The Binkybus: France - Normandy and Brittany

Sun 8 - On until we ran out of France and the delightful little seaside town of Cameret-sur-Mer. We parked up at the excellent municipal aire next to a ring of standing stones and went for our usual wander on a very hot, sunny day. We lazed on the beach for a bit before heading back to the van for dinner, then out again onto the clifftops again to watch the sunset and explore the old Nazi fortifications in the fading daylight.

Alignements de Lagatjar

Camaret-sur-Mer

Boat Cemetery

Chapelle de Notre Dame de Rocamadour

Tour Vauban

Manoir Saint Pol Roux

Mon 9 - Further around to the south coast of Brittany and the picturesque little town of Concarneau. We pitched up at Camping Les Sables Blancs and tried to follow the campsite directions into town. We got there eventually. There is a nice little fortified old town here with just a main street, which is quite touristy but well worth a visit. She decided that a rather nice red cotton jacket should accompany us on our journey home and the purchase was duly made.

Concarneau

Concarneau

Tues 10 - Another walk into town, which was getting ready for the Tour the following day. A crepe in a bar for lunch and a stroll back before sticking our heads into the bar to see Les Froggies enjoying the world diving and acting-as-if-you-have-been-shot cup. What an awful travesty of a sport professional football has become.

Locals watching the football

Wed 11 - The day of the tour. We took our positions, avoided being hit by bits of shrapnel chucked out by the Caravanne as it went through and blinked and nearly missed the cyclists as they sped through the town. Great atmosphere though. We wanted to get across the road to buy a Tour de France hat from the merchandise stall, but the silly French Police had shut the road so we couldn't cross until the boss had had his 6 hour lunch break and gave the all clear. We eventually got the hat.

The "Caravanne"

Thurs 12 - Bitten by the Tour de France bug we thought that we would try and find somewhere en-route for the next stage. We drove down several narrow, bumpy tracks before deciding that the start at Fougeres may be the best bet. We found the aire - and it was shut. We drove out of town and picked up signs for motorhome parking and found that the council had allocated a humungous piece of land for MH parking during the tour. Even better - it was free of charge! Parking up we wandered into town and enjoyed watching them set up for the following days activities.

Fougeres

Fougeres

Fri 13 - Up and cycled into town, parked the bikes, soaked up the atmosphere at the start and blagged loads of useless freebies (who wants a retirement home fridge magnet, a lotto keyring, an estate agents lanyard and some dried sausage anyway). We watched the race through town and had a good snigger as some of the following vehicles (and police cars) almost missed the sharp turn around the roundabout. The idea was to quickly cycle back to van and be on our way, but we got chatting and ended leaving later than anticipated.

Gizzits chucked from the Caravane

Chris Froome

Not Chris Froome, but could easily be mistaken for him

We tried to stop at Honfleur but, being the day before Bastille Day, the place was rammed full. We didn't fancy paying top dollar for a cramped car park for a few hours so we moved on to a nice empty village aire at Doudeville in Normandy. It was a long drive that day.

On Saturday we completed the journey up to Cite Europe, stopping near Ambleteuse for a look at the White Cliffs of Dover, before parking up at the aire.