie, had a quick look around the town which had been completely destroyed by the bombing in the second world war and had to be rebuilt from scratch. We arrived back at the van for lunch at 14.00hrs. After lunch we both felt a bit tired and decided to make straight for our camping place for the night. We stayed at a small but very pleasant Aire half way between Calais and Dunkerque called Gravelines. Bertie faced the tidal river and we sat and watched it rise as we consumed a most deserved G&T.

Nothing coming this way....

....and nothing coming this way...

After catapult practice it's off for a bit of basketball!

Wednesday 1 May (Bank Holiday in France)

It might be the the excitement of being away but we were awake early today and ready to go by 8am. As it was Mayday Bank Holiday the roads were very quiet and it turned out to be a really good day for putting on a few kilometers. By 10.00 we were at our first destination -Montreuil-Sur-Mer. The name would normally give away its location but in this case no, the town is now stranded 13km inland, owing to the silting up of the River Canche. We drove right into the centre of the town and parked up in the main square. From here we had a great position to go exploring.

The town is surrounded by ancient walls that in places are incredibly high. We took a walk along the top of the wall and then made our way onto the cobble stoned roads and beautiful old buildings that lined the streets. Apparently the town was the setting for much of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. We saw plenty of spring flowers growing in the town squares and under the carefully polled trees. It was a shame that it was a Bank Holiday as most of the shops were closed, still, we did manage to get a large baguette for lunch. 

Returning to Bertie we had a cup of tea and made our way on to our final destination for the day, Fecamp. The drive to Fecamp was simply fantastic, perfect roads, smooth, empty and very picturesque. You have to pinch yourself sometimes to believe you are driving in such perfect conditions. It’s a driver’s dream and a joy to drive.

Fecamp is situated just over halfway from Dieppe to Le Havre. Arriving at 14.30 we found the free Aire that is situated on the quay side overlooking a small inner marina and a row of shops and businesses 100m over the other side. The harbour leads down to a tidal lock and into a larger dock area. Fecamp is a serious working fishing town and the large fishing boats are moored alongside the harbour wall. It is also famous for the Benedictine Distillery which is situated in the back streets behind the harbour.

After the mandatory cuppa we ventured off to have a look at the seaside promenade. The sea views and cliffs are spectacular, the promenade was full of locals taking their families out to enjoy the holiday and the lovely weather. It was delightful to see the children playing on the stone beach and hearing the muffled sound of squealed joy. We walked the full length of the prom and back through the back streets which quite frankly were not that inspiring and unsurprisingly were mostly deserted of people.

Back at Bertie we took the rest of the day off. Tomorrow we are staying a further day to do some catching up and sorting.  

......and we are in the starter blocks

We are so excited to be off on out travels again, commencing Tuesday 30 April. The ferry ticket is booked for 07.30am Dover arriving at Calais 10.00am.

Bring it on.

Bertie.......photographs

So here are a few photographs of our new (second hand) van. We love it and are sure it will be just the job for touring. It boasts a whole list of extras including-

Fixed beds and a double bed over the cab

2 large leisure batteries and solar panel on the roof

Satellite TV/DVD 

Diesel heating

Extra insulation and mood lighting internally and much much more. 

The naming ceremony at Caroline's

From this day forth he shall be known at 'Bertie'

Yes it's left hand drive....

Loads of room

We are sure you all want to know where and when we are to go next but at the moment we are staying in Burton on Trent dealing with a family matter and as soon as that is resolved we will be on our way. Checking out the books on the bookshelf in between the single beds to give you a clue.