La Mer, le Canal & les Pyrénées

[Jacques Vert]

Le Croisic

Leaving Piriac we were headed towards another traditional Breton seaside village, Le Croisic, about 36 km to the south. The route passes through a salt marsh where the locals still collect salt in the traditional way. It's a very narrow road with just enough width for two cars to pass at slow speed. On top of that it is favoured by bicycles, so it's very slow going. At one point there were two cyclists coming towards us when the second rider suddenly veered off the side of the road and went head-first into a drainage ditch. We and a number of other cars stopped to help; his fellow cyclist pulled him out of the ditch and I retrieved his bike. It appeared he was having an epileptic fit which his friend seemed to be well aware of.

By now, there were a line of cars banked up in both directions. So while +1 and the other cyclist assisted the poor chap, I decided to play traffic cop and directed traffic. Who would have thought that I'ld be standing in the middle a country road in Brittany clearing a traffic jam while +1 assisted an unwell cyclist who had come off his bike. Goes to show one never knows what tomorrow is going to bring.

Once everything was under control we continued to Le Croisic, another very pretty village:

 

[Jacques Vert]

le Passage du Gois

There are three options to reach the Ile de Noirmoutier: by private boat, via a bridge that links the southern tip of the island to the mainland and via the Passage du Gois, a 4.5 km causeway that floods at high tide. Before the bridge was completed in 1971, there was only a ferry and the Passage.

Provided you time your crossing at or around low tide, crossing the passage is an interesting experience:




Of course if you get your timing wrong, it’s a completely different experience:




There are warning signs at both ends that warn of the danger and indicate the time of the next low tide:








The locals are happy to venture onto the mud flats and even park their cars out there (I declined the opportunity)…








Or their boat…




Of course if you get your timing wrong you can always abandon the car and climb one of the rescue towers…




And there is always one, or in this case two, heroes who will ignore the signs (and common sense). (Apologies for the shakiness of the following video which was taken on maximum zoom.)

 

[Major]

It must be time for some more Mussel (or Moule) photos

 

[Jacques Vert]

île de Noirmoutier

We crossed the Passage du Gois about one and a half hours before low tide and, as we were in springs, that gave us about 3 hours to explore a bit of the island before crossing back to the mainland. The main town on the îIe de Noirmoutier is Noirmoutier-en-L'île (of course it is). It's about a 20 minute drive after crossing over to the island. So 20 minutes each way plus time to find a parking spot left a little more than 2 hours to explore the town. (Of course we could have stayed longer and returned via the bridge at the southern end of the island but that would have added about an hour to the trip.)

According to wikipedia (Noirmoutier - Wikipedia) the island has been uninterruptedly inhabited since pre-historic times and more recently:

Noirmoutier was the location of an early Viking raid in 799, when raiders attacked the monastery of Saint Philibert of Jumièges in 799.

The Vikings established a permanent base on the island around 824, from which they could control southeast Brittany by the 840s. In 848, they sacked Bordeaux. From 862 until 882, Hastein used it as a base from which he raided Francia and Brittany.

The tide was still out so we managed to explore the main town and the castle before needing to head back to the passage...








Salt mining is a traditional industry which continues to this day:




And some of you may recognise this name...




And then there's the castle:





With good views from the roof:

 

[Jacques Vert]

It must be time for some more Mussel (or Moule) photos

Well as it happened, after leaving Noirmoutier we recrossed the Passage du Gois and there is a very nice restaurant at the eastern end of the causeway.




And yes, moules was one of their specialties...




and this wasn't half bad either:




And of course, who could go past soufflé or créme broûlée for dessert:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Guérande

About 20 minutes north-west of St-Nazaire is the medieval city of Guérande. It is beautifully preserved with its entire walls still intact as well as part of the moat. We spent an enjoyable day exploring every part of this small city and had a nice lunch as well:




There are a number of gates, some wide enough for cars and some for those on foot...










The church has some fine examples of stained glass:








In the square outside the church was this chap who was singing traditional french songs; the music box had the kids fascinated:




Once he was finished, this guy played some more modern songs; they were both quite good.

 

[ellen10]

Love the photos @Jacques Vert. I love the rural French villages.
And of course those Moules look delicious and accompanied with nice wine and finished off with traditional French desserts. So envious!

 

[Jacques Vert]

Love the photos @Jacques Vert. I love the rural French villages.
And of course those Moules look delicious and accompanied with nice wine and finished off with traditional French desserts. So envious!

I have to thank +1 for the photos.

I also love the little french villages, especially those by the sea in Brittany; they have such a lovely ambiance. I have another one coming up soon but first, we headed up the Loire Valley to visit a couple of wineries.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Wineries

We visited the Office de Tourisme in Nantes and picked up a brochure on a local wine trail.

First we visited the Château de La Frémoire where we tried a couple of local varieties that I haven't tried previously. I liked their Muscadet Sèvre et Maine; if only I wasn't driving I could have settled in for the afternoon.




The brochure suggested a nice spot on the river for lunch, La Chaussee des Moines. However, it was now mid-afternoon so we just had a look around and then headed for the next winery. It is certainly a lovely place if you are looking for somewhere to eat around this area.










Next we visited the Château du Coing (Vignobles Günther-Chereau - Family estate with character - 44):












All very nice wines and I have two new favourite white varieties.: gros-plant-du-pays-nantais and Muscadet Sèvre et Maine. Santé!

 

[ellen10]

Did you phone ahead? Or just call in?
In Bordeaux it seemed like you had to book to visit a winery for tasting.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Did you phone ahead? Or just call in?
In Bordeaux it seemed like you had to book to visit a winery for tasting.

We just dropped in. At the first winery Château de La Frémoire, we were the only ones in the tasting room for a while until a Dutch couple joined us, although there were quite a few people in their restaurant area out the back.

At Château du Coing a couple were leaving just as we arrived so we had the cellar, and the very helpful and informative Chloe, all to ourselves. We were allowed a (small) taste of any and all of their wines. As I was driving I only tasted 6 or 7. Prices ranged from EUR 6.50 to around Eur 17 per bottle.

 

[Jacques Vert]

coughic

We drove south from St-Nazaire along the coast through numerous/continuous seaside towns/villages. There were some quite nice spots along the way. Arriving in coughic from the north, we followed the signs to the old port where we found a parking area with a vacant spot adjacent to the Château. The Château itself is quite nice; here is a photo looking back towards it. The carpark is behind the Château in this photo.




As you can see, there is a boardwalk along the edge of the river but instead we walked slightly uphill from the carpark and under a stone arch that led into the port area. After passing under the arch the vista of the port area opens up and is quite impressive. We were not expecting what we saw before us and were very impressed. coughic has a beautiful port area which is, like most of these villages, lined with restaurants, créperies, brasseries, etc. I've been to a lot of these seaside villages but this was the first time I've been to coughic. IMHO it is one of the nicest I've been to.

 

[Jacques Vert]

We enjoyed strolling around this village so much that we decided to stay for a late lunch/early dinner. This time we had both savory and sweet crepes washed down with a carafe of muscadet. Superb!

 

[Seat0B]

Late to the party but loving your TR, @Jacques Vert - and I guess as you still have several months to enjoy, I will be able to follow along in a more up to date fashion.

These cars are supplied tax exempt to non-EU tourists as a Govt incentive to the French car industry. The cost gets cheaper the longer you lease it; ours works out to $31.90 per day for 160 days for a brand new vehicle with full insurance and zero excess.

We had friends who did this way back in 2008. Seemed like a great deal and I think they could also drive it to neighbouring countries.

When we had our Renault a few years ago, we picked it up and dropped it off near Frankfurt, can’t remember any places we couldn’t go, only issue being is that the red plate makes you stand out as being a tourist.

We have done the same leasing exercise twice and found it to be an excellent system - as long as your stay is long enough. I think I worked out that around 20 days was the sweet spot to swap from hiring to leasing. The advantages included full insurance and no extra drivers fees. The only work you have to do is buying the various 'permits' like the German Environmental sticker. The red plate was certainly noticeable but we didn't have any problems.

We also used this scheme for a 6 week car trip in Europe - using Peugeot - collected in Frankfurt, returned in Paris and it was fantastic. It was about 10 years ago, and at that time, the servicing was included and our car (which had 27 km on the clock when we got it) had to have a 1,000 km dealer check, so they deducted a few Euro from the price for our inconvenience. We drove all over - Germany, Czechia, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium and France, and it was great. Would definitely do it again.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Ile de Fédrun

Directly north of St-Nazaire is another large marais (wetland). Roughly in the middle of the marais is the Ile de Fédrun, a small island with a number of well-maintained houses with traditional thatched-rooves. As you drive towards the island, there is a lookout tower that gives excellent views over the marais and surrounding area...

 

[Jacques Vert]

St-Nazaire has an Airbus factory which is one of the facilities that builds fuselages for the A350. You can do a tour of the facility however, it is only French and you need to book well in advance. We're did the tour of the Airbus facility in Toulouse a few years ago and it would have to be one of the most boring tours I've ever done (although the nearby museum is worth visiting).

On this occasion we didn't bother with the tour however, I did see the Beluga fly over after taking off from the local airport, presumably bound for the assembly plant in Toulouse.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Escal'Atlantic

Inside part of the submarine pens is Escal'Atlantic, a museum that consists of mock-ups of some of the transatlantic liners built in St-Nazaire. It includes some of the original decorations and artifacts from the Normandie and other luxury liners of the day.

From Wikipedia:
During the Second World War, Normandie was seized by U.S. authorities at New York and renamed USS Lafayette. In 1942, while being converted to a troopship, the liner caught fire and capsized onto her port side and came to rest, half submerged, on the bottom of the Hudson River at Pier 88 (the site of the current Manhattan Cruise Terminal). Although salvaged at great expense, restoration was deemed too costly and she was scrapped in October 1946.

During the conversion to a troopship, much of the interior fittings were removed and stored, and thus saved from the fire. After the war ended, some of these fittings were given back to the french government and have found their way into this museum.

There are also mock-ups of rooms from a number of other liners built in St-Nazaire including France (1962) and the Ile de France (1927). In addition, there are some interesting historical photographs of various liners.

At EUR15 per person it's reasonable value and takes about one and a half hours to go through. We enjoyed it.

 

[Jacques Vert]

La Roche-Bernard

After 28 days in St-Nazaire it was time to head north to our next stop. While our stay here in St Nazaire was quite enjoyable we wouldn't stay in the same accommodation again. It was OK but not really up to the mark given the price we paid. We had to check-out at 1000 and check-in at the next place wasn't until 1500; and the driving time was less than 2 hours.

What to do? Stop somewhere nice for lunch of course and La Roche-Bernard was only a short detour. Another pretty Breton Village which is a part of a network called Small Cities of Character (https://www.petitescitesdecaractere.com/en); a group of 193 small towns that have a remarkable heritage and wish to maintain and build on their heritage.

The town was founded in 919 by a Viking chief and many of the buildings are from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. First we had a quick look around the town:
















For lunch we both had a crèpe with apple, ice cream and chantilly cream. I washed mine down with a local cider. Very, very nice.

 

[Jacques Vert]

So for our next 28 days we again booked through airBnB. This time we found a three bedroom house in Lorient that is just beautiful. The owners have put a lot of love into setting this place up with quality furniture and lots of pieces they have brought back from Reunion Island and Morocco.

As we booked for 28 days we received a 60% discount; or to put that another way, we've paid for 11 nights and got 17 for free! That averages out to $134 per night and as such it is only $2 more than we paid in St-Nazaire; and the lounge/dining area is as big as the whole apartment was in St-Nazaire. We also have a garage for the car, two bathrooms, a separate laundry, an office and an outdoor eating area, as well as the three bedrooms mentioned earlier.

Unfortunately I seem to have lost the ability to add photos to this trip report. Not sure if it is a problem with my computer or the website. I'll be back once I have sorted things out.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Problem sorted; here are some photos of our accommodation in Lorient:








The bedrooms:








One of the bathrooms:




And a full kitchen...








Back yard:




Office:




Laundry: