Well, we have survived the storm that was supposed to hit Brittany at 80 m.p.h last night, although we both agree that it had been far worse the night before at Quiberon.
We survived the storm at Quiberon
Something quite amusing happened yesterday morning. As we were leaving the aire at 9 am, we encountered a few vans parked around the exit, with a van trying to squeeze out between the bollard and the paying machine using levelling blocks, as this had broken down and nobody could get out. I was told help had been called for, but being Sunday it might take a little while. A frustrated camper tried jumping on the bollard itself to make it go down, but to no avail, but at least it provided a few moments of entertainment. A few minutes later, the gendarme arrived, but he couldn’t do anything either and even tried kicking it, which, of course, didn’t work! The guard finally arrived at 9.20 am and operated the system manually and we were able to leave without further ado. Very efficient, we thought, and we carried on merrily on our way.
A wet walk on Port Blanc
We spent Sunday afternoon and night at the new motorhome aire at Baden, situated on Route de Port Blanc, Kerhilio, at 800 metres from the jetty de L’Ile aux Moines (www.airedesiles.fr) This is quite an impressive and beautifully kept motorhome aire and the €8 daily fee for this time of year included electricity hook-up, wifi and showers, although these were switched off! The water borne operated with a €2 coin and we were more than happy to pay for this, as we were running a bit low and desperately needed a shower. The aire has room for 50 motorhomes, but there were only 3 last night, well protected from the strong winds by the surrounding trees.
Stopping by the oyster beds
We loved the walk down to the beach and seeing the oyster beds in the fishing village. It was raining quite heavily at one point, but we didn’t really mind as the scenery was so lovely.
Oyster beds
Oyster beds under water
We went to Port Blanc after making a final visit to the Carnac Alignments at Kerlescan, with its 13 rows of the best preserved menhirs and the impressive Géant du Manio, which stands 6 metres high, and its Quadrilateral. This is situated just a short and pleasant walk through the woods from the D196 road.
Getting excited about finding the Giant!
The Quadrilateral at Manio
The Gian at last!
Little me by the Giant of Manio
This morning, we left in a downpour and got rather wet whilst filling up with water and emptying the grey water tank, but the rain cleared soon after and it has remained a sunny and warm day (22 ºC in van at the moment at 5 pm). We went back on the D101 to north of Vannes, N166 to Bohal, about 10 miles south of Ploërmel, D776 to Guer, D772 to north of Guichen and D577 to Pont Réan, about 6 miles south of Rennes.
The motorhome aire by the Vilaine river and stone bridge
We are parked right by the Vilaine river, with a beautiful and picturesque view of the stone bridge on La Cale de Pont Réan, Rue de Redon. It really is lovely here, with 10 pitches for €5 a day, which is collected by a guard in the evening.
The charming stone bridge at Pont Réan
There are lots of people walking along the river, so it seems to be a very popular place, with a few restaurants and all kinds of shops, as well as canoeing and other water sports. This is another charming stop to bear in mind for future reference.
The river walk and motorhome aire viewed from the stone bridge
We are going towards Alençon tomorrow and have already made an appointment at the vet in Broglie for Beano’s worming before returning home on Saturday.
The quay and access for water sports at Pont Réan
Good blog, Mummy! Love the opening picture of the waves, looks like it was really exciting! It’s good you included the websites and prices, although it’s a bit naughty of the aire to charge you and then not turn on your utilities… Funny story with the bollard though! French impatience does amuse me. Love the pictures of all the monoliths, reminds me of Merlin!
Thanks, Pepo, but I can’t take any credit for the first picture, as Dad took it first thing in the morning whilst walking Beano! Yes, it was disappointing that the showers were turned off, as they were included in the price (maybe in the summer months). The French impatient? Oh la la! Almost as bad as the Spanish!
I miss Merlin, but at least we have Atlantis!
I’m happy that you weathered the storm and that the weather turned nice. I can see why the one stone is called the Giant…it is huge.
Thank you, Karen. It really is a very impressive stone. The mind boggles as to how they managed to transport all those stones 6,000 years ago: there are thousands of them!
I finally get to see you ! What a wonderful capture that is. You are truly such an adventurist and I love the photos of your stay here. It’s places that I’ll never get the chance to visit. You really should start working a travel guide for campers in this area. People would love it!
Thank you for the compliment. This is the reason why I write this blog, hoping that some like-minded travellers will read it. I do hope you’ll come over and visit some of these places. I am truly in love with France at the moment, as every region has its own character and something amazing to offer.