Author: taraabit

Tuesday Sept 19th 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above views are of Roscoff which we walked around whilst we waited to get on the ferry, an attractive old town and home to the origin of the French onion sellers who travelled to England to sell their wares.

When we eventually got onto the ferry we were positioned right at the front so when we docked in Plymouth just over 6 hours later we were first off the ferry. Driving on the left again is strange and it’s pitch black, haven’t been used to it being so dark so early.

We are parked up on a large car park overlooking Plymouth Sound, readying ourselves for the trip north tomorrow. It will have been exactly 8 weeks since we last left home.

Monday 18th September 2017

We have had virtually no phone signal for the past 24 hours so posting a blog etc has been difficult.

Sadly we left yesterday’s aire and I’m sure that Le Palus Plage will live in my heart forever, having said that the coastal scenery here in Brittany is stunning, I would urge anyone to visit, it’s like a Cornwall but with more space. We made a detour to Pointe de L’Arcouest and boy am I glad we did, there was an aire there that we could have stayed on for up to 3 days and although there were no food shops etc if you were well stocked what an amazing place to stay. There were boat rides around all the islands just off shore and you could walk for miles and spend hours on its rocky foreshore, the following photos don’t do it justice and unfortunately my main camera has run out of charge. Look it up on google!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at a medieval town called Treguier for lunch and then made our way to this aire at St Pol-de-Leon where we have a view across a tidal bay and a long peninsular jutting out to sea, even now at 8pm it is sunny and pleasantly warm.

Tonight is our last night on French soil, sad but c’est la vie!

Sunday 17th Sept 2017

We drove 90 miles today mainly on a large A road so it was easy motoring, our destination of an aire at Le Palus Plage, it is basically a field with no facilities in a small bay next to a gorgeous beach. So peaceful and attractive.

After lunch, along with other motor homers French, German and us English,  we helped a French couple extract their motor home from the mud in which he’d managed to get bogged down, an example of European co-operation with no mention of Brexit.

We took a long slow walk along the beach, the tide was out and the sand firm and pleasant to walk on, at the far end of the bay we spent a happy hour “rockpooling” but only returned with a few pretty shells. As it was Sunday we treated ourselves to confit duck for tea and were so stuffed we couldn’t manage any dessert so instead we went for a further long walk, starting with a climb up to the headland, then another walk along the beach and finished with a walk along one of the country lanes, quite ready for a glass of red on our return.

Sept 16th 2017

Well we are no longer stranded in La Guerche de Bretagne, I’m pleased to say that 10.15 am a mechanic arrived clutching a shiny new starter motor, 15 mins later he gave me the thumbs up to turn the ignition key and Homer burst into life, what a relief it was. I went across to the garage to pay and came out 10 mins later 426.14 euros worse off, what can you say, its all part of owning any vehicle and the original part was 17 years old, I’m just pleased there was a garage there to deal with it and the part was found.

We phoned Alison and Peter to say we were on our way and approx 90 mins later arrived at the aire at Beauvoir near Mont St Michel, it costs 15.5 euros per night but it is a very attractive aire with large individual pitches.

Alison and Peter were waiting and after we had parked up we jumped into their car and drove to the designated parking for the free shuttle buses to Mt St Michel, we spent a good three hours wandering around in lovely sunshine and had a great time. I could write reams about the place but it is just as easy to look it up on google, all I will say is after you get past the first 100m of the commercial element it is a fascinating place to walk around.

We returned to Homer for a tea/ coffee and sat and chatted for a while we then walked approx 100m into the village and enjoyed an evening meal returning to Homer at approx 9.45pm.

After the trauma of the past few days it was good to be on the road again but there was a pleasure in knowing we’d had a problem and been successful in dealing with it.

Friday 15th Sept 2017

We are parked up in an aire/ car park in the centre of La Guerche de Bretagne, its free and there are electrical points that can be used. We got here yesterday afternoon the 14th via Ancenis a town on the Loire where we had lunch, we drove 129 miles to get here, not always easy driving as the sat nav took us along some strange routes.

We have a very limited connection to the internet and phone signal  so communication is difficult and I can’t upload photos to this blog.

We didn’t intend to be here, other than for a quick night stop, but life doesn’t always go smoothly, this morning when I went to start Homer he wouldn’t start, I suspected a dead battery and assumed the need for a new one. I tried twice to contact the breakdown service but because of poor phone reception kept losing the signal. So as there was a garage about 50 m away I decided to take the direct approach. I explained the problem and not long after a mechanic walked across, he checked the battery and decided that was fine, further investigation resulted in the discovery that the starter motor had burnt out, I learned the French for starter motor from this. Of course not being a common vehicle, even though it’s a Fiat Ducati engine, the obtaining of a replacement isn’t easy. The outcome is that the replacement won’t arrive until tomorrow, Saturday and so we are having to spend another night here. At least it’s free to stay, which as the new starter motor is at least 300 euros, plus the cost of fitting we need to save somewhere.

One small consolation is that there is everything we need within a few hundred metres of where we are parked,  bars, restaurants, bread and cake shops, supermarket etc, plus we always carry enough food in Homer for at least two days meals in case we can’t get to a shop.

So it’s an enforced rest for us, we were aiming to get to Mont St Michel today to stay for two nights as we are meeting up with Peter and Alison tomorrow, so now it will only be a one night stop and not much of a day together tomorrow. Never mind plans have to be altered at times and thankfully we have the flexibility to do so.

Fingers crossed we are on the road again tomorrow.

Wed 13th September 2017 

It’s been a somewhat overcast day today with strong winds blowing in off the atlantic, we’ve heard there are 50mph winds in the uk today so perhaps it’s not surprising we are on the receiving end too. We are in an aire at St Jean de Monts about 200m in from the beach and the wind is whistling over head and the trees are bending under its force. We have just come back from an hours walk along the promenade and it was tough going walking into the wind, the sand is blowing in from the beach and stings on contact with the skin, and yet it is still 18 degrees at 7.45 pm.

On the way here today we stopped at Les Sables d’Oleron, again a town with a long beach fronted by a promenade, it also has a harbour and is known as the home of the Vendee Globe the round the world single handed yatch race, which starts and ends here.

Tues 12th Sept 2017

Following a stormy night we woke up this morning to beautiful sunshine, we decided to head to the far end of the island to visit a lighthouse – Phare de Chassiron. This lighthouse was built in 1836 and is 50m high, it takes 224 steps to get to the top and my knees knew about it when I emerged onto the viewing platform. But oh boy what wonderful views, it made the whole experience worth it.

We drove off the Ile de Oleron and 93 miles later we arrived here on the Ile de Re another large island connected to the mainland by a bridge which cost 4 euros to cross.

The Ile de Re is 18 miles long and quite narrow so you are never far from the sea. It is a very unspoiled uncommercialised island, with a very mediterranean feel. As it is very flat it is a mecca for cyclists, which is good for them but a pain in the bum for motorists trying to accommodate them. We have driven to the extreme end of the island to where the road runs out and we are parked in an aire 40 m from the beach, it is obviously a place where the mussels and oysters are harvested.

September 11th 2017

With the last of our guests leaving yesterday we took the decision to start our slow journey home a day earlier. The weather is changing and is becoming unsettled, locally people are saying Autumn has arrived early and already the leaves are falling off trees, today we have had blustery weather and the occasional heavy shower, people are walking around in winter coats and woolly hats, we are still comfortable in shorts and a fleece.

We have travelled 144 miles today, going north west to the coast, we stopped for lunch at Talmont, just south of Royan and then travelled on to the Ile de Oleron where we are parked up for the night on aire at Boyardville, costing 9 euros including electrical hookup.

Ile de Oleron is connected to the mainland by the longest bridge in France constructed in 1966, it is 1.8 miles long, the island is the second largest French island after Corsica. It is famous for its oysters.

Where we are staying tonight is on the coast and there are boats moored in the marina and on the river, there’s a beautiful sandy beach and just off shore Fort Boyard the home to a game show that was on TV for many years.

September 10th 2017

Over the past four days sadly our guests have departed, as the other recent blogs show we have been out and about during the past week and we have also continued working on the house and grounds as the following photos show. There has been some training on tractor driving and maintenance and other agricultural skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have also cut up enough logs to keep us going when we next return in the winter.

When we spend more time here and at different months of the year you become more aware of the rhythm of the life, ploughing, harvesting, tractors with bales of hay passing by, then trailer loads of logs for the winter and currently it is the hunting season.

Sunday is the day you become most aware with guns going off from early morning, they do however have a cut off point of midday, today we have been very aware of the local hunting association being in the fields next to us. There is obviously a system in place with half the group tearing around in vans with dogs, pulling up and shouting instructions and then roaring off again whilst the other half stand still in the field for hours, the sound of tthe dogs and hunting horns growing ever increasingly louder. Some years back rules were brought in that camouflage clothing couldn’t be worn anymore as the hunters shot each other so now they have a new “camouflage” the man in the field is our neighbour Joel.

September 8th 2017

Today the ladies felt in need of a little retail therapy and Bergerac is very well suited to this as it has a good selection of ladies fashion outlets. Thankfully we were able to get Homer onto the car park we normally use close to the town centre, which since we were there last has been re tarmaced, there were even parking bays for motor homes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst they were enjoying the delights of the shops in the modern part of the town I went for a ramble around the old quarter and took some photos. We had a snack lunch in Homer and then we drove a short distance to  Chateau Monbazillac famous for its wine, most of the wine is too expensive for my pocket but it’s pleasant to walk around and view the chateau.

 

 

 

 

As we took the ring road around Bergerac on the journey home I saw the large Decathlon superstore off on of the islands, it seemed more my type of retail therapy so I pulled into their car park and we went in. I bought two sweaters which wash and dry quickly, ideal for when we are travelling in Homer. Of course my senior purchaser couldn’t resist the bargains and also bought two sweaters plus a pair of trainers!