4 June 25: After an 8:30am ferry from Poole to Cherbourg (shared with centenarians and a pipe band off to celebrate the impending D-Day 80th anniversary) we drove south visiting some familiar places and a few new discoveries – the first of which being La Haye because our usual stop on this route did not open until the day after we arrived. Not our usual sort of site – we didn’t even use the pool as the weather was rather dismal – but it got us organised after our very early-morning start.

5 June 25: A wet day, so made the most of the good sanitaire facilities at the site, then to Vitré, a lovely Medieval town, which we can’t remember visiting before (although that doesn’t mean much these days).

Then to a nearby campsite built around some old chateau stable buildings.

6 jun 25: Brief visit to Ombrée d’Anjou, confusingly also known as Pouancé.

Then to Oudon, where we stayed two years ago. Had lunch by a lake and then set up camp overlooking the Loire.

7 June 25: Another rainy day so we caught the train into Nantes. The combination of being both very old, very rare train travellers and foreigners made it almost impossible to understand the automated ticket machine, but we managed, just in time to catch the train. As it happened, our tickets were not checked getting onto train, on the train, getting off, nor anywhere on the return journey (for which we had to pay again, nearly accidentally signing ourselves up for European annual rail cards). Considering the weather, it was a good day, including Korean street food and huge automatons.

8 June 25: Weather brightening up! Drove to Sainte-Cécile. A pleasant small town but, as we arrived on a Sunday afternoon, everything, including the campsite, was closed. A phone call of excruciating French eventually obtained the code for the gate lock and we were able to let ourselves in and pitch camp. The site is next to some extensive sporting and training facilities, and the site concierge (when we finally met her the following day) was keen to point out that the philosophy of the town’s mayor, and of the region in general, is that sport benefits both the body and the mind, particularly in the young. An admirable principle. It seemed churlish and tactless to mention that it was also one of Hitler’s better ideas.

9 June 25: We drove south, past La Rochelle and the popular Île de Ré, visited before, and across the causeway to the Île d’Oléron. Nice and hot now. Sal had found a quiet site near a long sandy beach. She had an initial altercation with the site manger due to using the sanitaire facilities before officially booking in. I think they’d had problems with people coming in from the beach for a free shower, etc. Once we had made our peace we set up camp and went to try out the beach. Plenty of people but very un-commercialised. No site-wide wi-fi (I needed to update a website) but the manager had directed me to a wi-fi room. In trying to find this room I accidentally blundered into a chalet occupied by an elderly French couple. Initially thinking this was the wi-fi room I said hello and started to plug my computer in. On realising this was their private quarters, I blurted my apologies and left, but I later saw him in the manager’s office, gesticulating in our direction. It’s only a matter of time before we’re thrown out, I thought.

10 June 25: Sunny and hot. We walked along the coast through Martha to La Continiere. Small port with tourist shops and bars, etc. Had very nice moules and a beer, although marred by a migraine. Later in the day I walked around an old seaside village, La Perroche near the campsite, and watched the sunset from the west-facing beach.

11 June 25: A very local day, as I was still suffering from my migraine. We both returned to the little village (above) La Perroche, and later in the day had a swim.

12 June 25: A tour of the island, taken at some speed, via La Pierre then Le Chateau, which was very nice, with oyster boats and a fort dating back to Napoleonic times. Also lots of WWII action recorded.

Then, in the afternoon back on the mainland, we were driving through Mareuil-sur-Lay-Dissais which looked pretty, so we stopped at the town campsite. We were the first guests this season! Or, possibly, ever (our French wasn’t good enough)! The place was empty but, as often happens, adjoining sports facilities. Had a walk around the town.

13 June 25: Left the deserted site and drove north as storms came south, giving the campervan a good wash. The rain stopped as soon as we arrived at Notre-Dame-de-Monts, where we stayed in a wooded site leading to a beach.

14 June 25: We walked, via woods populated with fantastic sculptures, into the interesting town.

While in Notre-Dame-de-Mont we bought seafood and looked around a sculpture exhibition in the garden of the town library.

Then back via the beach followed by some clothes washing (me) and painting a sea shell (Sal).

15 June25: A big Sunday market in Notre-Dame-de-Mont. Good food and bargain clothes stalls, which solved a birthday present dilemma. “Home” via the beach and a swim and a sand-sailing lesson.

16 June 25: Drove to the island of Noirmoutier and its main town, unimaginatively also called Noirmoutier. Through Barbatre, river estuary at Pornic and (via a very commercial-looking and fortunately fully-booked site at Les Bouillions) to Camping Le Pas du Gu. Nice, simple site. Walked to beach.

17 June 25: We let the sat-nav take us a rather unimaginative, ie main roads, route through Mazim, a little island village in a marshy area, over the famous bridge at St Nazaire, to La Roche-Bernard. Getting quite hot. Extensive marina. Walked to top of old fortified area.

18 June 25: Walking around the town, buying bread and other supplies. Later, I had a walk on my own and, inevitably, got lost.

19 June25: Rather than taking the main road we tried, much to the sat-nav’s disapproval, to go via country lanes, only to be turned back, after travelling several miles, due to road repairs. However, we eventually arrived, at lunchtime when everything is closed, at familiar Arzon, south of Vannes in Britanny. A tense, hot, wait before we could book in, and even then we had to change sites during our stay, such is the popularity of the area.

20 June 25: Special day. Walked to market for sea food and beer. After lunch, swimming and reading on the beach.

21 June 25: Exciting morning moving pitch. Walked into Port Navalo for an ice cream.

22 June 25: We walked into Port Du Croesty thinking, based on previous visits, that there was a Sunday market there. There wasn’t (must update our memory banks) but we did some shopping anyway, then, past the Tombe du Petite Mousse, to Port Navalo for moules and muscadet. Swimming in the afternoon. Followed by towel drying.

23-24 June 25: To Cancale, another popular site, where people had booked in advance. Not the true spirit of camping in our opinion. Nice site, housing both campers and nesting swifts, overlooking the sea at the base of the Pointe du Grouin, a peninsular and islands, now a protected area due to many rare species of flora and fauna, including horseshoe bats. More reminders of our shared wartime past. On the peninsular was a radio/radar station and defensive remains. In bunkers, built by the Germans in WWII below the radio station there are testimonies to French army and naval heroism, written towards the end of hostilities.

25 June 25:

Nearly home! We left the Cancale site and stopped at Cherruex for a walk along the coast path and sea wall. Several disused windmills and some oyster fishing and sand sailing at the distant water line.

Then to Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, which we missed by a day on our outward journey. Never crowded, this relaxed site seems more concerned with their kayaking and other sporting activities than they are about payment for their spectacular camping facilities.

26 June 25: We eventually managed to find someone to pay and, after a (for us) reasonably modest supermarket (i.e. booze) shop, drove to the small town of Barfleur, on the north-east of the Cherbourg peninsular. A nice place to sit on the quay and relax for a while and take a walk around the harbour to the “Grand Jette” before catching the ferry (also called The Barfleur) from Cherbourg.

The five hours on the ferry and the many inexplicable overnight road closures between Poole and Bristol meant that we didn’t get home until early morning.