Concarneau

This little town came onto the radar last year when Jill (handling the matter very well) unfortunately had her van (Billy) breakdown, we were further south in Île D'Oleron at the time.

Whilst dealing with various aspects of Billy, she spend some time in Concarneau, her photos of the town showed a pretty port with a some sort of walled fortification which looked interesting, so it went on the list of places to go to at some point.

As luck would have it on this trip, we would be heading back north towards Brittany (more of that later) and as the weather was showing to be warm on the coast, this was the chosen spot to aim for.

The drive took us inadvertently onto a toll road around Angers, we had been avoiding them to enjoy the rural roads and countryside, yet sometimes without being too vigilant on setting the satnav, we had ventured onto a short motorway, 16 euros later for about a 5 mile stretch, makes the M6 toll road look like a bargain!

Trying to find how much the toll roads cost and which roads are payable is akin to a masters degree in french road navigation! It's not that clear (esp if not fluent in the home language) on how to work out how much you pay for each stretch of a motorway you may take.

Back to Concarneau, arriving at the campsite the front office was empty a rickety sign half hanging off another older sign suggesting you go the bar to check-in.

It was a leafy site, in regards it was relaxed at its hedge cutting and generally tidiness, but seemed very busy, so the location was definitely the draw for this place.

Checking in is always an interesting experience, I'm the designated checker in person, getting involved in various exchanges of school french and if things get really unclear - a bit of the Translate app!

The bar was no more than a room with some white plastic garden furniture that had seen better days, not put off after paying I was instructed to just find a space I liked. This made more sense now, when driving on arrival round there was a general haphazardness manner to which motorhomes, caravans and campervans had all pitched up.

Relaying this back to Jo who had stayed in the van, her first impression was ... we need to drive round the site again.. having navigated this undulating pathway with low hanging trees and overgrown bushes one more time at least!

So off we went ... finding a reasonable flat pitch, many were "on the wonk" aka sloping.
Pitch chosen, no idea of its number or if it was a pitch, finding electrical hook up the next challenge ... a quick search of the undergrowth and bingo! To add the toilets and showers were fairly modern and spotless, and a boulangerie at the entrance to the campsite ....so all was good!

Shorty after our arrival our new neighbour, a french cyclist pitched up with all the gear and setting his tent in double quick time, getting his jet boil to muster up a tasty freeze dried treat in no time, he clearly had form at this game!

Our campsite was close to the town yet on the other side of the harbour, a ferry (Le Bac Du Passage), which has been running for over 100 years promoted itself as the "smallest cruise in the world" taking 3 minutes to cover the 200m across the port, avoiding a lengthy few miles of walking by road.

Le Bac was bargain at 1Euro per trip, that said if using the same cost ratio the (12 mile/ 19.3 km) Portsmouth to Isle of Wight crossing would be £96.50 .... so perhaps not quite a bargain after all!

We spent the evening having a little wander around our side of the harbour known as the Rouz District, now a quieter space previously the home of the town's fishing fleet, fish canning factory, ship building yard and local town market. The remnants of WW2 presented themselves with the last of the Blockhouses still in situ (now a community centre).

The Blockhouses were linked to now long gone anti aircraft posts & shelters, which thankfully had never seen any action.

Our first trip on "Le Bac" was interesting, taking up to 30 passengers, there was just about 8 of us on board this little trip, giving good views all rounds of the harbour from the water.

About 5 french naval ships were also in port, plus 2 on the hard looking like they were getting a refit, the others sitting closer to the 10 strong trawler fleet that was preparing to go out on the ebb tide.

Arriving across the harbour at a small jetty on the medieval "Ville Close" a walled town now quite a tourist magnet, with plenty of shops and places to eat, the general vibe was chilled, as their is some restraint in the number of tourist shops on offer.

Coming out of the walled town, a bridge over the tidal harbour is used to access the other half of the town, where we opted to have a stroll around.

Deciding to eat out in the town that evening we opted for getting a sandwich and having a picnic lunch by the harbour side .. watching the world go by.

In Jill's photos of her stay in Concarneau, we happened to use the sandwich shop below her temporary Air BnB... small world!!

The Ville Close also housed a large "Musee de la péche" aka the fishing museum.... which was about to close as we came across it.

A further trip back out on Le Bac that evening for dinner - remarkably our first night out in a town since arriving in France, a nice little french cuisine perhaps - no we both opted for pizza!

Fun Fact - Vendée Globe yachtswoman from Portsmouth, Samantha Davies now lives in the town.

Leaving the campsite, we noted that the gardeners had arrived ... they had some work to get on with!Read more