Saturday 2nd July – Saturday 16th July

Saturday 2nd July

Packing for two weeks is very nearly the same as packing for eight weeks! For someone who likes holidays, especially in my motorhome, I’m really not that keen on packing! Anyway, we are packed, the paperwork is correct (or is it?!), we’ve counted up the ‘only stay in Europe 90 days in 180 days rule’ (since Brexit) and we are off!

An easy journey, with a short stop at Maidstone services, to Blackhorse Farm Caravan & Motorhome Club site near Folkestone https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-sites/england/south-east-england/kent/black-horse-farm-club-campsite/?utm_source=localsearch&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb. A lovely sunny evening with drinks outside and a Charlie Bigham’s fish pie to enjoy.

Later in the evening a couple and their teenage daughter pitched next to us. We discovered they’d just bought the motorhome and had travelled, in one day, from Inverness to Folkestone. Tomorrow they are travelling to Latvia to surprise the wife’s parents who don’t know they are coming. You do meet people with interesting stories – wow!

Mileage = 129 miles

Sunday 3rd July

As we organised the trip at short notice, Le Shuttle trains were very expensive. I did not want to give P&O Ferries the benefit of my money after they sacked those 800 people, so we are trying out Irish Ferries, who have fairly recently also taken up the Dover to Calais route.

We got through border control without problem and joined the queue for Irish Ferries’ check-in. I handed them my booking confirmation and could see this was causing some consternation. Eventually the guy explained, even though I had a confirmation with a booking number, Irish Ferries had no record of my booking. He couldn’t sort it himself so we had to go to the naughty building on the other side of check-in. The one we’d seen others sent to back in March.

The Irish Ferries people inside were very nice but initially said we would have to buy the tickets again – at today’s prices – and argue it out with the booking agent, the Caravan & Motorhome Club, later (they are closed at the weekends). Whilst grasping our fully paid confirmation and knowing the money had left our account, you can imagine I was not keen on this suggestion.

In the end, the guy next to us had a similar problem, with a different booking agent, so they just let us both get on without purchasing another ticket. Ooops, not a good start. I’m already worried about the return trip and I haven’t left the country yet!

Breakfast on Irish Ferries was OKish, not that hot. The ship itself was almost empty, like a ghost ship, on a Saturday in early July – odd.

We set off on the easy French motorways, zooming along with the SatNav on silent and, without noticing, drove miles past our turnoff requiring us to drive two sides of a large triangle to get back to our route. Second ooops.

We found a site which was a real gem – Camping Sainte-Claire at Neufchâtel-en-Bray http://camping-sainteclaire.com/en/. The owner’s home is at the centre and you seem to be in their garden – roses, trees, well manicured grass and pitches, old out-buildings used for the facilities and a river running alongside. It also has a small restaurant; we decided to visit the site on the way home and try it out. A real find.

The site also has an aire a few yards along the road, which also looked perfect for an overnight stop.

Mileage = 145 miles

Monday 4th July

We continued our journey towards Brittany, stopping at some services we realised we had visited before. The services have a somewhat confusing layout since both directions of traffic can enter the services, but there are barriers stopping you crossing over to change direction, but not helping you remember where you parked.

After elevenses we saw they had liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) available which we use as fuel for cooking, heating and the BBQ. There are two bottles inside the motorhome, which look like Calor gas bottles but are an (expensive) re-fillable version I had fitted as you can’t buy Calor gas in Europe.

We pulled up next to the pump and, as always when re-filling the gas, scratched our heads as to how to work the machine. Eventually, we found the right adaptor and attempted to fill. A message popped up ….‘interdict en boutaille’, which we now know, from the security man who appeared, ‘forbidden in bottle’. Only cars can use their pump. This hasn’t happened before and is a bit of a worry that other places will be the same, defeating the object, and we will run out of gas!

We arrived at our fully paid up front site for the week, Le P’tit Bois Camping at St Jouan des Guérêts https://www.ptitbois.com/en/ and things went downhill rather. We had opted for the, not inexpensive, top level of pitch (with your own bathroom). They had allocated us a pitch backing right on to the, potentially, noisy swimming pool, restaurant & kitchens. On top of that the pitch sloped considerably, fine for a caravan, but it would be impossible to get the motorhome level.

The site said that was all that they had available. I definitely did not want a week listening to the screams of people enjoying the pool or hearing the noises of the restaurant/kitchen. Plus, there was no way to make the motorhome level on that pitch and I did not want to try sleeping with the blood running to my head.

The site was initially intransigent, I was tearful and ready to come home. Husband went into hiding!

Eventually, we found we could down-grade to the next level pitch, they would not refund the difference so we lost our bench and sun-beds. However, as you can see, the pitch was extremely large, in a pleasant, hedged corner and we enjoyed it very much. Such a shame about the dreadful start.

Mileage = 220 miles

Tuesday 5th July

After some domestics, emptying and re-filling the motorhome, adjusting the pitch to that shown in the photo above, we set out on the bikes to top up on supplies.

I have bought myself a new electric bike. Betty Blue’s battery was failing and the cost of the new battery versus the improvements to electric bikes meant it was probably better to start afresh. The bike is a Kalkhoff Endeavour 1.B Move and it could go 80 miles in one charge. I will not be going 80 miles in one go!!

We tried the local Aldi but could only get half the things we needed so moved on to the Cora hypermarket. We hadn’t heard of Cora before but it was certainly large and had lots more choice. We purchsed a rack of lamb for dinner.

Wednesday 6th July

A day out to St. Malo by bus. Just a few yards from the site is a bus stop which offers a service every 1.5 hours to/from St. Malo for €2 each way!

OK, the bus took a while on the way there but it was very easy. St. Malo was rather nice.

It is a tourist town and we did struggle to find a restaurant that wasn’t a crêperie. I like a crêpe as much as the next person, but we were looking for a nice lunch out. Having almost given up we found L’Entracte https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063755401614. It has outside seating but the sun was bearing down and it would’ve been such a shame had we missed the lovely interior. Great staff and lovely food. Perfect.

We then walked away from the centre and along the beach where we thought we could pick the bus up and ride into town and out again. The friendly bus driver said we couldn’t do that but that she would be back in 30 minutes, so we had time for a drink in a local bar.

Once on the bus we could tell the driver – a woman – had a far more positive attitude to getting the job done. She drove at some speed down narrow streets with parked cars, through a very narrow, ancient brick arch, round bends and roundabouts all without pause, but very safely. We were back at the site in record time!

A swim in the pool. Small disaster, Husband had not remembered to wear his Speedos! Speedos are often a requirement in European swimming pools (I think to avoid people wearing shorts which may have been worn for other activities and thereby bringing dirt into the pool).

Thursday 7th July

Husband bought some swimming trunks from the site shop; he had rather over-estimated his own size so we had to make a return trip to swap them for two sizes smaller!

Today was a relaxing, chill day. Not so relaxing for the UK Prime Minister who was forced to resign.

There was another revelation; after years of laughing at me if I ordered ‘pink wine’, Husband purchased a whole bottle of pink wine which we both very much enjoyed before getting on to the serious business of the red.

Friday 8th July

Today we cycled to Saint-Suliac, which is listed in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Most-Beautiful-Villages-France-Anniversary/dp/2080261339/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=. A lovely ride but tricky to find somewhere to park one’s bike. Eventually, we found a fence in the car park to which they could be locked.

The villages on the list have to be rural and with a population of under 2,000. We enjoyed a stand-up elevenses stop below – I cannot tell you how hot it was standing there!

We enjoyed a stroll around the ancient streets and along the beach before finding a nice lunch in Les Restaurant Doris, which doesn’t seem to have a website or social media page. Pleasantly cramped, great seafood and friendly service.

Saturday 9th July

A chilled day. Husband set off for a walk and I set about knitting and listening to my podcasts. A sandwich lunch and another trip out to the Cora hypermarket for supplies.

Husband had a shower, then ‘buzzed’ his head with his electric hair thingy. He then trimmed his beard without replacing the guard, thereby cutting his beard off. It has made his sun tan look rather silly!.

A beer at the site bar and brochettes on the BBQ.

Sunday 10th July

Today another cycle ride, first to the Cimetière à Bateaux (boat cemetery), a beach turned into an extra-ordinary place.

Continuing onwards to the Plage de la Passagère where we walked a short distance along the coastal path. It was very reminiscent of Salcombe.

We returned to the site for a Club Sandwich at the bar/restaurant before a relaxing afternoon followed by a dip in the pool.

Our last evening so a big treat tonight, we are cycling to the Buffalo Grill!! This is a rather modern building, without the famous big red roof. We were amazed to find it very busy so we had to wait outside with a light beer whilst enjoying watching the traffic. Good food inside.

Monday 11th July

Moving day, we are travelling to Normandy and Camping Port’land at Port-en-Bessin http://Camping Port’land, Port-en-Bessin. We tried to get in here last year without a booking and found ourselves rather stuck. This time we are booked for 4 nights.

What we should have done on final approach was to go into Bayeux, round the ring road and back out again but, no, we thought we could cut across country; it was only a 5 mile route. Husband was almost immediately driving through a maze of single track roads, hoping not to meet someone coming the other way. I think he had to do a three/five/seven point turn about 4 times because of even narrower roads ahead and, one time, because the telecoms company were up a pole and had a whole road closed. It was a rather tense end to our journey. My question is, why do we continue to make mistakes we’ve already made?! Ooops.

On arrival at the site, it was déjà-vous all over again. Reception showed me our pitch on the site map ….yup, it was backing on to the pool! Fearing another melt down, I gingerly asked if there might be another option. “No problem” she said with a smile. What a difference!

When we found our new pitch, I thought the other two motorhome units were missing but, no, this expanse was all ours, including that bit behind the hedge! We tried to have drinks in different parts of our vast estate, but I don’t really feel we used our pitch to its full potential over the 4 days.

Mileage = 113 miles

Tuesday 12th July

Going through the secret gate at the rear of the site, we walked along the cliff top where, just a few yards from the site, was this beautiful memorial, ‘Monument Commémoratif 47 Royal Marine Commando’.

The memorial had a lovely view over Port-en-Bessin, our destination. On the way down I did raise some concerns about the steepness of the descent; I was right to do so, the journey back up took several stops to ‘admire the view’.

Lovely stroll around the little streets of Port-en-Bessin and then all around harbour.

The restaurant we had enjoyed on our previous visit was closed that day, but we had a very nice lunch in L’Équipage https://www.lequipageportenbessin.fr, a restaurant on the harbour front, with a thoughtful message on my post-lunch coffee cup.

Wednesday 13th July

The best day!! The whole day was a ‘best bit’!

We set off by bike on the, mostly chalk, very well signposted coastal cycle path – Le Velo Maritime https://www.lavelomaritime.com – which you can join immediately just outside the site.

The route was lovely, helped of course by the weather, but just the best ride. The derelict chapel below being one of the attractive sights en route.

We cycled as far as Le Cavey on Omaha beach and found a ‘beach café’ for elevenses.

We then continued to the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer https://www.abmc.gov/normandy just above the beach. It was the busiest place we had seen during our trip – cars, coaches and people galore.

We were locking up our bikes when someone asked if we had a knife. I immediately assumed they wanted to borrow one to cut a piece of string or something. No, they were just warning us that you wouldn’t be allowed in if you were carrying any sort of knife. We were somewhat amused by their comments, only to find the people behind us in the security check-in queue had a tiny 2 inch fruit knife and they were sent back to their car to get rid of their weapon!

The Normandy American Cemetery was much grander than the Commonwealth War Grave Commission cemetries we have visited, but it seemed to lack the soul that the CWGC achieve. Still very attractive though.

After our visit we returned to the beach café for sustenance; the tide had gone out quite a bit.

Thursday 14th July

It is Bastille Day and we are in France!

After a slow start we walked into Port-en-Bessin for lunch, this time via the road route. Unfortunately, we were too late for all suitable lunch opportunities so ended up with a ham and cheese baguette sitting on a wall. The beach in front of us was covered with thousands of scallop shells.

Back at the site we put away the chairs, awning etc. and packed up ready to leave the following morning. We had a pleasant meal in the site restaurant, watched an old episode of House and then set off, along the cliff top to view the Bastille Day fireworks over Port-en-Bessin.

An interesting walk back in the dark, scores of people and lots of stationary cars on a lane which is normally deserted.

Friday 15th July

We packed up and made a return trip to our new find, Camping Sainte-Claire at Neufchâtel-en-Bray http://camping-sainteclaire.com/en/. A pitch slightly away from the central area this time, but spacious and peaceful. It is a site which attracts a lot of one night only visitors, like us, this can be unsettling, but here it just seemed to be something gentle to watch with new people arriving, setting up etc.

We had dinner outside the site restaurant as planned under their red umbrellas. Lovely people and delicious, simple food. A site to return to again.

Mileage = 143 miles

Saturday 16th July

To Calais for our Irish Ferries return trip. They let us on with just the booking number I was clutching in my hand, so that was a result!

* My black eye was caused when I tripped up a sloping kerb on 30/6; my new glasses suffered a blow, hitting my eye, plus I scraped my knee and, at the time the least problem, hurt my little finger. The finger was a nuisance and began to drop during the holiday, so I had an x-ray on my return. It is a ‘bony mallet’ – a small break. The finger splinting went on for weeks.

Mileage = 241 miles

Total trip mileage = 991 miles

To see a map showing the location of the sites we stayed at and a few words describing each one, click Menu / Maps at the top of the page or click here – https://tiddleyompompomontour.com/tiddleyompompom-motorhome-stops/