Heading south east out of
Brittany and following the siren call of the south, we plotted a course that
would take us along the western end of the Loire-Atlantique region. We fetched
up at a campsite in Batz-sur-Mer, as we had chosen to visit Guérande, a
medieval town complete with fortified walls and famous for its salt, and all
the camping options were dotted around the coast. Batz looked less touristy
than its neighbours and, like them, was surrounded by large expanses of salt
pans all busy drying salt for local production and sale.
Although the weather had
turned cloudy by the time we arrived, we had a leisurely stroll along the
coastline, which was very reminiscent of north Cornwall.
The small town was really
interesting, with poster displays celebrating women of note from the town’s
past, and a large abandoned chapel which we learnt was raised by the salt
workers after a plague in the 1400s. Clearly not in favour with the Almighty,
it was subsequently gutted by fire and left for posterity.
Next to the chapel was a
monument to fallen soldiers of (mainly) WW1 from the town. France is dotted
with these sombre reminders, but what drew our attention to this one, was the
very visible impact it must have had on a small number of families in a small
town, with what we assume to be fathers/sons, brothers and cousins sharing a small
number of surnames.
The campsite itself was a
pleasant surprise, as it had a large and heated pool that we availed ourselves
of, as well as being within easy walking distance of the coastal path. There
were plenty of cycling options too, had we been staying longer.
And, as we headed off the
next morning to visit Guérande, we were reminded by a road sign of the
coincidence of visiting another area famous for its salt, with the towns of Salies-de-Béarn
(home of Chris and Sue) and Batz-sur-Mer being twinned. It’s perhaps a sign of
the solidarity amongst salt workers, that the people of the town had chosen
another French working town, rather than one from another country, as is often
the case!
After a short drive to
Guérande, we parked up in the (free) Aire on the outskirts of town, having
remembered from Bayeux the perils of negotiating ancient streets when there is
a perfectly good parking place for camping cars, obviously provided for a
reason! We’d swerved parking here overnight as it’s right next to the busy main
road, but it was spacious and easy to find. And it also had an amazing version
of what you can do with an Iveco Daily to make a motorhome, if you have a bit
more money than it took to build ours!
After speaking with the
amiable owner, we were even more amazed to discover that it had a Mercedes
Smart car parked in the boot – slightly more civilized that our two folding
bikes for sure, but not as environmentally friendly!
As we neared the walls of
Guérande, Mr B became quite excited at the promise of a wander around the intact
battlements, especially as we’d passed by the U-boat pens at St Nazaire and the
tank museum at Saumur for a taste of something a bit more historic…
Unfortunately, the walls
were closed for repairs until the end of June, so we had to satisfy ourselves
with wandering the streets, which, given the town is such a tourist magnet,
were relatively quiet. Learning the difference between the different grades of
salt (and their prices!) as we wandered from shop to shop (and stopping to buy
a bag of the less white, cheaper but still lovely and salty sel Guérande) we
also took in a local Breton delight by way of a quick snack. A ‘kouignette’ is
a sort of puff pastry made from churned butter and leavened dough, and we
scoffed our mini versions in no time at all!
Finishing our visit with a
tour of the walls from the outside (and at ground level!) we headed back into
the town by one of four gates, and chanced across what turned out to be the most
interesting part of the visit…
Marking the site of a
medieval graveyard, an iron art installation depicts a series of trades and
occupations of those originally buried by the nearby church. We found it both
eerie and homely at the same time (especially with the knitted non-period
additions!) and were glad we had decided to wander back inside the walls.
Our next destination was
Nantes, where we were looking forward to a couple of nights at an ACSI site
just on the outskirts. And, having failed to manage to eat any mussels or
oysters whilst actually in Brittany, we bought a dozen local huitres to have as
a starter when we arrived on site, after checking first that we still had that
special shucking knife…
S&J
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