Tag Archives: Brittany

Bretagne and back – Day 6

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Leaving Landeda
Au revoir to Les Abers – 28th June 2019
We left Camping Les Abers with smiles on our faces. Was 3 days enough, I think so, we could have stretched another day or two given the weather had changed for the better but inevitably when one is still working there are timetables to keep, a ferry to catch and ultimately the drive home on UK soil. But we are not thinking of that right now- tomorrow we want to get a little closer to Mont-St-Michel and see if we can get a visit in. We were thwarted by the weather last time (or rather we just did not fancy walking around in the rain) so we are looking forward to seeing it close up not from a distance when we first arrived.
Erquy is a small port on the north Brittany coast – we had found the Aire in our ‘go to’ book – ‘All the Aires France – North by Vicarious books. Ours is a little out of date (2015) but we figure still good for another year if you have Plan A, B & C just in case one is closed. This one was not closed – €6 for a secure sight taking 40 vans and right next to the beach with toilets was in our opinion worth it. We arrived early (1:00pm) but by 6:00pm it was getting full – my philosophy on getting to Aires is try and arrive before 5:00pm – no guarantee of a spot but you should have half a chance.
A stroll along the beach (probably a mile long) and I decide it was time for my first swim of 2019 (and maybe my last?) – I don’t do budgie smugglers so my traditional British trunks with a draw string would have to suffice – the problem was the elastic had gone so I had to rely on the drawstring not failing (perhaps I should invest in some budgie smugglers after all). Anyway, the string held so blushes all round were saved.

Leaving Landeda

Bretagne and back – Days 4 & 5

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Landeda – Camping les Abers
Nous sommes arrivons – 26th June 2019
Having driven through rain, into sunshine, arrived at our 3-night campsite and settled in with a beautiful sunset the night before – the rain then followed us. I’m not a superstitious bloke but I can’t help the holiday gods have got it in for us this year (see Bonnie Scotland posts). We would not be deterred though and decided that the forecast was looking good for the afternoon and decided on a walk around the peninsula. Heading north out of the campsite we were on the coastal path – the GR34 which runs all around the Brittany coastline. The wind was blowing a hoolly coming from the north, so it was a real struggle. We marvelled at the kite surfers in the shallow Brittany waters thinking what a rush of adrenalin it must be, Janette was convinced she would drown if she tried it even in only 2 feet of water. Janette does not do water anything above ankle level. I love it, but for kite surfing I reckon your arms must be like Arnie Schwarzenegger to hold on to it – there seems to be a harness around the waist which takes a lot of the strain, but I bet the arms still ache. Moving on to the next water sport featured today – wind surfing. Heck those boys and girls can do some serious speed, imagine if they could get a car on board, you’d be over in Brittany before you could say ‘Merci monsieur’ and scoffing those croissants in a jiffy! Needless to say the scenery was magnificent and by the time we turned the corner at the top the wind was behind us.

Deserted beaches on our windy day walk

Some great flora (looks like sea holly – Echinops, but not sure) seen on our walk today

The Breton flag – like the Cornish the Bretons are proud of their heritage and like to show it.


Inevitably at some point during a motor homers blog the talk turns to toilets. Not this time the distress that can sometimes happen when emptying them but about some French toilets on the GR walk. I had mistimed my lunch and coffee and was desperate for number two’s when we came across a wooden shed next to a car park, upon closer inspection it was a loo – saved. On even closer inspection it was a wood shavings loo, never heard of one, never seen one before and without going into too much detail, once your ablutions are complete, you cover the necessary with wood shavings – and you know what? All you could smell was wood, I suggested we change to this method of toiletry for Hilma to Janette – she carried on walking.

Cycling the old rail track to Lannilas – 27th June
Today started dull, windy, misty with a spot or two of rain. We decided on an early walk and lunch before setting off on the bikes to Lannilas about 8-9km away. I had been told the there was an old railway line that had been turned into a Velo Route – so a bit of googling and checking cycling websites I was able to create a GPX route and downloaded it into the Garmin. Off we went looking forward to a flat ride but as usual around the coast you must climb out from the sea first. We wondered when the nice flat bit was going to appear however as ever when cycling in France there is plenty to distract one and it was not long before we were on the old railroad. Into Lannilas just after lunch and it was a sleepy little town, not much happening, so we headed straight to the patisserie and cheered ourselves up with some apple pastries thinking how virtuous we were cycling and wasting all those calories (if only).
Our last day at Camping les Abers and we wandered off to the beach each with our own thoughts of the wonderful spot we were in. I would definitely come back at some point – but there is still so much of Europe to explore we might never make it back here so it’s important to hold those memories in the head.
Next stop – we are heading to Erquy not far from Mont-St-Michel. We want to visit the Abbey rock which we didn’t on the way here as the rain dampened our enthusiasm and we thought we needed some decent weather to appreciate it fully.

We don’t slum it in Hilma – hats off to Janette for being such a wonderful cook xx

Bretagne and back – Day 3

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Dramatic coast, mist and a moustached bale.
Brittany in our grasp – 25th June 2019

Leaving Treguier was a little sad as it was such a lovely spot – we could easily have stayed another day or two and explored further, but we had an appointment to keep at Camping les Abers near Landeda. Once again, the coastline was dramatic and the views tremendous as we trundled (we can’t say ‘sped’ or ‘zoomed’ in Hilma because she just doesn’t do that) along the D786 stopping at St Michel en Greve, a huge bay, to watch some tractors and diggers performing what can only be described as mesmerising to-ing and fro-ing, scraping or digging up mud and depositing it further out in the sea by the low tide mark. It’s one of those moments where one has a little inkling of why something is happening but don’t really know the full picture – a bit like life really.
Moving on the weather was slowly improving and we stopped for mid-morning Kuoign Amman cakes – speciality of the region, meant to be the fattiest cakes in Europe – lovely.

HANDS OFF – it’s mine. The wonderful Kouign Amman – burp!

The sea mist was rolling in on this beautiful bay (Baie de Kernic) creating a real ethereal view with white sand and turquoise water.

The mist was rolling and changing the view every 5 mins – Baie de Kernic

There was a strange ‘farmers’ type construction advertising goodness knows what which was quite amusing – not sure about the moustache – perhaps it was a local barber’s advert? Perhaps it was to ward off those holiday makers like us so we don’t spoil their landscape! Whatever it was for – it certainly made us laugh.

What the heck is all this about? Strange moustached bales warding off the incomers? A barber shop advert or the young farmers messing about?


The Kouign Amman (pronounced Queen Amman) was delicious and I think the calories will hang around for a few days. When fitness programs talk about burning calories off, well I reckon this one cake would need a firestorm before they were gone.
Camping de Abers is a wonderful site, small compact hedged off areas taking 3 to 4 caravans or motorhomes, gives each section an air of privacy. We have a fantastic view over looking the bay and Hilma is literally 50 yds from the beach – heaven.
The weather was warmer, the sun was shining, the wine had been cooled, life was good.

Shoes off and away we go – the beach goes for a long way when the tide is out.

This was taken at about 22:30hrs – beautiful