Rennes

The Calvados area of Normandy has some local produce that we had hoped to stock up on, the local brew of Calvados (apple brandy) and Pommeau (apple juice mixed with apple brandy) seemed inviting, however our route south towards Rennes we inadvertently bypassed places to buy from. Not to worry - we'll stop on the way back north ....hopefully!

So off to Rennes we go, the capital of Brittany.

The route to the south west took around 3 hours through Avranches, (its Notre Dame church spire a notable landmark along the way) the rest of the journey was mostly forgettable, dual carriageway and rather uneventful compared to the pretty roads and villages we had left behind in Normandy.

Arriving at the campsite, fortuitously it was close to the town centre, yet we found it to be in part forest part park land.

Our given pitch we found to be on the perimeter of the site backing onto woodland..it was ideal - only disturbed by a number of rabbits bounding about, guessing the grass quite tasty around our camper van.

The site was great, many cycle trails and walks on our doorstep, as well as a short walk to the local bus stop to get into the centre of town about 3km away.

Before arriving at the campsite, we had visited a local supermarket, where Jo spied a thing she had mentioned a few times previously - the "Religieuses au Cafe" a throwback to her many family caravan holidays in France in the 80's. Also known as a "Nun's Hat".

When in Rome and all that - we made a purchase - well these choux buns with cream are not for the faint hearted, there is an awful lot of crème deceptively hidden within.

Time was needed to walk off the Nun's Hat, rather timely, the sound of what seemed a music festival came from nearby, so off we went like pied pipers in search of the source.

This took us into the large public park around a lake via a gate from the campsite, taking all of 5 minutes, lo and behold we came across a free daytime park rave... it would be a shame not to partake ... so duly we did... little did we know that we would soon be swaying to random french beat music with a beer in hand .. now we were...hippies on their holidays!

After spending a few hours with our 'new mates' we departed back to Tassie.. day time rave drinking brings on the munchies .. so time for dinner... unsurprisingly for those that know Jo .. the bbq was up and running in no time!

The following day we opted for a trip into town by bus, a reasonable 1.80 euro each, the 20 minute journey into the Rennes city centre on a bendy bus was made all the more interesting by the driver probably about to finish shift, his cornering and pace akin to a F1 driver around Monaco.

Rennes is a pretty town, but closed on a Sunday... not that it was an issue as we went for a lovely saunter around town, finding it rather empty, not many people about, making it a lovely walk ....Sundays seem to be religiously observed, as the only places open were the street cafes.

Twinned with Exeter since 1956, and with 2 regional languages spoken (Breton & Gallo) it mattered not one jot as school level french and google translate were up to the job when asking for coffees, pastries and of course une baguette!

We had a lovely afternoon strolling the city taking in the sites and generally mixing it up between pottering and ambling about.

The following day it was time to move on, we were heading south, more specifically to Les Sables D'Olonne, (french for "the sand of Olonne") a town on the Atlantic coast.Read more