Bunker Walk

It was a lovely day today, full sun and a cooling breeze, best weather for a while. Ideal for sitting around in the big pool complex if you like that sort of thing. After a lazy morning we decided to take the back exit to the site which leads to a coastal path. One way is to the St Naziere bridge, but a bit too far, or the other way round the headland to St Brevin-l'Ocean where we walked yesterday. 

Along the way we passed some of the huge German fortifications from WW2, they were really massive concrete structures built into the dunes.
We also stumbled into a sort of craft workshop where they were handmaking wooden models of some of the big old houses and things in the area. We bought a little model bathing hut for the bathroom and a typical fishing machine of the region for my wall, all for €12. We had a sit down in the village and a coffee and got back in time to catch a few more rays from the afternoon sun.

St Brevin-les-pins

It rained all night, very heavy at times, so it's a relief that this morning was just grey and murky. We left the Aire after a morning coffee, then had another coffee and croissant breakfast, at the super U market before doing the shopping.
Apart from usual provisions, we bought 3 sea bass cos it was 'buy 2 get 1 free' and some of the local fleur de sel (fancy salt) in a souvenir pouch.

PS no queues at petrol stations today!

We have come about 40 miles up the coast just north of Pornic and close to the mouth of the Loire. The skies cleared as we reached Le Fief site in the afternoon. It's a nice site with pitches scattered between the many cabins and it has a big pool/spa complex. Not very busy despite UK half term so we effectively have our own sanitares block. Walked into St Brevin, not much there and it was deserted, after cooking the fish and did not get back till 10:00pm. Red sunset, no rain forecast, beach or pool tomorrow!

Lots and lots of Rain

It did not rain overnight, but it's been chucking it down again all morning  with the odd clap of thunder. Not good for local restaurants, it's Mothers day in France today!

There was a brief respite at about 2:00pm, long enough to go over to the market, which was just closing, to grab something for lunch. More rain in the afternoon so we watched Lincoln on DVD before going back into town for dinner. It was still raining and the town was almost deserted. We had moules and a pizza in one of the few places that were still open.

- a photo album of Noirmoutier -

Most of the big motorhomes are gone now, we are on our own in one row. Observing the days happenings, the big posh motorhomes seem to be owned by middle aged couples with a poodle (or similar). They use them like weekend retreats. They arrive Saturday afternoon go to the market for oysters etc. have lunch with friends on Sunday and leave about 3:00pm. Probably a middle class status symbol.

Island Tour of Noirmoutier

We left the Indigo campsite in brilliant sunshine and did a tour of the island this afternoon, it's not very big just 12 miles long. First to L'Herbaudier on the northwest tip, a fishing port and marina with a big boat in shrink wrap waiting to be fitted out by the Beneteau workshop.

We had coffee and a snack sitting on the harbourside. It was very warm and humid today. On to La Gueriniere, half way down the south coast. Beaches and old windmills where we watched an old couple fishing for clams up to their waists. Finally Le Gois where there is a causeway to the mainland. We were there about an hour before low tide just as cars were starting to cross. A lot of people gather to watch.

We came back to the main town again where we are spending the night in an Aire with at least 85 other vans. It's close to the town, so we walked into the shopping area for something simple to prepare for dinner and an ice-cream to cool down. We could see a big storm on the mainland near Pornic this afternoon which has drifted over the island now and it's bucketing down, with thunder and lighting, all evening. 

WiFi, provided by the tourist office, is free and fast but there are too many people sharing  it, cos we keeping getting disconnected.

A new-moutier experience

Rosemary Titanic pose on the jetty

A fine start to the day, so we did the reverse walk to yesterday and strolled along the jetty to get a panoramic view of the Bay de Dames.

We returned in time for Pecheur a Pied, (fishing on foot) a local pastime. I went with  my pink bucket at low tide and gathered a couple of inches of winkles to make a starter for our dinner.

It took 10 mins to cook a few dozen of them and 20 mins to winkle them out with a sewing needle, for Rosemary to gratin. They were a tasty starter, sort of Escargo de la Mer, but you would starve waiting for a main course if I were doing them.


The mosquitos have won. We are going to the Aire in town tomorrow afternoon for another (hopefully mosquito free) night on Noirmoutier.

I emailed the Caravan Club to get our ferry rescheduled to 8th June, so we will be home just in time for Queen's jubilee tea.

Beach at Indigo campsite

A typical bit of beach at the waters edge. Plenty of live shellfish here to be gathered. It's called Pecheur a Pied - fishing on foot.

All washed up and walked out

The main object of the day was clothes washing which Rosemary accomplished with the aid of the sites aging washing machine and tumble drier.

The promised fine day was actually quite damp to start and it wasn't until late afternoon that the sun broke through.  We walked along the fine sandy beach, which is scattered with shells and small dead crabs, for about a mile to an attractive headland where there was a fashion photo shoot just finishing off.

We had an ice cream and a sirop (popular cheap cold drink) and walked back down the lane through the woods. There are a number of fine victorian houses hidden among the trees. Google will tell us more later.

We finished the day with a fishy supper and Grand Marnier crepes.
Its 4: 3 to the mosquitoes at the moment  (bites : swats ) but I have got the vaporizer working so we are now winning.

Third Island - Noirmoutier

After an unscheduled, but quiet night, in the rather unattractive Aire we have made our way to the very tip of the Ile de Noirmoutier. It is at the northern end of the Vendee and connected to the mainland by a short bridge (since 1971) and a long causeway, that is dry at low tide. Picked up provisions and more diesel (20L limit!) at a Eclerc on route.
It's our 48th wedding anniversary and Jeans 40th birthday today. We parked in Noirmoutier itself, using a very   convenient Aire, to have a celebratory lunch. Fruits de la Mer, local Merlu and Sardines with the local potatoes which are a French gourmet potato apparently.

We are now on an Indigo campsite right by the beach in a protected wood and the weather is set fine for the next few days. The island and the main town seem very nice, a little less chique than Re perhaps, but more interesting than Oleron. I thought we would  be happy here, but I have just been bitten by a mosquito. It's the first of the holiday, but probably not the last.

The strikes in France seem to be ramping up, so not sure when we will return. I think I will reschedule the return ferry by one week in any case. Should be sorted by then or France will be in real mess by the sound of things.

Vigilance mes amis!

La Rochelle to hell

I had a text from Katherine about the fuel strikes in France which we did not know anything about. Joined a short queue at the local petrol station and filled up. Just about get me to Roscoff I hope.
We went back into La Rochelle and visited the very modern aquarium. Very interesting, huge tank with sharks was the highlight for me.
We had a coffee and then a platter of charcuterie which all took too long. By the time we had shopped and found the next 5 star site on the Vendee it was after 7:00pm and there was no one at reception. In fact after driving into the site there was no one to be seen anywhere!

Click for some more photos of La Rochelle

So we set off to find another site nearby which was also unmanned and almost deserted.
We finally located a municipal Aire for the night in St Gilles de Croix with 10 assorted French vans and we had a fish sandwich for super.
Not quite where we intended to wake up on our wedding anniversary. C'est la vie.

La Rochelle

After a few more heavy downpours overnight we left the site with 'the best sanitares ever - Rosemary' and parked the van at the edge of village of La Flotte. We walked down to the harbour via the market where I bought a bottle of Pineau Cognac (made on the island) and Rosemary bought a chique little top and some bits for a picnic lunch. We moved a little further towards the 3km bridge and stopped by the beach for a picnic before leaving the island around 2:00pm, after a last photo.

By now it's a lovely sunny day as we drove the short distance into La Rochelle where we first came with the children about 35 years ago. We are stopping overnight on an Aire which is part of the Yello Park and Ride car park. There are dozens of vans here and the €12 fee includes unlimited trips into the old port on the frequent navettes (shuttle bus).
We took a bus to the old port and wandered around for a couple of hours. It had nice relaxed atmosphere with lots of pavement cafes around the harbour and the old watch towers. A pleasant place to be, with plenty to see and nice shops in the side streets. We will go again tomorrow morning before we head for a 3 night stop on the Vendee.

La Flotte

It pissed down with rain all night (yes, really pissed!) and most of the morning, so we decided to do a tour of the island. We have ended up in La Flotte, at La Grainetiere site, for one last night on Re. The tour included a stop at the very attractive UNESCO listed town of St Martin de Re, another of Vauban's fortifications built in the form of a star. It has an entrance into the old port which is now a trendy marina with trendy restaurants all around for the trendy holiday makers.

Yes, we did have a nice lunch there and at a trendy price!

Wavy grass near La Flotte

La Flotte is another of those '100 most beautiful villages in France' . The campsite site is also very nice with one of the '100 most beautiful sanitares in France' - according to Rosemary.

Market Day

Well it certainly is not hot, but nice enough to walk along the beach as far as the road into the village. The Saturday market was in full swing. As well as the normal covered food hall there were lots of stalls outside selling local stuff/tac. 

The food market also had lots of local food although it was pricey (eg potatoes €8-11/kilo). The two fish stalls put Leicester market to shame. We bought some veg to make Ratatouille, strawberries, post cards and a bargain t-shirt.We walked back through the lanes and as we did we had the first few spots of rain. 

There were a couple of heavy downpours in the afternoon but it cleared again in time for a walk down the beach before dinner. Rosemary cooked up a prawn risotto and I sprayed some chantily on the strawberries. 

I am just watching extra time in the UK cup final as it pours with rain again. C'est la vie !

Second Island - Re

Ile de Rey is a smaller island than Oleron and is accessed via an €8 toll bridge from just outside La Rochelle. We stopped at a huge E Leclerc just before the bridge for a  quick steak hache and frites lunch and to buy some fish.
The fish counter/department is as big as our co-op, with every sea food you could image. A huge tank of lobsters, a podium of spider crabs (live of course) and prawns as big as   bananas. Rosemary just bought normal size prawns and some cockles, to go with the leftover sea bass and it turned out very tasty indeed.

We are staying on a beach site called Les Amis de la Plage amongst the pine trees at La Bois Plage-en-Re.  The sea is just over the dunes so we can hear it from our pitch again. It was very warm today and may even be hot tomorrow apparently. I went for a paddle and picked up a few shells and pebbles, much to Rosemary's annoyance cos I have too many already she says.

A few of my photos on Google

St George's walk

Despite the oysters, prawns and mussels we are both well. Another indifferent start to the days weather so we decided to walk into the nearest town, St George D'Oleron,  using the cycle paths that are found all over the Isle. It took about 45 mins each way, so by the time we had a cup of coffee and walked back the sun started to make an appearance.

Spent a bit of WiFi time contacting Mark and Katie and researching the site options for the next few days. Showed some Brits on the site round our van. Not sure why, cos they are big and they have a caravan with a big awning full of stuff!

We will be off to an Aire in La Rochelle tomorrow. It's a Park and Ride with a bus into the old town. Then it's nearby Ile de Rey for the weekend.

Fresh Fish at La Cotiere

It was a miserable windy and wet morning so I took the van to La Cotiere an important fishing port in France (ranked 5th). The fresh fish is sold direct to restaurants and shops on the island. We bought some sea bass, prawns, oysters and mussels. The strange thing is the mussels were Irish, from a supermarket.

It's brightened up a bit this afternoon, as usual, so we may cook and eat the fish outside. At least it's not cold out of the wind being surrounded by the sea.

It didn't clear up so we ate inside again. I opened the oysters (2) and opened the wine, while Rosemary steamed the mussels and fried the sea bass. The  pre-cooked prawns looked after themselves!

First Isle - Oleron

We left the Aire with most of the other M'homes and stopped at a supermarket for provisions half way to Ile d'Oleron. It's separated from the mainland by a long bridge which is toll free.
The islands main economy is sea food and in particular Oysters for which the region is famous. There are oyster beds, or claires,  all over the flat terrain. We stopped at Port Boyardville where you can take trips to Fort Boyard (TV reality series) but we lunched instead!

First moules and frites of the holiday but probably not the last. We are staying 2 or 3 nights near St George in an ACSI site. The weather is back to normal, generally overcast with sunny spells, afternoon and evening  but not very warm yet. I made my version of Tartine de Berger Basque with left over toasted baguette, goats cheese, a pack of jambon and pimento de Padron garnish. It was surprising successful, even impressed the chef de van!

Road to the Isles

We left the site mid morning and did a circuit of Saint Emilion before parking in the Aire just outside of town. Then we walked down to L'Antre des Verres the terrace bistro where Rosemary first discovered tartine of goats cheese and duck. She had it again (it was not as good) while I had a Basque version with jambon and sheep's cheese. Nice food, great service and lovely position just below the bell tower. We bought a couple of vine plants for, Mark and Jen. I had a look in the underground caves at Clos de Menuts where they have 60,000 bottles of wine maturing. I chose one and half bottles which cost  €20. We have few wine regions to go yet.

Set off north west up the Gironde to find an Aire for the night. First one we found was at Blaye by the huge  citadel built by the engineer Vauban to form part of the defenses for Bordeaux. It's a world heritage site, we looked around the grounds and had coffee and crepes in one of the cafes. As it was still early we moved on and found a much smaller one with 3 vans by a small marina. The wind was quite strong and there was nothing else around so we gave it a miss.

Finally stopped at a big Aire, there over 40 big mainly French vans here, at the fishing port/marina at Mortagne sur Gironde. Whenever we stop in an Aire a French person takes a photo of the van. They think it's just a toy until they see inside and always go away impressed.

Rest day at Saint Emilion

We stayed on site today counting the Neverlanders from the ACSI rally as they left the site. Its very quite now.

We walked around the lake, about a mile, then I decided to try fly fishing for course fish. The lake is only for campers and there was no one else fishing. I was very happy because I caught 2 small roach on a tiny fly.

Its been the best day for weather for about 2 weeks. Spoke to Brits heading back home from Spain. Apparently its been very windy on the Costa's for about a month now. Also spoke to a like minded German who retired early and enjoys his motorhome travels, minimum planning, minimum clothing and cooking local produce. However he has moved pitch at least. 4 times today trying to get his satellite system working! (needs a bigger dish IMHO). We talked about football, he knew about the premier league champions and was dead chuffed to meet people from 'Lestah'.

We are cooking  the skirt recommended by the lady in L'Eclerc and I am drinking 'girlie' pink wine.There seems to be a rose version of everything these days! We have some Asian campers next to us BBQing with chopsticks, thats wierd!

Bought a WiFi voucher to try and sort out my photo uploads and get Rosemary Sunday and Monday papers in one go.  We are planning to move on tomorrow towards La Rochelle but probably stay at an Aire en route.

Shuttle Bus and Lunch

We had a late breakfast and took the 2:00pm shuttle into Saint Emilion by which time the weather was brightening up.  Apart from its reputation as an upmarket wine region it is also an attractive fortified village. It is full of wine caves/shops and one owner we spoke too said that business is poor, even though it is a holiday weekend. There are too many shops for anyone to make any money or the French wine myth has been finally rumbled. The same may be true for fancy restaurants.

We found the one we lunched at on our last visit a few years ago but eventually decided to eat down near the old gate. I had plat du jour, Rosemary had magret du canard avec pommes frites maison (duck and chips). We had a nice glass of a 2005 St Emilion to go with it. Walked back through town to where we bought a grape vine 5 years ago that is now filling our greenhouse. Rosemary's phone has a photo of some of our grapes as a screen saver. We showed the shop owner who seemed quite impressed that they were growing in England (at least he muttered something that seemed complementary).

We will return tomorrow or Monday and maybe buy a couple of bottles of a good vintage wine for Christmas and a grape vine for Mark.

St Emilion this Weekend

We left Moulin de Campech mid morning and stopped at a L'Eclerc supermarket in Casteljaloux to shop and get some diesel for the holiday weekend (pentecost). Rosemary had a long chat with the bi-lingual lady on the meat counter and came away with a good paella and some beef skirt (bavette) to grill. The cafe was serving moules and frites in a €11 plat du jour deal, but it wasn't our lunch time. The weather is not so good for the next 2 days, showery and cool, but we have some small bottles of wine to compare! We found the Yelloh campsite eventually after a tour of the Bordeaux vine yards. The company are not allowed to put up many signs and the name has changed to add to the confusion. We have a nice pitch with a lake view and there is a free shuttle bus into the historic village of Saint Emilion twice a day.

A day at the Moulin

We had a day on site at Moulin de Campech, Rosemary did the laundry and I had a day fly fishing. She had a more successful day than me, enough said. Spoke to Mark on the phone, his house purchase is almost complete. A fine day, but not hot.

The biggest motorhome ever arrived on site but they would not allow him over the little bridge. He is parked up outside, on the way back to UK after 9 months in Spain. Sally who works part time on the site had Nuventure Surf.

We are off to Bordeaux wine country tomorrow, let's hope the ducks are OK. Rosemary is looking forward to duck and goats cheese in St Emilion this weekend.

Heading North

It rained heavily all morning and scuppered the plans to drive south into the mountains. We decided to head north and use the day to get at least half way to the Bordeaux wine region. The GPS took us the direct way through the eastern edge of the Landes forest which extends all the way the West coast. We are staying at least one night on another small British run site with mill streams  running down both sides of the site and a fishing lake in front. As we arrived a Nuventure Surf pulled in to the pitch opposite. 

It's a strange site, very quiet. Rosemary is doing lots of laundry and I am going to fish.

Here are a few photos from the day in Lourdes  - - click here

Sanctuary and Grotto

We had a bit of a storm last night, a lot of rain and one flash of lightening. But it was sunny again this morning and we took the bus into the centre of Lourdes.

We spent most of the afternoon going in and out of numerous chapels and the grotto where Saint Bernadette saw the apparitions which made Lourdes into the place it is today. Except that it isn't the actual grotto and the holy water is not the actual holy water cos they were a little way out of town and have been replaced by a more convenient location by the river. Nevertheless sick pilgrims and their attendants from all over Europe were queuing to drink or bathe in the water of the "new improved grotto" in the hope of a miracle cure. Never seen so many custom made wheelchairs like rickshaws.

We left the sanctuary area and went into town which is just wall to wall tack shops. Full of every souvenir from £500 Madonnas, 5ft high €200 candles, to Bernadette in a snow storm. Not to mention €1 decorative bottles from China to take home your holy water. We had a coffee and snack in an Anglo/French cafe boasting it served Tetley tea. The whole town appears to be either "caring" for sick pilgrims or benefiting from tourists in one way or another.

We went back through the Sanctuary area and followed a procession into the huge underground basilica where a service was being conducted for one of the pilgrimages.

We caught the bus back to site at 7:00pm and had a simple meal in the small site restaurant. Rosemary could not have the duck because a bird flu virus outbreak in the region has resulted in all the ducks being culled. Everything on the site is done by a very friendly hard working couple, including the cooking.

Lourdes and Lindt

We left the Aire, after posting some birthday cards, in the direction of Pau and Lourdes. We almost passed a Lindt factory shop in Oloron, but not quite. Rosemary managed to drag herself away with only €18 of discounted Lindt chocolate and a few free samples. We stopped in Pau for some shopping and arrived in Lourdes in the afternoon. A nice drive from Pau with snowy mountains in the distance and another pilgrimage site en route where we had pic-nic lunch.
We are at Camping La Foret, an ACSI site which has a bus stop for Lourdes at the gate, handy  for sanctuary and grotto viewing tomorrow. Clouding over now and a storm forecast tonite, time to cook the chicken. Called Jacky this evening, nothing much has happened in Croft as usual.

Bearnaise Tour

We decided to have a look at some of the other villages in the Bearne region before we go to Lourdes. Orthez was a waste of time but Salies and Sauveterre both on the Gave (river) of Oleron were very nice. The former is a thermal spa town, with a grand Casino, where we had a bargain coffee and chocolate, with a Sunday market/car boot sale. We had a donut at the market but nothing else.

Sauveterre is high above the river with lovely views south to the Pyrenees and has some old Basque fortifications. Plenty of photo opportunities.

Finally we stopped at the quirky Chateau Lass and walked around the gardens before having another coffee(1€). The young staff enjoyed practicing their English telling us a little about the place.

The Beau Rivage campsite was just  outside the Navarrenx city walls. Tonite we are stopping in a free Aire just inside the city walls. The €21 saving will go towards a nice meal out! We are so close to the campsite I can still use their free WiFi from the ramparts!

PS. We had the Menu Terroir at Taverna Saint Jaques, which was excellent value and quality with a buffet starter, main and desert all for €14. The taverna is named after the pilgrim way which passes the door.

Ancient Walled Village

We walked around the fortified village of Navarrenx which has loads of history, really old buildings and is also on the Pilgrim trail. A good butcher and flower shop plus cafe and restaurants. Not as pretty as expected but the explaination by campsite owner is that plants do not go out until after 15th May by tradition.
I walked down to the river Oleron by the site where there were ten  fishermen spinning for salmon. This part of the river is a renowned salmon spot but I did not see any caught in the half hour I was watching. We saw a pecheur packing his car later and he had caught just one, but it was 6 kilos! Apparently the salmon run proper has not reached this high up the river yet. There is a salmon festival here next week. We had prawns (lots of them) and rice and finished the two bottles of wine we started a week ago while listening to the second half of Lcfc match. Andrea Bocelli sang before the game and the championship cup was presented at the end. Amazing days for Leicester. Saw the highlights on MOTD later on my Chromebook.

Navarrenx - midi Pyrenees

After leaving Orio we stopped at a big Eroski supermarket to do a weekends shopping at Spanish prices. Then over the (non existent) border into France. We left the motorway at St Jean de Luz and headed East following a German motorhome that seemed to be heading on the right direction. We lost them eventually as we were going to Navarrenx one of the 100 prettiest villages in France. 

We were delayed slightly by a large flock of sheep being driven down the road towards us.

We are staying on the Beau Rivage, a site owned by Brits and 80% of us here are Brits! Not been round the village yet but it looks nice. Cooked the Eroski fish and ate outside
It's warm and humid but there is snow on the distant mountains.

Lazy day on site

We had a quiet day today, catching a few rays this morning and having a quick paddle on the beach this afternoon. The Atlantic is still quite cool and although it was a much warmer night and a sunny morning it clouded over later.  The Internet was down and I bought the wrong ACSI camp site book so no idea where we will stay tomorrow. There is a German youth Orchestra staying in the cabins and they were practicing in the Boga Boga bar this afternoon! We are going to have dinner in the local hotel restaurant tonite (recommended by the locals) as we are moving on tomorrow. This site is very European with Germans, Czech, Belgium, Swiss and French stopping  on the route south for a day or two. It's very handy for the AP8 motorway.

PS The hotel meal was very good and not much more than a regular menu del dia around town.

San Sebastion on Star Wars day

We went to the Orio train station which is over the river on the other side of town. It takes just 25 mins and cost €2.45 on the single track railway to the beautiful town of San Sebastion. We walked to the scallop shell shaped bay via the cathedral and then on to the old part of town. We had a nice lunch in a quayside fish restaurant and wandered around the narrow streets that have amazing tapas, called Pintxos in basque, in the bars. If only we had not just had lunch! Nevertheless we managed to share a huge ice cream cone in the square before getting the train home. Rosemary spotted a Spanish sports paper to take home with a report on Leicester City football celebrations.
A great day out in San Sebastian, which is a lovely place to visit and did a personal record number of steps (20,000). It's been sunny and very warm today and very tiring!

Walked into town

We walked into town to shop at the butchers and fish shop. Its steak and mussels tonight. There is a large allotment or market garden area on the route. Lots of nice cheap veg in the shops. The old part of town by the quay is where the pilgrims cross the river. The town seems to have whaling industry history with a lot of old photos, paintings and fridge magnets featuring whales.

This look like a farmer practising for ploughing contest by dragging a sledge across the grass. There was a small transporter nearby by with a picture of the animals on the front.

It started grey and is still cool out of the sun. Feel a bit conspicuous in holiday attire when locals have got scarf and gloves!

Orio - Leicester won Premiership title

We have moved 100 miles east today and are staying on a small  ACSI site at the mouth of the river Oria. 5 minutes to the right we have a sandy beach, with bars, 20 minutes to the left, past the marina, we have the old town of Orio with more bars, restaurants and shops. It's also on the pilgrim way to Santiago.

There are busses and trains to San Sebastian and we have good free WiFi, so this will be our base for a few days. The site has its own restaurant and small supermarket. The weather is good and getting a lot warmer tomorrow allegedly. It's nice here. Good location for sunset photos.

Followed the Tottenham-Chelsea match with a combination of live text reports and family WhatsApp conversation on smart phones. It was a 2:2 draw so Leicester are champions. It must be a carnival atmosphere back home. 

Mothering Sunday.

Walked part way into town and found a 'menu del dia' for €12 including wine, with very nice paella and lamb chops. Not sure what I had - can't find it in the dictionary. Then we watched Leicester draw 1:1 with Man Utd in the bar on site  to edge closer to championship. Spent the rest of day chilling out in the afternoon sun. There have been quite a few Spanish families here for the weekend.
PS I had grilled cows cheeks BTW