Le Helles – a beachside haven, catching up with old friends, another ride to a port, and elusive onglet... Days 21-24

Mrs B had spotted Le Helles campsite in Sainte-Marine, opposite the very busy port town of Bénodet, a little while ago and thought it looked good, so when we heard from our friends Tony and Jonquil that they had booked a couple of nights there before they headed for home via Roscoff, we were very excited. We’d last seen them in Cordoba in 2016 where we had spent a fun night reminiscing over a delicious paella rustled up by Tony. 

A lot of water has passed under our various bridges since then, and we were looking forward to a catch up – as long as Mr B could succeed with the advance booking…

Feeling by now like a seasoned, if not very proficient pro, Mr B could barely contain his excitement when he reported back that not only had he been able to book us in for three nights to start with, extending as we wished, but he’d managed to do it at the ACSI rate – at last!

Less successful, however, were his listening skills about closing time for lunch, so we arrived with 45 minutes to kill whilst the staff enjoyed their 90 minute lunch. As with Raguénez Plage, we used the time to have a walk around the site and choose a few pitches that met our by now, very particular requirements! Upon the return of the reception staff however, Mr B was informed that we couldn’t choose, as there was a limited choice of ‘open ended’ pitches. Seeing the disappointment spreading across Mr B’s face, the receptionist showed Mr B the allocated pitch – and, result – it was our second choice! Phew!

Before long we had set up on our nice and airy pitch…

...and taken a walk down to explore the beach, which was a very pretty 300m walk past some allotments…

...through a beautifully shaded tunnel-like wooded section…

...arriving at a long and dune-backed sandy beach…

Needless to say, the next day saw us conduct a proper Babley assessment of the beach, concluding that although it didn’t match the fine white sand paradise of Raguénez Plage/Tahiti Beach, it would most certainly do! And the swimming was excellent – largely by virtue of being quite a bit warmer!

And after a rigorous day of testing completed, we just had to make a similar assessment of the campsite pool…

… which also passed muster!

With T&J arriving the following evening, after a lazy re-checking of our views of the beach in the morning, taking advantage of the higher tide, we started to tidy up and, in Mrs B’s case, start the prep for dinner for the four of us at ours, returning the hospitality of that Cordoban paella. We’d managed to get some fresh Rousette, which Mrs B fashioned into a delicious Spanish style fish casserole, with lashings of garlic and parsley, which was much enjoyed by all of us, along with some lush Rosé. And over a few glasses we chatted nineteen to the dozen about the various events that had unfolded over the intervening years, until we noticed the campsite had started to quieten down – we were up against the curfew – 2300 hours here!

With sated tummies and the warm glow of friendships renewed, we agreed to catch up the following evening, this time eating out. Both couples had spotted a lovely bar/restaurant nearby, at the back of the beach, with a menu that floated all of our various boats… except it wasn’t open on Mondays, after T&J had moved on!

The next day, after another session at the beach, facilitated by Mr B in his usual donkey mode hauling our gear…

...we decided to get Freddy and Fanny out and cycle down to the port of Sainte-Marine, to explore our dining options. Just across the bay from Bénodet, reached by a regular passenger ferry, we were taken by the picturesque setting…

...which included a number of choices for dinner. So, whilst taking a short rest over beer and coffee at one of them, we liaised with T&J by phone, settling on one with a very pleasing range of classic coastal French cuisine. Walking over to make a booking for that evening, Mr B discovered that all the terrace tables were booked (the weather has been fabulous) so we were reassured that we would be OK inside with its air conditioning...

… and indeed we were!

Bidding farewell to T&J the next morning, promising to try not to leave it quite so long next time…

… we decided to explore to the west along the GR34 and combined cycle route to the small village of Île Tudy, set right at the end of a narrowing peninsula with a view across to the much larger town of Loctudy, one of the ports in Breizh that still has sardine boats (more on this later!).

The ride was mercifully flat, and having started under light cloud, we were pleased to be joined by the sun when we arrived at the small quay where foot passengers could get the ferry over to Loctudy…

It’s a very picturesque little village…

...with an iconic view of the lighthouse across the estuary …

...and small outside art gallery, showing the sea in a slightly rougher state than on our visit…

...with a superb long sandy beach…

...complete with an amazing and well-priced municipal campsite at the back of the beach…

The site was almost full – but what an amazing location!

The cycle back was fun – we’d managed to get a headwind in each direction of course – but as we were intending to book at the beachside resto near our campsite, we flew back to make sure we got a table (we did, and at the civilized time of 2030) with Mrs B racing ahead again on the off-road section back through the tree tunnel…

… arriving back at Evie with just enough time for a cheeky swim before getting ready for dinner, passing the allotments again…

Dinner was great fun. La Chaumière had onglet on the menu which Mr B was getting very excited about, as we haven’t seen it that often! And we didn’t see it that evening either, as it was sold out, leaving Mr B with his second choice of artisan sausage and posh mustard mash, with Mrs B opting for the much more interesting whole Daurade with mango and citron vert sauce, after a delicious starter of fish croquettes...

Dessert was fun – we usually share, with the conversation going something like this:

Mr B: “Fancy a pudding?”

Mrs B: “No – but you go ahead…”

Mr B: “How about sharing (insert sweet pudding of choice)?”

Mrs B: “Oh, OK then…”

The ordering of the pudding was a linguistic delight. We both love the French accent and when the waitress confirmed that we wanted “Brrroonie a partager” we decided that from here on in, that’s what we’d have to call a Brownie!

With the sun already setting, and the chill-out music filling the evening air, we agreed that Sainte-Marine was somewhere we’d happily come back to – it’s ticked a number of boxes, and were it not for the fact that we really must make an effort and get to our ‘destination’ of Pointe du Raz, we’d easily have stayed longer!

The area around Pointe du Raz (it’s the Breizh equivalent of Land’s End) is pretty isolated, with our overnight options being staying over in the visitor centre car park for an extra €10 (€8 to park) or a small farm with 10 pitches at €16…

As usual, we chose to decide once we were there…

S&J 06.06.25

Concarneau and Quimper Days 18-21 Cities, Cakes and Crêpes - plenty of food for thought!

Before we left our new ‘happy place’ in France and headed off to Concarneau, Mr B decided it would be a good idea, given our experience in Le Pouldou and its ‘complet’ status, to phone ahead and try to book a few nights if possible. Although Camping Raguénez had had plenty of space as it transpired, Concarneau looked to be a classic tourist magnet, with its medieval walled island city - and there was only one ACSI site - and that was small!

So with the confidence of someone who has already made a couple of relatively successful (according to Mr B) phone calls in French, he pressed on and soon established that to get the ACSI rate, we would need to turn up in person, but he could book ahead with the normal rate (about a third more). As we were keen to visit Concarneau, he booked over the phone and decided to wait until we turned up to find out why it wasn’t possible to book at the discounted rate.

Nowhere is very far in Cornouaille, and after a brief stop to replenish our food and drink supplies, we turned up at Camping les Sables Blanc and joined the queue of campervans waiting to get in! At this stage we felt very pleased with ourselves that we had booked ahead…

Announcing himself by name to the staff at reception, and after receiving the waiting welcome pack, Mr B enquired why it hadn’t been possible to book ahead at the discounted ACSI rate. Both of the reception staff looked at each other and very gently explained that it was of course possible to book ahead with ACSI, and they had no idea why Mr B had been asked to pay at the full rate… Sensing that this may have been a result of his less than perfect French skills, he pressed on and suggested that perhaps he could get a refund for the balance then… Unfortunately this turned out not to be possible (computer says non)… but, with a queue building up behind him as Mr B pressed on in his best French, the reception staff relented and offered a further 4^th night at no cost, if we wanted…

Reporting back to Mrs B (who usually waits in Evie to help lessen the stress whilst Mr B does his French thing) the atmosphere was dampened, as we both felt we had been a tad hoodwinked as gullible Johnny foreigners… which was compounded by our pitch allocation which turned out to be small, with no views and boxed in by looming shrubbery, when we would have much preferred an open aspect…

Returning to reception after having noted a few better, and empty pitches, we were informed that it was not possible to swap… But with another queue building behind him, Mr B persisted, pointing out that we had payed the full rate, and before long we were offered an alternative (not one we had chosen of course) – which we could have once it was vacated the next day.

So, with the excitement of arrival somewhat dampened, we parked up in our designated pitch and enjoyed our first taste this trip of Noix St Jaques, which we had spotted in the supermarket after a large group of people had gathered around something at the fish counter! It’s not really the season for fresh scallops, but we are big fans and couldn’t resist!

After moving onto our new pitch asap the next morning, and having been greeted by this very friendly but not known to us bird…

… we set off to visit the ‘Ville Close’ of the old walled city, reached by gated access from the site along a very pretty track that led directly to the port…

There is an excellent Tourist Info on the harbourside and we soon stocked up with loads of useful information on the area as well as the Ville Close.

Founded in the early 14^thC, the VC has endured a mixed history as a fortified town, surviving the 100 years war in the 1300s, the 15^thC wars between Brittany and France, the Wars of Religion in the 16^thC and surviving as a military stronghold until the late 19^thC - only to see the city authorities draw up plans to demolish much of it and sell off the stone for use in the new harbour… Luckily, a colony of artists who lived in the VC, lobbied for it to be saved and it became a listed Historical Monument in 1899 – phew!

We fully expected the interior of the VC to be full of tourist tat, but it was actually rather lovely, and after a walk around the battlements…

... we had lunch (we really fancied a ‘proper’ French Croque Monsieur of all things!) followed by an amazing Kouign Amann…

...and more wandering around where we saw this poster of a future destination in the search for M. Aubéry…

… and some proper clichéd photo opportuites…

Our return to the campsite (uphill) left us ready for a swim in the pool…

...and after dinner on our lovely new spacious pitch, we turned in to enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep before another day exploring Concarneau… Except our early night was thwarted just a little by our neighbours (three women who were very good at following the campsite rules, requiring silence between midnight and 0700) in that they (perhaps after a few drinks) would chat and laugh raucously until dead on midnight, when they would stop, and turn in. As our bedroom window was right above the section of hedge they had chosen to set up their drinking club, we had to recalibrate our ideas of an early night – and for the next two nights as well! Oh well – that’s camping for you!

The next day saw us wandering back into Concarneau and exploring the coastline between the campsite and the port…

...visiting the very detailed fishing museum in the VC…

...including the fascinating trawler we had to ourselves…

…listening to some amazing music by a street performer with a very unique guitar…

...discovering a fascinating Crêperie in the back streets that was only open between 1200 and 1400 each day, run by a lovely chap who was the sole member of staff (the owner) who tolerated Mr B’s French whilst recommending an ‘essential’ cider on the side and also providing much amusement to a couple of Swiss women we got chatting to…

...leaving us enough time afterwards to explore the early evening market…

… before wandering back up the hill for dinner, and the wait until silence on the dot of midnight!

As the offer of an extra day at no charge coincided with a dull day all over the region, we decided to stay on and have a foray into nearby Quimper, the ancient capital of Cornouaille and another haunt of Monsieur Aubéry. We’d read online that it is difficult to park a campervan in the town and this proved to be the case! So, after spending almost as long looking for a space big enough for Evie as it took us to get there, we followed the advice of Park4Night users and visited a large Carrefour on the outskirts, where we parked easily, only 15 minutes away by foot from the historic centre. Too late for lunch in town, we ate in Evie whilst we waited for the drizzle to blow over…

It’s an interesting place with a beautiful Gothic-style Cathedral and several museums, including one dedicated to its Faïence pottery, but we didn’t do it justice as the weather was wet and dull and after two perfect days of intensive sightseeing in Concarneau we were a bit touristed-out. 

We probably need to come back and try again!

It may come as no surprise that by now we were very keen to get back beachside – which also coincided with attempting to meet up with friends of ours travelling through this part of France, who, by complete coincidence, were booked in to a campsite at Sainte-Marine, near Bénodet that we had earmarked to try – all it needed was Mr B and his improving, but still faltering French to make it happen…

S&J 05.07.25

 

Came for three nights, stayed for 11. Adventures around Névez in Cornouaille. Days 7-14 Part 4 – The town of Névez – Kouign Amann at last, and a bonus Breton choir – plus, a reflection on wheelbase overhangs!

Our choice of Névez as a hub for somewhere to ‘settle’ was entirely accidental – it just happened to be the nearest small town to what we were really focussed on – the campsite and its adjacent beach! It’s probably fair to say that this is pretty much always the case unless we are planning on visiting a town or city in and of itself – as we are planning later in this trip with Concarneau, for example.

So we had clearly struck lucky with the centre being an easy cycle ride away, as was the local supermarket; a market planned for the weekend we were staying; a very helpful tourist info centre; enough bars, cafés, patisseries and shops to make the trips in more fun, and, as we discovered by accident, some excellent entertainment on one of our visits!

Like all the other towns and villages we have visited, Névez has its traditional and distinctive Breton style church…

...and after much hunting, a bakery that sold Kouign Amann – one of our buttery delight discoveries from the autumn…

...the weekly market with its mix of clothing, crafts and delicious food stalls…

...and, also on market day, a full-on Breton choir that kept us entertained for longer than we expected!

As a hub for exploring this part of Cornouaille, Névez and Camping Raguénez Plage make a great base. A bit like Cornwall in the UK, if you are minded, nowhere is actually very far in distance (although it might be in time!) so although we could easily have stayed and driven to the rest of the places we fancied visiting, we decided instead to drift along the southern coast and find a site near to Concarneau, a medieval walled city on its own island. It’s meant to be a much less intensive and touristy experience than, say, Mont St Michel in Normandy, so fingers crossed …

S&J xx.06.25

NB – a footnote for fellow dullards from Mr B about van wheelbase lengths…

One of the reasons we chose an Iveco Daily as a base van for building Evie, was that as well as being available in large cubic capacity models, with twin wheel options that can be uprated to carry more weight (as we did with Evie), it had a reputation as having an excellent turning circle, with the distance between the front and back wheels shorter than other panel vans from Fiat, Citroen, Ford etc. Which means that the consequence of this slightly shorter wheelbase, is a much larger overhang at the rear – requiring a fair bit of concentration when manouevering in tight spaces! Mr B can often be heard waxing lyrical about this to other converters of vans, but he was especially excited when we parked up alongside a couple of other campers that allowed this photo explanation! He says it’s important to understand that all three vans had their rear wheels against the curb, and that Evie’s front wheels were more inside the front of the bays than the other two…

You were warned!!