Camping Le Bois Joli is a pleasant, small site, within the tiny hamlet of Bois-de-Cene. The area was ideally suited for cycling – very flat. We were only there for three nights and, arriving late, we could do little the first evening. So we got to know our English neighbours! As soon as they found out this was our first camping trip we were inundated with advice!
On our second day we cycled to “Le Petit Moulin” a working windmill which had been in operation (and in the same family) for some 300 years. Does anyone remember Camberwick Green and Windy Miller with that lovely noise the sails used to make as they rotated? Sadly this windmill didn’t have that sound track; the sails moved effortlessly and silently. For 3 euros each we were given a guided tour by the miller ALL IN FRENCH! He gave us a written English translation but it seemed rude to be reading while he was talking, so consequently we didn’t understand much.
We nodded politely every now and then. After our tour we felt obliged to sample Madame’s crepes with a glass of local cider (yummy) in a delightful tearoom full of old artefacts. I’d chosen to stay at Bois-de-Cene because of its close proximity to the Ile de Noirmoutier; a fascinating 20-kilometre long island reached by a causeway.
Noirmoutier was an early monastic settlement from the seventh century, with a twelfth century castle and a church with Romanesque crypt and, surprise surprise, a lovely market. It just happened that we had picked market day for our visit - quite accidentally of course! The little town was delightful; low, squat, whitewashed houses surrounding the castle and church. We happened upon a lovely little restaurant (which was absolutely packed) and although our meal took some time to arrive (oysters, stuffed fish [cod?] and fromage blanc with fruit puree) 
it was just 17 euros each and was delicious. 
Yes, I’ve put on weight... The island is as flat as a pancake with estuaries dividing the landscape. Salt is harvested from large salt pans and baby oysters are “grown” in inland saltwater lakes. The island is also famous for its potato crop. The day we visited the weather was perfect but it didn’t take a lot of imagination to picture this flat island in the winter. Apparently the weather during spring is fickle – sunny one moment, stormy the next – and the heat of the summer cultivates a vicious mosquito population! Thank goodness we missed both – perfect for us.
We said cheerio to our site neighbour Graham (who was travelling alone in a VW auto-cruiser and had been visiting the area for many years) and were off early to our next destination - Benodet.
I’ve described our next destination as Benodet but in fact we were just 3 kilometres from Carnac, 7 from Auray and around 60 from Benodet. What can I say about Brittany? It was all perfect. I can’t begin to describe each town we visited. It was all “chocolate box” pretty, clean, friendly - and very English. Our site, De Kergo, was run by a rather tired-looking woman; who looked as though she needed a holiday. However, she was very helpful and friendly. Each evening we would leave 90 cents out in a bowl and next morning she would leave a baguette outside our door. Graham christened her “the bread fairy”, as we’d wake up in the morning and there, like magic, would be our bread, lovely and fresh for breakfast.
We seemed to have lost our usual Dutch neighbours in favour of Brits. Graham was calling the site Little Britain there were so many. We became friendly with Jock and Ivy opposite, lovely young newly-weds Mark and Gemma (Graham wanted to adopt Gemma and take her home with us but I explained that Mark might have something to say about that) and Rick and Andrea “next door”. In fact, on our last night there we had Rick and Andrea over for a booze-up in Freda (with cheese to help soak it up), which went on until about 1.00am. The site was pleasant enough, with large pitches divided by mature hedges and trees.
However, although the sun shone for six days with deep blue stunning skies, the wind was strong and probably originated from Siberia! Once the wind dropped however, the weather was glorious. Our nearest seaside town was the most delightful little resort and port - La Trinite Sur Mer - and the yacht basin was full. 
The town was charming, with old stone houses and window boxes stuffed with geraniums. We also visited: Carnac a nice little town famous for its megalithic stones, which are prolific in Brittany and looked like rotting teeth, but all in perfect alignment. There were hundreds of them! Unfortunately, the French don’t believe in sharing their heritage with those who cannot speak their language. Okay, we should be a little more fluent, but we tried! So thank God for the Rough Guide.
The stones, two thousand or so “menhirs” stretching for over 4 kilometres to the north of the village – constitutes the most important prehistoric site in Europe, allegedly predating the Pyramids, Stonehenge and the great Egyptian temples of the same name at Karnak. See photo. Carnac, Benodet, Quiberon, Concarneau, Quimper, Auray, Pont-Aven; we did them all – stunning. Perhaps my favourite was the historic centre of the small town of Auray. We parked at the “Marie” and walked down a narrow, winding, road to the estuary and old port.
The centre was a tiny knot of old “Elizabethan” houses dotted around the waterfront, with narrow, steep cobbled lanes leading away from the waterfront. We were not surprised at the window boxes, as wherever we went towns were festooned with them. I would be here all day if I was to describe all these ancient towns but we are now seriously running out of time and the blog can be very demanding! Our next destination, Mont St Michel in Normandy, beckons and I’m sad to leave Brittany. But move on we must!
No comments:
Post a Comment