France..The Loire-Atlantique...Nantes and the Loire

11 September

Left the Vendée and travelled 82 kms up the Atlantic Coast via Challans, through farmlands and into the Loire-Atlantique region with it’s vineyards.  Took the ‘Route Touristique Des Vignobles Nantaise’ to Camping de Chêne (17 euros), perfectly located on the ‘Loire à vélo’ cycleway, a section of the great ‘Eurovelo 6’, an 800 kms European cycle route and only 17 kms from Nantes.  Bruno and his very kind family run the camp through to the end of October.  

Nantes is situated on the banks of the Loire, 55 kms east of the Atlantic.  It is a thriving student and cultural hub and is France’s sixth largest metropolis and growing with one in two Nantais today aged under 40.  It is the birth place of Jules Verne.

12 September  

It’s Pamo’s birthday - yipeeeee!!  Woke to a perfect birthday with coffee and ‘pain au chocolats’, then a great ride along the cycleway following the beautiful Loire into Nantes for lunch. 

The cycleway took us over the bridge to Quai Ferdinand-Favre where we found ‘The Lieu Unique Restaurant’ inside the former LU Biscuit Factory crowned by a replica of its original tower. 

In 2000, the old factory was converted into ‘a polished concrete floored industrial-chic space for dance and theatre performances, eclectic and electronic music, philosophical sessions and contemporary art exhibitions as well as the restaurant and bar.  We sat on the terrace outside overlooking the canal St. Felix and had a wonderful lunch of oysters, then ‘canard magret (duck) with the local muscadet wine and finished with coffee. Enjoyed the quirky student vibe!  

Went exploring ‘made easy’ by following a ‘green line’ through the city, dominated by the medieval ‘Château des Ducs de Bretagne’, the last castle before the Loire River reaches the sea and a duchy residence built between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries.  

Continued our journey through the city's quarters, each with it’s own attractions and vibe, including:

Le Jardine des Plantes - the botanical gardens with more than 10,000 living species,

The Cathédrale Saint-Pierre and Saint Paul Gothic Cathedral - construction spread over 457 years,

Le Passage Pommeraye - nineteenth century, the most beautiful covered shopping arcade in Europe,

Le Mémorial de L’Abolition de L’Esclavage - 2000 commémorative plaques as a reminder of every slave ship that left Nantes.

The ‘cité of ducs’ has Middle Ages characteristics with it’s narrow streets and timber framed houses blending in with today’s shops, bars and restaurants.  Followed the ‘green line’ off the shopping streets into a ‘stylish part of town’ with it’s eighteenth and nineteenth century urban planning, pedestrianised squares with terrace tables, chic boutiques and the Théâtre Graslin.  Noted the great transport system here with trams and trains operating throughout the city.  

Our journey continued through the streets, the markets, passed the retro cafes, the museums and art galleries, brightly coloured houses, old style bars and patio tables and some great eating places.  A funky quirky student town! 

Onto the ‘Île de Nantes’, encircled by two stretches of the Loire, once contained industrial soap waste, boat building and maritime businesses, today it has been transformed into a cultural area of modern architecture and design.  We enjoyed ‘Les Machines de L’Île', where mechanical animals and bizarre carousels take both children and adults for rides.  

After a fascinating 17 kms, we were back at the LU Biscuit Factory.  

The sun was setting as we biked back to camp along the Loire where we enjoyed a cold beer at the camp bar/restaurant (34 kms round trip).  A fabulous birthday!

13 September

A ‘cruisey’ day!  Strolled around the camp lake which has a ‘fitness trail’.  Popular with runners and fisherman.

14 September 

Biked along the Loire back into Nantes to stroll the ‘Château des Ducs' grounds.  Had a good view of the city from it’s ramparts and enjoyed the ‘Water Mirror’ opposite, a two centimetre deep layer of water reflecting back the castle!  

Decided to head to the River Erdre, following the ‘green line’ part of the way through the fun fair.  The River Erdre is a tributary of the Loire that passes through town via the Saint-Felix tunnel.  There are house boats and a funky ‘Bateaux Lavoir Restaurant’ moored to it’s banks.

Ate a tasty rice lunch at a little ‘Reunion Café’ down one of the cobblestone alleyways on our way back to the LU Biscuit Factory and our parked bikes.  34 kms. 

15 September

Strolled the camp lake when the rain cleared in the afternoon!

16 September

A ‘catch up day for chores’!  Raining cats and dogs!

17 September

As we’re in the vicinity thought we’d take the opportunity to see Clisson with it’s amazing architecture and ‘Tuscany feel’. Travelled 30kms into the valley of the Loire, the heart of the vineyards of Nantes and the ‘capital of the Muscadet’ and Camping du Moulin (17.60 euros). The camp has great picnic and BBQ areas as well as self service food and drinks machine.

Clisson is situated on the banks of the River Sèvre and the river Moine which converge in the town.  Muscadet wine is produced here and it’s also know to fans of heavy metal because of the annual music festival held here.

Found the pathway through the woods at the back of the camp and strolled into the ‘centre ville’ and went exploring.  The thirteenth century Chateau de Clisson dominates the town centre and overlooks the Sèvre river.  It still looks magnificent as there is an impressive amount of the  castle still remaining.

Admired the beautiful river setting and bridges from it’s ramparts, the Italian influence of the town below with it’s red tiled roofs and decorative eaves.    

Strolled the narrow streets and enjoyed the ambience of this pretty town.  

In the evening we enjoyed our chicken cooked over the camp charcoal BBQ!  ‘Rugging up' as the evenings are getting chilly now, but lovely fine, crisp sunny days!  

Back to the coast tomorrow.

France..The Vendée final days...

29 August 

After ‘Goodbyes’ to Jake and his mum and dad, Carol and Ian, who are heading south, we headed into St-Gilles for a stock up and a stroll!

Spent the afternoon around the pool.

30 August

A perfect pool day!  Absolutely bliss, nice having all the facilities nearly to ourselves, only a few people here now.  Feels like a holiday resort!!

31 August 

Walked to the beach nearest our camp and enjoyed the sun and the sea, turned out to be the nudist part!  Later on, the wind came up so we hit the pool back at camp. 

1 September - 10 September

We’ve decided to stay longer and take full advantage of ‘the holiday resort’!  ACSI has ‘kicked in’, 13 euros.   There is everything here without the crowds - pool, beach, cute seaside villages, great biking and the weather continues to be good, with cooler evenings! 

Bike rides including:

A beautiful bike ride via Brétignolles-sur-Mer to Les Sables d’Olonne heading to the Port with it’s new marina, for lunch.  

The street is lined with a variety of restaurants specialising in fish, catering for all tastes and budgets.  It’s a little quirky with a nice relaxed vibe looking out over the Port and across the harbour to the little village of Chaume.  

After a tasty fish main and a ‘surprise’ for dessert, marshmallow balls swamped in caramel sauce, we strolled the marina around to the promenade along Les Sables d’Olonne beach front.  Eateries, sports facilities, historic buildings, apartments and lots of personality.  70kms and we were back at camp after an awesome day!

Walks including:

An overcast perfect day for walking the ‘Grand Plage’ then along the beach front promenade to the marina and into St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie for an explore and groceries.  The fun fare with it’s clowns and slot machines have gone, the town is quiet and quaint.  Took the path along the River Vie on the return trip.  17 kms and very scenic.

Pool days and Beach days:

Had a wonderful time here, tomorrow we head to Nantes and La Loire.

France .. The Vendée

19 August

‘À bientôt’ to Camping La Garenne.  We hit the road!  We got lost after about ten minutes and ended up following a cycle path down one of the canals in the Marais Poitevin!  By this time it was raining heavily, the first we’d had in five weeks, we continued on a country road

until we arrived at an 'Aires' in Maillezais, travelling a total distance of about 15kms!  Haha!

Later the rain cleared and we went exploring the quaint little village, the old Abbey of St Michael and the canals.  We decided to stay the night here along with the thirty or so other vans.

20 August

Travelled up the Atlantic Coast, through the pine forests into the Vendée region, stocked up at ‘Super U’ then continued to Givrand situated 7 kms from Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and ‘Camping Domaine de Beaulieu’ (23 euros from 20 August then ACSI kicks in 13 euros from 27 August).  The camp has a large swimming pool complex, restaurant/bar and fridges available for hire.  It’s on the ‘vèlodyssée’, a 1250 kms cycle path travelling the length of the Atlantic Coast and finishing on the French/Spanish border.  We chose a large shady pitch away from the crowds that are still here in the last week of the school holidays.  We note the large number of GB number plates. 

21 August

Took the cycle path through the forest and along the sand dunes to Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, an attractive seaside resort known for it’s fishing harbour specialising in sardines.  Here, Benjamin Beneteau started manufacturing fishing boats in 1884 and today his firm is the world’s leader in the manufacture of sailing boats.   

The community originated in 1967 from the unification of two communities on either side of the estuary of the river Vie.  A quick look at the long sandy beach. 

A quick look at the long sandy beach then into town where we joined the crowds at the Sunday market held on the ‘parking area’ near the harbour.  Bread is being cooked ‘on site’, the sardines are being grilled and the ‘moules frites’ are always popular!  We enjoyed our ‘still warm’ bread and ‘Cantel’ cheese overlooking the harbour.  

Crossed the bridge and wandered the town, then biked up to the start of the Corniche Vendéene for a great panorama. This town, although touristy, has managed to retain it’s charm and a laid-back feel,we enjoyed it.

After 20 kms we were back at camp and into the pool!

22 August

A beautiful bike ride by the sand dunes along the coast, through the forest and little seaside beach resorts including Brétignolles-Sur-Mer, pass the marshes and canals to the seaside town of Les Sables-d’Olonne.  

Strolled up through the town dominated by the beach, the ‘Grand Plage’, and walked the promenade which runs the full length of the beach.  

Les Sables-d’Olonne was one of France’s original holiday destinations and there are still many Victorian buildings remaining, along with the 1970’s style appartments lining the promenade.  

We were kids when we were last here and although the town has grown and changed, Col remembered the wooded area at the end of the promenade where we parked our ‘Kombie’, great memories!  Lunch at the Patisserie overlooking the variety of eateries and high-end shops.  As we biked the promenade on our way out of town, we noted the characteristic area with fish restaurants that face the fishing port and new marina.

Les Sables-d’Olonne is an elegant town with a magnificent beach where we went ‘crevetting’ all those years ago!  

68 kms and we were back at camp after one of the best bike rides we’ve had - lots of variety and amazing bike paths!

23 August   

A glorious day spent around the pool!

24 August

Followed the bike path through St-Gilles to the low rugged cliffs of the Corniche Vendéene just north of the town, passed the small sandy coves and ending at the sandy bay at Sion-sur-l’Ocean, a very picturesque part of our ride.  Continued through the commune of St. Hillaire-de-Riez, through forests protecting long sandy beaches, busy little touristy towns and fun parks as we near St. Jean de Monts, a holiday resort in the north of the Vendée.  

We biked the long seafront promenade lined with 1970’s style apartment blocks, then down to the small beach village.  The entire area is geared towards tourists, evidently the beach slopes gently into the sea so it’s shallow for a large distance with minimal waves, it's also supervised in several places  making it very popular with families and kids, seems particularly popular with the Brits.  All great for the kids but  too ‘Hidi Hi’ for us!

Back to cute Sion-sur-l’Ocean for a picnic lunch and bought ‘bike ends’ for Col’s bike.  After 52 kms and a great bike ride, we were back at camp!

25 August 

Biked back to Sion-sur-l’Ocean to the Bike Shop as we didn’t have the tools to attach Col’s ‘bike ends’ bought yesterday.  Easily fixed by the ‘expert’ in the shop.  Back to St-Gilles and worked our way through the traffic to the 'Grand Plage'.  Walked the wonderful promenade lining the magnificent sandy beach with it’s variety of eateries and cold drinks.  Lots of swimming and a picnic lunch in the sand.  Nice to be back at the beach again, feels like we’re ‘on holiday’! 

25 kms and back at camp.

Coffee, then walked back to the 'Grand Plage' nearest to our camp and enjoyed the body surfing!

The camp is ‘thinning out’ as the school holidays are coming to an end.

26 August

A run, a walk and a ‘cruisey’ day spent around the pool!  Met Ian, Carol and Jake (the ‘smiling’ Springer Spaniel) from Scotland.

27 August

We moved to another pitch which had more shade.  In the afternoon we took Jake for a walk to the 'Grand Plage' nearest to our camp, he loved it!  In the evening, Ian, Carol and Jake came over for an 'aperitif'.

28 August

Had great fun taking Jake for a long walk along the 'Grand Plage' and then following the River Vie along the walkway  into St-Gilles.  We couldn’t keep Jake out of the water, he loved swimming and playing ‘fetch the stick’, he couldn’t keep the smile off his face! 

14 kms and Jake was back at camp with his mum and dad.