Travels in a Campervan

Tuesday 30 August 2022

Nido's parked up at another free stopover at Plage du Palus, not far from Plouha. There's about 20 marked motorhome pitches with a large car park that I guess could also be used. There's no services here except for waste bins, but there are a couple of bars and restaurants, plus the usual pétanque courts and a children's play area.

We left the Camping Car Park aire at Hirel yesterday morning having used the facilities to fill up with fresh water and dump waste. Leaving the site was easy - just offered up our CCP card to the keyboard and the barrier lifted. The app shows exactly what time we entered and left and the €12 charge - overall very impressed with our first stop with them. Next stop was a Super U for food and diesel. I'd bought a couple of extra USB-C cables for our phones and tablet before we left home, but I think they're Chinese specials as they charge very slowly compared to the ones we left at home and seem to get a bit warm. So I bought another from Super U which seems to be working much better; I'll get another the next time I'm in there are put the Amazon purchase down to experience.

Fully-provisioned up, we drove to a parking area at Saint-Cast-le-Guildo, high above the harbour and marina and on the coastal path. Overnight stays (no services or bins) are allowed, but we just wanted somewhere with a view to enjoy our lunch. Refuelled, we took a walk along the GR34 coastal path finishing up at a lovely looking beach - Plage de la Mare. Unfortunately dogs aren't allowed on most of the beaches between 15 July - 15 September, so we didn't get to explore it or have a paddle. I guess it's understandable wanting to keep their beaches dog-free during the summer season, but it's disappointing all the same. Salty was again very miffed that he could see the sea, he could smell the sea but he wasn't allowed in the sea! We retraced our steps back to the car park and carried on, passing through lovely Breton villages with honey-coloured stone cottages, lovely gardens and hollyhocks out front.

Our stop for the night was a large car park at Plage de Saint-Maurice. There's no facilities or bins, so all vans need to be self-sufficient. There were several vans here already but plenty of space for use to park. It appears in Search for Sites as an aire, but really it's more of a free overnight park-up, so was also in the Park4Night app. I've tried to get on with Park4Night but to be honest I'm often disappointed by the park-ups on offer. Many seem to be down a narrow, rutted track or in a lay-by and it's just not how we like to camp. In the UK, it recommends lots of stops that have 'no overnight camping' signs, yet people still stay and recommend it. This seems to go against the spirit of 'free-camping' and I'd prefer not to get the 'knock on the door' in the early hours being told to move on. Horses for courses I guess.

We parked side-on with a great view of the bay. The tide was out but on the turn and high water was 9.30pm. So after dinner we wandered down with Salty to check out the small church above the estuary (it was closed) and explore the beach - he's allowed on this one! There's large areas of the beach by the estuary that are currently out of bounds due to dangerous blue and green algae, so we steered clear and headed in the opposite direction, keeping a close eye on the racing incoming tide to make sure we didn't get cut off. Salty really enjoyed his first paddle, even racing into the sea and jumping the waves; he normally doesn't like a sea that fights back! After plenty of zoomies and covered in sand, he looked a much happier dog. Back at the van he needed a good brush down outside - a rawhide treat was sufficient bribery to keep him still for a while.

We sat outside to watch the sunset, with a cup of tea and the day's patisserie. This time it was two coffee eclairs from the Super U at Matignon. Good value for money, firm and not droopy but a bit skimpy on the icing and a good coffee taste - 6/10 on the Patt Scoreboard! The night was very dark with a great view of the stars and we all drifted off to sleep listening to the sea. Salty was shattered and quickly drifted off, soon dreaming of his time on the beach; when dreaming he makes little high-pitched yelping noises, not in pain but I guess sleepy barks of happiness!

This morning I woke first and took Salty for a walk on the beach, before cooking some breakfast which we ate sat outside watching the tide roll in. The journey here was only about half an hour. I'm enjoying these short hops as we're not in a hurry and the drive generally takes us through some lovely Breton villages. There were a couple of spaces available when we arrived. The pitches are on grass and fairly level, facing towards the sea.

We had melon for lunch (sometimes a baguette free lunch is needed!) before having a bit of a wander. One of the challenges we've found when travelling with a dog is the beach ban, which makes it harder to find a suitable park-up. Ideally, we like somewhere where we can take him for a good walk but this isn't always easy to find. Here they allow dogs on the beach between 7pm and 10am. This afternoon I took him for a walk along the coastal path while Cathy had a snooze (she's not been feeling great again today), which gave him some exercise and this evening we took him down to the beach for a run around and a play in the surf, followed by a cup of tea sat on our chairs watching the swimmers and the tide coming in (like the oldies that we now are!). So we may start to head inland soon, to find some forest and river walks. There's still plenty of Brittany to explore.