A short overnight trip to Brittany, camping in the woods and cycling to Cancale. Beginner cycle tourist in France.
good morning it is a beautiful Saturday morning end of June and I’m heading off to France for another adventure an overnighter going to be camping near samalo and then cycling on to conow so yeah we looking forward to this it’s been a long time supposed to go a couple of weeks ago that the trip was cancelled due to bad weather so this is going to be going to be good lovely day lots of people out in the abouts so yeah just cycling down to the ferry on a heavy loaded Touring bike I forgotten what it was like to ride with full paniers and I’ve got camping equipment with me as well so the bike feels very heavy but uh I guess I’ll get used to it so yeah going to head down to the ferry now for a lunchtime Crossing to samalo [Music] [Music] we were almost an hour late getting away from Jersey in the end there have been apparently some problems with Port congestion as the captain called it with I think there the two other varies leaving at the same time and some of the uh passengers destined for St Maro were late getting on the boats not their fault it was just a case of lots of people trying to get on different boats so uh yeah late getting away which was yeah I wasn’t too bothered wasn’t really in any hurry so uh but it was a lovely day it was nice out on Deck as we uh sailed out to St Helia [Music] [Music] [Music] we have a arrived in France it’s not as nice weatherwise here but uh bit cloudy but not too bad so just going to now navigate to the campsite so I’ve got the sa now so I’m cheating a bit but uh it’s not far it’s only about a mile so yeah it’s good to be here we have arrived at the campsite it’s quite easy to find uh as well sign posted on the uh sa I’ve helped so uh yeah we’re here so this is where spending the night there’s the bike it’s kind of a uh it’s like like a it’s like a fort or something over there and there seems to be some like World War II sort of some kind of Bunker type thing there so I’ll have a good look around later on exploring those but uh yeah it’s quite Pleasant so next job let’s get the tent up so the tent is up it’s really quite easy to put up this tent it’s very quick which is good so this is home for the night so in here just got my sleeping bag air mat and foil mat just to keep the heat from underneath but I don’t think it’s going to be cold tonight so I don’t think that’s really going to be a problem so yeah pleased with that that’s uh all going well just unloading the bike now I need to take all the bags off and put them in the tent Etc and then lock the bike to the tree then I’m going to go and explore going have a look around obiously it’s quite a big site so uh there’s apparently a food truck on site later on doing burgers and so on and a bar so I think a beer might be in order so yeah here we [Music] [Music] are so I am camped there just through the trees this a little area here which is for Walkers and cyclists there no kind of marked pitches it’s kind of just stick your temp where there’s a bit of spare ground quite pleased actually cuz I spotted that pitch there which is actually quite flat some of the other ones are on a slope and there’s nothing worse when camping and you wake up in the night and you’ve like slid off your air matat because of the slope of the ground so yeah pleased about that but this is interesting this is obviously from the W it’s obviously very well fortified here this it’s obviously some kind of gun machine gun post but look at that looks like it’s been hit by like Mor fire or something this is obviously somalo was really heavily defended and was absolutely attacked by the Americans at the end of the war the city itself which pretty much flattened a lot of it but look at that wow that’s amazing you can see where the shells had hit it must been heavily foro because there’s this fort here which I presume the German would of occupied and fortified there like a tall group down there having a look around so yeah I’m going to take a closer look yeah it’s a pretty big site another of these machine gun posts or something that’s again been shot to bits stly attacked you know during the time when so Marlo was liberated but uh yeah it’s there a lot of German concrete here so [Music] uh very nicely done though so interesting there’s no charge to get in either it’s just walk in which is good one of these places they charge you to get in but wonder over here that’s a piece of hardware [Music] [Music] I’ve just walked a little bit further around and uh din over that side s we took a little furry over ler in the year and then cycle down to dool so yes just on the other side of the [Music] est3 some people out the back kayakers and sailing boats so on other of these machine gun posts and absolutely shot up actually a piece of shell still in that sat there since 1944 it’s incredible look at this that’s just amazing imagine how terrifying that would have been if you were in there and that was your job to defend look what it does to the metal the shells hitting that the noise would have been unbelievable shocking so I’ve uh had a wander around the site it’s a pretty decent size campsite actually it’s a lot of motor homes and Tents and uh yeah it’s pretty well equipped it’s uh pretty clean sanitary blocks and stuff and the shops pretty good it’s got quite lot stock in there bread and various bits and pieces which is quite good so we’re to get some breakfast tomorrow morning so I’m just now relaxing with a bottle of Bosco paleale from somalo a local brew so uh it’s really nice actually €350 a bottle though which is a bit little bit steep I was going to buy two and I thought €7 for a paint which is what it would come to nah so anyway yeah all set up here kind of at the top of the little sort of Hill here so there my tent and the bike’s locked to the tree behind me but there’s uh yeah quite a few other campers here bicycle Tas and so on I suppose most people probably just stay the night and then uh move on the next day so yeah it’s got quite a nice view from up here I’ll just spin you around yeah so looking down on the site there and in the distance you’ve got the barrage de laurance that’s the title Power Station crosses the ranch EST so uh yeah it’s a pretty uh it’s a nice sight quite like it there’s a kind of bar area over there got music on at the moment there like a popup kind of bar thing I don’t think it’s a permanent fixture but uh they said there’ll be a food truck along later so I’m thinking about a burger or something but I have got food with me if uh gu that isn’t the case yeah but it was a uh it was a good getting here it’s only like a mile or so was really easy it’s just basically just round almost around the harbor it’s about just under a mile so I had to sat have so uh it took me right to to the very door so yeah so off tomorrow so all day tomorrow so Ferry back to jerseys not until tomorrow evening so I’ve got all day so I’m going to get packed up quite early get some breakfast then get on the road and cycle up to conal a bit of lunch in conal might be nice and uh just see where the road takes me before heading back to some Maro the ferry so I’ll see what sort of night sleep I get obviously uh I think it’ be fairly quiet I don’t think it’s a noisy campsite seems to be a lot of older people you know retire couples and so on motor homes and I don’t think it’s going to be uh any kind of partying or anything like that doesn’t strike me as a sort of campsite we got big groups of young people or anything so so hopefully get a good night’s sleep and then get cracking early in the morning there’s a food truck I found the food truck that mentioned earlier on the site selling burgers and chips and things so I’ve just been along there to get myself some dinner which I’m going to enjoy now have a nice glass of Vena cheers so yeah I’ve got a uh nice burger and chips so I’ve just finished my dinner that was really really nice enjoyed that uh just had a bizarre moment this French I’d say young lady must be early 20s maybe s appeared out of the woods and started asking me if I’d paid to uh to be here or whether it was free and I could really understand what she’s going on about I know she had a large joint in her hand so she’s obviously she looked like she was stoned out of her mind is a bit bizarre she’s just standing there with this huge B in her hand uh yeah asking me if it was free to Camp here or you have to pay so I was like well yeah you have to pay sorry uh yeah that was just a bit bit of a bizarre moment but uh yeah I’m just chilling out now for the evening uh it’s uh it’s 228 so yeah some glass of wine just enjoying the evening it’s quite peaceful here uh just listening to the birds and and so on it’s uh yeah it’s nice so yeah just having a little wander around the back of the fort from the outside it’s quite uh you can see there like that’s just been blown up you can see the uh steel from the reinforced concrete see a shell or something like went through that and then around here I just wandering through these Woods a little bit and uh that crater that can only be like an explosion just imagine what it would been like here as they were liberating s Maro absolutely terrifying good morning it is Sunday it’s about 20 8 uh slept pretty well not too bad but windy in the night that woke me a couple of times but uh and then at about 5:00 a.m. this morning the bird started and I was just like seemed like I taking it in turns you the goals to begin with making a right noise and then there’s a couple of crows must have been quite near the tent trying to outdo each other as to who could make the most noise all the other birds started up so I was kind of awake really since then but uh yeah it’s a little bit Breezy this morning I’m thinking out the cycle and thinking one of us going to be into a head wind but we’ll have to see how we go and uh yeah it’s a bit overcast I’m hoping the rain holds off but I’ve got waterproofs if necessary just been down to there’s a little uh little sort of bread place down the road on the site a little Caravan that sells all sorts of things I’ve just been got myself a qule as the French do obviously and a bagette for later and some orange juice so I’ve had some coffee brewed up on my stove so yeah all good so I’ve left the campsite I’ve headed over to the walls some Maro I’m on my way to conal it’s a uh the sun’s trying to break through it’s overcast a little bit chilly but otherwise not too bad [Music] the satinav had rooted me on to euroo 4 which is one of the vast cyc networks that run across Europe ev4 runs I think from roscoff all along the North Coast of France right up into Belgium and Beyond so they’re deliberately rooted on sort of cycle paaths very quiet roads keeps you away from all the traffic so this one even though it wasn’t the most direct route to concal it was along very very quiet country lanes uh which is really enjoyable cycling bit up and down the uphills were a little bit difficult with the weight of the bike but uh yeah it wasn’t too bad at [Music] [Music] all so there’s a little market here today in conal which is behind the uh Church bustling busy place on a Sunday morning toying with the idea of going down to the port but I know it’s down a steep hill and the problem is a fully loaded Touring bike it’s heavy I don’t really fancy pushing it back up the hill it’s getting quite warm now as well seen a load of cyclists going down the hill towards the port but they’re on ebikes so that make it really easy for them to come back up it’s quite a decent sized Market actually it’s mostly clothes and bags and hats and stuff but it’s pretty busy which is good to see and there’s the uh church at the top of the Town yeah it’s really nice and the sun’s coming out now as well so uh the weather’s cleared up like it was going to rain when I left the campsite this morning but no it’s pretty good I’ve seen this a few times in towns and Villages I’ve passed where the name of the town is upside down I believe it’s to do with Farmers protesting it’s been loads of unrest recently in a lot of European countries to do with farming subsidies and stuff I think so what they’ve been doing in France is coming out I suppose late at night some tools and turning the uh turning the signs around it’s really quiet here it’s just a d Road a bit of traffic on it but it’s not too bad yeah it’s nice now Sun’s come out the temperatures come up I’m heading back to somalo want to get some lunch I think I got back to samalo no problems at all and uh was greeted by something I knew was there but I’d never actually seen before you can see the whole Road moving there it’s basically a bridge that opens between the sort of outer harbor and the Inner Harbor it’s like a big lock to let boats through and stuff I’ve driven over it loads of times I’ve cycled over it but I’ve never actually seen it in operation but uh as it was like a Sunday afternoon the weather was good it was obviously quite busy on the Boating front and uh yeah it was quite impressive piece of technology engineering to see the road moving and L the boats through [Music] [Music] [Music] that’s a no idea I’ve not seen this before this is mored up in the marina at somalo it’s like basically a boutique bar and uh restaurant I guess how cool is that [Music] so I’m more or less at the end of the trip I am outside the walls of St Marlo it’s a lovely day well it’s cloudy but the sun’s getting through and it’s very warm there’s loads of people around I was going to try and get something to eat go for lunch somewhere but there’s nowhere I can leave the bike that’s it’s fully loaded uh like it’s got all the gear on it and there’s things in the paniers that I won’t want to lose so I had some bread from the campsite this morning so I’ve just made do a little bit of a picnic lunch so yeah it’s been good uh Lessons Learned I think I’m maybe carrying too much coming back from conal today was a bit of a struggle especially on the uphills so I wonder if I’m carrying too much weight but I don’t know what I can th out but I’ll have to have a look but uh now apart from that it’s been really good so the bike’s heavy but I’m getting used to but enjoyed it it’s nice just sitting here people watching and I’ll cycle over to the ferry terminal shortly and uh start making way back to Jersey so yeah defitely do this again this [Music]