After locating the nearest Super U again, for food, fuel and Bret’s la Bretonne of course, we made the short hop along the coast to a small municipal campsite that, according to Park4Night, was open until the end of the month. Mindful of our last mistake and conscious of our language limitations on the ‘phone, we opted to do a drive-by check before we travelled on to the Côte de Granit Rose. The last couple of rainy days had given us plenty of time to reflect on the balance of campsite/Aires/ random free camps, and we both agreed that at this time of year, with the darker evenings and low probability of eating outside the van of an evening, using a campsite as a base came up favourite. Especially as, like Cornwall, nowhere is very far to drive once you are on a narrowing peninsula! And whilst there are loads of campervan friendly carparks along the coast, almost all have clear, and enforceable prohibitions on overnight parking!
So off we drove to Camping Municipal Ernest Renan, a little to the east of the Perros-Guirec section of the coast we were keen to visit. As we approached the site, we knew that the sight of flags blowing in the breeze did not mean the site was actually open – but although there was a piece of rope tied across the entrance, it looked like it might be. Parking up just along the road, Mr B wandered around the site looking for someone to ask…or to read a note…but with no sign of either, he took a punt with the contact number on the main sign at the entrance. Long (and in painful French) story short, the site had closed the weekend before! A quick check on our trusty P4N App showed another Municipal a little inland from where we were at Kermaria Sulard, but, as we were approaching lunch (when almost all French sites close for a couple of hours – or more) we decided to drive on to do some initial exploring of Perros-Guirec and call the site before we left…
With the sun shining as we drove along the coast, we were struck again by just how like this part of Brittany seemed to resemble the southern coast – maybe it was the sun warming our bones after a couple of dull and wet days, but as we pulled over into a viewing area for lunch, our spirits rose with the vista out of the van window…
…and on the short circular walk we decided on, whilst we waited for the local tourist office to open to gather up some of the usually useful local leaflets about places of interest.
The Office de Tourisme was great – loads of useful information on walks and places to visit. We make much more use of these than we used to – partly because our newish Rough Guide is not as good as older versions which were much more ‘camper friendly’ with their information and the out of the way places they wrote about, but also, because the OdTs seem to have an eclectic mix of tourist clichés, and also the odd gem we may not otherwise have known about. Plus, Mr B likes to practise his French – and the staff are usually much too polite to laugh…
Of course, as we walked back to Evie, we realised that we could have asked there if the Municipal site was open… but, buoyed by the weather and shortness of the drive, we swerved phoning and drove back along the coast and inland to the small village, where Mrs B had the foresight to check there was also a free parking area near the local sports centre…
Not much to look at and sandwiched between two roads, Camping Valley Dourdu promised hot showers, electricity and a possibly useful base to explore more of the coastline we had still to explore. It’s not unusual for Municipal sites not to have staff in attendance in the low season, so in spite of his reluctance to test his phone French again, Mr B pluckily called the number on the reception door, only to get an answerphone that seemed to say the site was indeed open…
So, with no-one about, but a few cars parked outside some static caravans, we wandered around, found the amenity block open and with piping hot water, but we had no clue how to get past the automatic barrier at the entrance. Whilst discussing whether we should just get our washbags and towels and nip in for a shower anyway, we were greeted by a friendly woman from one of the statics. Explaining our plight, she offered to phone the Mairie (as we had just done) and get someone to come over. This is how the conversation went:
Static woman: “There are two English here in a camping car…”
Town Hall: “How many nights do they want to stay?”
Us: “Two please”
Town Hall: “We closed for camping cars yesterday.”
Static Woman: “I’m really sorry, but you might find somewhere along the coast to park for the night…”
We had lots of ideas about what might have gone down during this exchange, but whatever the reason, we were now looking at plan B – so good job Mrs B had found somewhere with a nearby parking spot!
Disappointed that we might have just experienced a bit of a Johnny Foreigner-ist moment, we were pleased to find a huge car park in the same village, where, according to P4N, we would be able to stay the night undisturbed. So, parking up at one end next to a Boule Brettone plombée ‘lane’ (like pétanque but in a sunken narrow wooden-sided alley) so as to cause the least inconvenience, we had a quick mooch about the village, looking for a boulangerie/café for the morning. With a Bar/Tabac opposite an artisan Boulanger just five minutes away, it was looking good (where possible, we like to spend some time/money in these places that encourage or condone us campervanners as a way of saying thank you).
With the sun setting, and Mrs B busy rustling up dinner, we heard a strange series of loud banging noises that seemed to be coming from right alongside us…surely it wasn’t somebody playing in the Boule lane in the failing light?
Yup! Undeterred by the rapidly setting sun, a couple of lads, complete with Gauloises hanging from their lips, were giving us a ringside display of what looked more like bowls than boules/pétanque. Guided only by the light of their glowing cigarettes, total darkness eventually stopped play and the lads sauntered off, leaving us to enjoy a peaceful night. It was only when we got up the next day to wander into the village, that we realised that with Evie’s height, we may have actually blocked a fair bit of light from reaching the lane – oops!
Switching our plan to have a leisurely coffee and croissant for a swift visit to the boulangerie and a quick exit before we were remonstrated with by the locals for our thoughtless parking, we did, at last, have the good sense to phone ahead to our next Municipal campsite adventure! On the other side of the Perros-Guirrec peninsula, the reception staff at Camping Municipal St Efflam had confirmed that yes, they were open all year, and yes, if we arrived before 1700, they would be very pleased to find us an emplacement for a couple of nights!
S&J
covering 17th-19th October
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