July 2nd - In Dinan

July 2nd - Dinan

We have been away now for just over a fortnight and in that time have not had internet access often and when we have it has been poor connections so I am writing an update to bring the blog up to date.

We left home on Sunday 17th June with a view to touring Belgium and Holland. Our first night was spent at a small campsite on the edge of Chichester harbour. A footpath led from the site to the edge of the water and we had a lovely walk along the sea wall for a few miles in sunshine but a cool breeze. From this site we headed to Dover from where we were due to depart to France in a couple of days. In the meantime we toured Kent by bus visiting Canterbury (very disappointing) then Dover. At Dover we visited Dover Castle overlooking the town and were fascinated by the varying history contained within its boundary walls from a Roman faro (lighthouse) to secret 2nd World War tunnels running for four miles under the castle. We spent the afternoon going from one exhibition area to another enjoying every minute. We then caught a bus to Folkestone then another to get back to the site. We were so glad that the driver of our first bus suggested a Family Explorer ticket which saved us a fortune that day.

Thursday 21st saw us boarding our ferry to take us to Dunkerque. This took us towards Belgium with the additional benefit of being one of the cheapest cross channel routes. Whilst on the ferry we decided that in view of the appalling weather forecast we had seen we would not go to Belgium and Holland as planned because they would probably get the same weather as the UK. Instead we would turn right and head towards Brittany and see what the weather brought. So off the ferry, turn right and head towards Rouen we did. We stopped at a site at Neutchatel-en-Bray about 15 miles short of Rouen and just off our route. Two nights here were lovely and with a cycle route passing right by the entrance on an old railway line we took advantage of it and cycled along the a village a few miles along the route. We covered seven miles that day and Sue was quite pleased with herself as it was the furthest she had cycled up to then. It was also a thoroughly enjoyable route. Before we left the next day we bought some of the local cheese and a bottle of Pommeau which is a blend of apple juice and Calvados, very tasty too. Our site here was lovely and I am sure we will revisit at some time in the future.

Chateau at Mesnieres en Bray on our cycle ride

Saturday 23 rd saw us arriving at Merville Franceville Plage to the East of Caen. From its description the site sounded superb being only yards from a white sand beach. In reality it was sited as described but overcrowded, very tightly packed and noisy. We explored the area a bit but were not sorry to leave after our second night there.

Monday 25th saw us on our way again, this time to Bayeux to view the world famous tapestry. Although this is really a work of embroidery  it was a really impressive piece and made in England but for the Bishop of Bayeux it was used to tell the story of King Harold and Williams invasion of England to a population that were fairly illiterate. Well worth a visit if you are in the area. We continued on our way to a site not far from Mont St Michel. It was situated out in the country in grounds behind a Restaurant (La Couesnon) and we enjoyed a couple of days here exploring the area by foot and by bike. Although we had intended to visit Mont St Michel by bike from the site I had tried the route on my bike the day we arrived and at nearly 14 miles there and back we judged it as too far for Sue to cycle comfortably and did not want to discourage her at this stage. We had bought a new bike for her the day before leaving the UK and she is still getting used to it.

Bayeux cathedral

Wednesday 27th June Travelled from La Couesnon site to St Cast de Guildo just East of St Malo. We had visited here a couple of times by boat and like the area very much so stayed at a campsite on the outskirts of the town overlooking a bay nearby with extensive mussel beds. Coastal paths led from the site into town and we were just minutes from our pitch to a sandy cove that overlooked  Fort La Latte.  We thoroughhly enjoyed our time there, especially the ice creams in the town centre - delicious.

Enjoying the site and sunshine at St Cast

Friday 29th  Travelled from St Cast de Guildo to Binic where we stayed at La Panoramic site, five minutes walk from the sea front. For the princely sum of 12 euros (£10 approx) we had a site with free wifi and a heated indoor pool, each pitch separated by hedging and even 2 boules pitches. Not bad value and we could have stayed longer but we were meeting friends.

Sunday 1st July. We had arranged to meet our friends in Paimpol mid afternoon but from a text had discovered that they had stayed overnight at Lezardriuex not far away so we drove there to meet them for coffee. What they hadn't told us  though was that they were secured to a pontoon in the centre of the river with no access for us to get to them. After a short phone call we drove to Paimpol where we knew there was an aire that we could stay at. If you don't know what an aire is it is an area provided by the town council usually, specifically for motorhomes to park and stay the night. Some have services that are coin operated while others have none. Paimpols is about two minutes walk from the harbour and easily accessed. When we arrived there was plenty of room so we parked up and had lunch, awaiting our friends on their boats who were due to arrive at about 15.15. We met them as they headed up the narrow channel for the lock to the marina and after they had gone through the lock we assisted them in securing in the marina. Plenty to catch up with we helped them empty their beer store while chatting then left to get changed to go out for a meal. They came to More Time on the way to the restaurant as several had not seen the motorhome yet, I think they were impressed. Our restaurant selected by someone who had been there before was unfortunately closed so we took pot luck at the Restaurant du Port and had an excellent meal there before retiring to one of the boats for a nightcap. Sue and I were the ones with the slightly longer walk back to our motorhome but we'd had a lovely evening.

Monday 2nd Travelled to Taden to a campsite close to the River Rance where we had visited in Half Time a couple of times. This is probably our favourite place in France and only a short distance into the medieval town of Dinan. After having lunch when we arrived we had a walk alongside the river to Dinan and explored a little before heading back to the site and typing this update.   Looking forward to the next few days here................

Dinan port