So long UK, Bonjour France!
Last time I spoke about the issues we had and the frantic last minute changes we had to do. But I’m glad to say that everything came together in the end and we were on our way only half an hour later than we had initially planned. But all things considered, I don’t think we did too badly. So we hit the road, leaving the house behind and all the reality of what we were finally doing hitting home.
Our first leg saw us on a 3 hour motorway drive toward Hampshire. At the end was a lovely late lunch with Ellen’s Aunt and Uncle before we bid them farewell and carried on toward to Portsmouth.
Portsmouth harbour was far more painless than I had experienced on Toto 3 years ago. Also, a lot more comfortable with your own onboard tea and coffee making facilities! We were boarded in good time and made our way up to our cabin to dump our overnight bag. Then it was down to the restaurant for dinner and the first test of how much our French may or may not have improved. I think we did ok all things considered. I know many just take their own food for the ferry on these trips, but we quite liked the food on offer and were willing to pay for it this once.
After dinner we went for a wander around the ship and up on the deck to see the lights of the U.K. disappear over the horizon. A quick pint in the bar and we were struggling to stay awake after the day’s events. A fairly early night in the bunk beds was followed by a terrible nights sleep for both of us and a pretty early breakfast also meant we didn’t eat much the next morning. Nonetheless we scurried back to our cabin to get showered and then down to Noodle to hit the road in France!
“Drive on the right. Drive on the right” the mantra as we disembarked the ferry, up the ramp and on to immigration. Fingerprints scanned (for the 6 month France long term visitor visas we have) and a semi legible attempt in French by me to check if we still had to validate the visas online or not, then we were off. “Drive on the right. Drive on the right.”
First stop, a supermarket for the essentials (baguettes and cheese). Then into St Malo’s old walled city for a wander round and crucially, for Ellen to visit the old butter shop for some artisanal buttery goodness. St Malo is a stunning old city, former home to corsairs (French privateers) during the ages of exploration. Forts dominate the surrounding islets and the city itself, whilst a couple of replica ships graced the many harbours.
Leaving St Malo, we headed eastward along the coast toward Mont st Michel, stopping halfway for a fairly healthy lunch of fresh tomatoes, salad (we love fresh French salad), cheese, baguette and meats. The usual faire when we are in France. Then continuing on eastward toward our booked aire for the first night. “Drive on the right. Drive on the right”.
We turned off the main road down some narrow side streets. We’re still not sure why Tom Tom Go took us that way, and are starting to regret purchasing a truck subscription for a campervan… you live and learn I guess. Anyway, Ellen took Noodle through the narrow roads raised up above the flooded fields and wetlands that spread out toward the sea. A true test of the new suspension. “Drive on the right. Drive on the right.”
As we approached La Gréve, we drove over the single lane bridge across the man made river outlet. With stunning views across our left of Mont st Michel. Ellen slowed down and reminded me to get some video for Instagram and then found herself exiting the bridge on the left side of the road and face to face with a rather large tractor, who showed no sign of slowing down. “Drive on the…?”. Evasive manoeuvre masterfully executed and disaster averted. Phew.
It was bound to happen today, but I was fully expecting it to be me if I’m being totally honest!
That evening we figured out the aire system and got our access card for the camping-car park network. Then we went out for a little wander and of course had to swing by the little salted caramel factory and shop next door to pick up some treats. We didn’t stay out long given the cold so returned to Noodle for dinner and to discuss options for the next couple of days.
A very comfortable night’s sleep followed. A blessed relief after the terrible night on the ferry the night prior. Showered and fed, we were then the first at the “dalek” by the dump and fill point the next morning. Ellen emptied the internal stuff and I sorted the water and waste water. For some reason, maybe the water pressure was very high, the water kept spewing out the new connector we have. It was fine at home but here it was a balancing act to get enough pressure to fill and not so much that it back washed violently. Anyway, we fully topped both tanks so we could go off-grid for a few days. (Or as long as the batteries would last, given the lack of sun and short driving distances planned).
Onward toward Mont St Michel!
When I’d been over 3 years ago on the bike, I didn’t have time to visit the Mont itself. I’d only managed to fight the long queues of vehicles to get to the nearby farm shop, buy some biscuits for the group of friends I was travelling to meet and snap a quick photo. This time was vastly different. No queues, barely any vehicles at all really, and we were the only vehicle in the Aire at the end of the enormous car park. Oh and the weather was now decidedly worse…
We wrapped up in the warmest gear we could, scarves wrapped around faces, hats on and hoods up and headed out toward the bridge across to the Mont. A brief stop in the visitor’s centre and we then found ourselves faced with not only the majesty of this huge Abbey perched on a rocky islet in the sea, but also the full assault of the February wind and rain. Crossing the bridge wasn’t the most pleasant, but we were grateful for the walk. But we were definitely getting the bus back!
The Mont itself is a fantastic example of medieval architecture, the narrow streets of old buildings winding round between the rock and ramparts, up toward the abbey entrance. The route taken by many a pilgrim over the 1000+ years that a religious structure has existed at its summit.
We enjoyed a good few hours exploring the ramparts and the Abbey, dodging the coach loads of tourists and the French school groups. A debate around lunch and budgeting later and we found ourselves at restaurant Poulard indulging in a Norman fluffy omelette each. An interesting yet tasty experience. These omelettes were fluffy to the point that the interior of the food was almost a foam. Rather odd to us Brits perhaps, but delicious nonetheless.
Another wander round to the less visited side of the Mont and we then found ourselves, despite the weather calming down a bit, on the bus back to the car park. Back at Noodle, we chilled for a half hour as we discussed our options. Before leaving we’d been saying we’d probably stay here a second night, but after some discussion we decided the cold was getting a bit much and it was very early to just hang about. We had also considered a trip to Chateau Corbourg. But for the same reason, and the fact that this was France, and full of Chateaus, we decided could afford to skip this one in order to push further south and hopefully better weather.
So the decision was made to carry on toward our next city destination, Rennes.
We’d chosen a suitable looking off-grid location on ‘park4nite’ and switching off motorways on TomTomGo (then Google maps, cos TomTomGo really wasn’t doing its job.) we headed south west toward Rennes. Unfortunately our first choice was a non starter. We drove in to a car park by a small chateau and past a tiny graffitied rusty caravan. By the time we reached the end of the car park and Ellen had turned Noodle around, the occupant of the caravan had come out looking possibly stoned, cigarette or otherwise hanging out his mouth and tried to flag us down.
We “Noped” out of there immediately…
A quick whip around the corner to another car park to find another spot and we found a better place. It was further out but at the end of a road at a trail head for local woodland walks. Needless to say it was a rather pleasant evening, calm and quiet. But being off grid for the first night in a foreign country, especially after the weird moment earlier, did mean we didn’t get the best night’s sleep. Nonetheless the next morning the plan was to get up early before it was too light and head into Rennes at a city centre park up.
So, the following morning (this morning) we up and showered and then hit the road. Getting to Renne before rush hour, and a minor panic about the emissions zones and bus lanes later (we do have a crit’air sticker 👍) and we were at the park up and having breakfast and a much needed coffee.
The day was then spent walking into and around a Rennes. We are glad we decided to do this today as today (as we knew thanks to Lonely Planet) was market day. Far from being touristy, Rennes has a wonderful mismatch of super old and super modern buildings living side by side as a huge weekly market bustled below. As I’ve said, it wasn’t touristy, meaning the market was full of local people going about their weekly market shopping. No stuff out for tourists… not “tatt”… no Brits/Americans (except us). It was also a great chance to immerse ourselves in the language a bit better and to try out some traditional Britanny Faire, galette saucisson and Kouign. The former a double crepe wrapped around a monster sausage and the latter a sort of layered bread compressed into a thick disc and soaked in molten sugar which had then solidified. Both were amazing…
We spent the rest of the day walking a round Rennes and its fantastic architecture, the basilica, the Brittany Parliament building and remains of the walls dating back to the 5th century.
Heading back to Noodle we did a bit of potential pickpocket dodging before enjoying a lunch and planning sesh in the van. We did some research on Nantes, the next must stop city on the list and realised A- that it was only 2 hours off the motorways and B that everything was actually open on Sundays and not on Mondays (how very un-French!)
Decision was made then. We cleaned up from breakfast and lunch and hit the road to a simple park4nite with easy access to a railway station to head into Nantes the next morning by train.
