When we leave Plouarzel we decide to head down past Quiberon where we visited 7 years ago and loved it. We drive down past Brest and around the western peninsula. We come to a lovely little village called Audierne which i would loved to have stayed for the night but if we stop at every place like this we wont even leave Brittany before we have to leave France. So on we go and we arent going to make Quiberon today since we have taken the long road, so we find an aire at Concerneau. It is interesting when google decides which roads we drive on as just entering this town we drive on a single lane road that i am wondering if we are going to get stuck and not be able to continue. It is a Saturday afternoon and there are a lot of people on the roads and how awful would it be if we couldnt get the van through. Actually we did go to drive into one town and i went to turn right into the town centre when i was suddenly confronted by a low overhead bridge. It was only 2.6m high which would have taken the top off the camper, so i had to stop and try and turn in the middle of traffic and go back another way. I am sure all those around us must have thought we were dumb bastards.
We get through these narrow roads and as we drive into Concerneau it is totally buzzing and there are people absolutely everywhere. Apparently this is the 3rd most important fishing port in France and it is a popular seaside resort. We find the aire which is at the train station and there are a lot of vans there but thankfully there is room, although we are squeezed alongside each other such that you can probably hear everyone fart in bed at night. Not my favourite way to park up but its all we have here. We pay our 6euro and walk down into the port area to see what is happening. They have a walled village on a little island with a walkway leading into it. It looks like a smaller version of the old city in Dubrovnik with its walls and inside village. You can hardly move for people which surprises me as really there are only souvenir shops and food places. I wouldnt have thought the French would come here to buy souvenirs but maybe they do. We walk around just to see it all and then stop at a wine bar on the way back to the van.
We drive onto Quiberon the next day but we are getting thunderstorms and rain along the way. The aire here is a few kms out of the town in a paddock type area and as we drive in we see surfers in the ocean and menheirs in the paddocks. It isnt a cheap place to stay but we want to look around for a couple of days so we ignore the 12euro a night charge ( we are on a tight budget) and park up. Despite the threat of more rain later on, we decide to bike into the centre to have a look. An absolute favourite house is still there right on the sea front, i think it was for sale last time we were here, but is now under renovation. It is well out of our price range. The sun is shining still so there are lots of people around. We look around the centre and find that it seems to have changed and we dont remember the large open squares that are there now. French villages dont normally have ones this big and it does look new. We do find out that Quiberon had a makeover 3 years ago which for me has spoilt it a bit as now they have this large vacant tiled area they use for markets and it isnt the quaint little village it used to be. As we go to head ‘home’ another thunderstorm hits so we stop in a little cuban style bar for a drink to wait till it passes. Trouble is, it has already well passed by the time we leave and another one hits us as we start to walk our bikes back through the town. It absolutely buckets down and although we have coats they dont keep you dry from the water and dirt flicking up from the road.
Scot just laughs and says isnt this great whilst i am cranky as my clothes are filthy and wet and when living in a van it is difficult to dry them and we only get to find a laundromat once a week to wash.
We decide to walk into town the next day as it is easier to stay dry when you walk and the bike isnt flicking shit all over you. It is a windy day and we walk around the coast road which is a typically rugged west coast. Although i have mentioned that France is generally very clean and free from rubbish, the thing i hate the most is that they dont clean up their dog poo at all and you have to watch where you walk. We wandered around the shops and had a drink and went home. We only just made it back as it had started to rain again.
We had to quickly bike back in the next morning to buy Scot a t-shirt before we left. We had sat and planned our next move the last night as we have no idea where we are heading. We both need a dentist so really should be heading to Spain, but then we realised the Loire Valley started only a short distance from where we are, so figured we would do that first and then head south. We will have to hope that it hasnt gone too crazy by the time we head south and our teeth will hang in there.
