Blog 1.31: Days 44 and 45

November 4th and 5th

Well, at least the worst of the storm had blown over by the time I peeped out from my quilt. That was a rough night, with gust of well over 50mph rocking the van on its suspension, and the occasional deluge to add to the battering. Still, other than that it was very peaceful and we both slept pretty well for the most part, and we certainly weren't cold, even with no heating on.

More Carnac. The Dolmen

Breakfast was taken as the farm's herd moodily slunk past on the way to the parlour for their first milking of the day, with the dog keeping them in line should they decide there was something more interesting in the hedgerow.

It put me in mind of watching Bob Mitchell's herd passing our front garden on Fair Close on their way to Firs Farm just round the corner in Frankton. Granddad Harold was always on guard if he knew they were coming our way rather than across the field behind us, and always ready to keep them shooed off our greensward, yet sometimes failing. I think Bob's beasts were somewhat more mischievous and unruly than 'our' French herd.

We had decided to head for Quimper, a city in the Cornouaille area of Brittany, with the intention of seeking out the municipal campsite therein. It seemed a) cheap, and b) reasonably handy for the city centre.

Loire Estuary Bridge. St Nazaire. Too wet to consider visiting the city.

As it turned out, it is indeed cheap. However, it's slightly further out than we'd anticipated, yet still walkable. It's also cheap for a reason, being rather scruffy. That downside, though, is offset by its wooded hillside location, and, so far, utter peace.

I'll happily take that.

On the way here, we'd decided to take a small detour to visit a small coastal Finistère town that I'd heard about before; Concarneau (or, delightfully, Konk Kerne in Breton).

It looked lovely. Or at least the walls of the old island town did as we drove past them. Twice.

We'd dialled in what M thought was an ideal free car park not many minutes walk from there. It even had designated Camping Car spaces. Apparently.

However, as soon as we turned into it it was immediately obvious that something was wrong. Yep, the circus was in town. Every square inch was full of showman's lorries, rides, and caravans. Even turning round to leave proved almost impossible, but somehow I managed.

Not good for the old stress levels though, trust me.

So, we quickly gave up on that idea, and shuffled back outa town and rejoined the dual carriageway (motorway? Sometimes it's hard to tell) and head for Quimper (Kemper in Breton).

The site isn't exactly convenient, being on the side furthest from all the approach roads, meaning a rather nadgery to-and-fro shuffle through city streets to get there. The biggest issue, though, would be how on earth do you get a big car and caravan combo into the site? It's tight, although presumably doable, but I was even flinching a bit in our relatively small 3.5 tonne van!

We thought about a walk down to town, quickly dismissed it, and set about vegetating for the evening. Something we're becoming increasingly adept at.

Saturday, and it was pretty grim out as we emerged from our snuggly cocoons. But... we came here to have a proper look round this apparently rather beautiful city, so that's what we did - and it so is beautiful.

The profusion of mediaeval buildings that front the cathedral area take some surpassing, and the cathedral itself,  looming massive above the narrow streets, is a magnificent edifice. The only disappointment was that we were unable to go in and see it from the inside. Apparently God gets Saturdays off...

The river walk as one approaches the twin towers is very pleasant, and crossing it we headed for the 'Melting Pot' café for a filling lunch of poulet panini, coffee, and blood orange (special edition and very nice) Oranginas. A lovely pair of girls run this place, and it's well worth crossing over from the more fashionable side of the river to find it.

More gift hunting followed (including for ourselves) and we concluded a four+ mile bimble with a hike back uphill to our scruffy yet agreeable site, just in time for the rain to set in properly.

I did venture out once more to pay Gauloise Gertie in the office for our two nights stay and to call in at the one (hot!) shower for a quick hair-wash. Make use of the facilities when you can.

The bad news: Donny 22-7 Cov in the cup (no surprise though given the starting lineup. Experimental to say the least).

The good news: Watford 0-1 Sky Blues. Win the two games in hand and they'd be where Watford are now - fringe of playoffs. Yes, I know it ain't going to happen, but...

More good news: There are no fireworks.

Other news: Quimper moist.

Time now, early evening, to practice the vegetation routine some more. We'll get it spot on one day soon.

Miles to date: 2952