Notre Dame de Monts

Sunday 18^th August Notre Dame de Monts

It was a rare wet day as we drove away from the Loire towards the Atlantic coast. Whilst supermarkets are generally open on Sunday mornings in France this was not the case in the Loire region. We needed both food and fuel. Evetually we found an Intermarche that was open. We arrived at 11.45 and the store closed at midday. Jacqui rushed around to pick up a few bits for our supper but we were too late for fuel. On our route we found other petrol stations that were 24 hour but these were useless to us as we did not have cash or the right cards. We had reached our destination on fumes by the time we found a suitable station and were thankfully able to replenish our diesel.

Originally we had planned to stay in St. Jean de Monts but it looked very busy and the camper van aire looked horrid so we headed off for the slightly quieter resort of Notre Dame de Monts. Here we found space on an aire for 5 euros (although later we found free parking on an adjacent road – more details to follow). After a chicken supper we walked along the beach front to see the sunset. It has been many weeks since we were last able to do that and it was good to be by the sea again.

Monday 19^th August Notre Dame de Monts

It was a lovely sunny day so Mike went off on the bike to get bread. I stayed in the van for 3 hours doing some Keele work. Mike made lunch and then we headed off for the beach where we spent a pleasant afternoon in the sun watching the catamarans and kite boarders on the sea. I also managed to speak to Richard before he went off to Croatia next week whilst Mike eventually sorted out the electrical work that needed to be done (or not!) at the Old Stables.

We left the beach about 5pm and headed back to the van for our bikes. We then cycled the 9km into St. Jean de Monts. Here we walked over the sand dunes to the sea before heading back.

To avoid the princely sum of 5 euros for the aire we decided to leave the aire and park in the adjacent road along with some other motorhomes. This turned out to be a mistake (nearly) as around 9.30pm after we had had supper and were drinking wine a very pleasant gendarme arrived.  He spoke very good English and told us that it was forbidden to park in the road overnight. He showed us another place to go and then I remembered our wine. I told him that we had been drinking (only one glass) to which he responded by saying not to worry he would escort us to the site once he had spoken to the other motorhomers. Mike put his second glass of wine back in the bottle and we prepared to leave. By 11pm there was still no sign of our escorting gendarme so we got ready for bed and did not hear anymore about parking in the wrong place.

Tuesday 20^th August Notre Dame de Monts

Again I worked for 3 hours in the morning and then we set off to the supermarket to buy some bits to take when we visited Daxa.  Daxa and her family plus Heena’s (Daxa’s sister) family had rented a house about 8km away. We were both excited to be meeting each other again.  Mike and I had our lunch en route arriving at their house about 3pm. The house was a lovely French building. Large rooms that could comfortably accommodate 10 people. It also had a large pool and that is where the kids were when we arrived. Daxa and I spent the  next few hours talking about our trip and work gossip and then in the evening we had a large BBQ cooked by Steve and Lee.  Later on I taught Thomas how to play zilch and after a good few glasses of wine we went to bed. As the place was so large there was plenty of room for our van and we had free electricity too!

Wednesday 21^st August Ile de Noirmoutier

We had our breakfast in the van and then a cup of coffee with Daxa before we set off.  Our plan was to visit the Ile de Noirmoutier via the causeway which is only accessible 1.5 hours either side of low tide. We set off and were surprised to find ourselves in a traffic jam going into Beauvoir sur Mer that continued right out to the causeway, known locally as Le Gois.  It took nearly two hours to travel the few kilometres and we were concerned that we would miss our chance to make the crossing. When we arrived we could see the cause – it was just sheer numbers of people. Perhaps it was the fact that the tide was very low today with the full moon and flood tides or the lovely sunny weather, but there were French people streaming all over the sands in search of cockles.  I couldn’t help but think about the Morecombe Bay tragedy and I hoped they would all make it safely back to their cars and onto dry land before the waters rushed in.

We drove over to the island and continued up to the top centre of the island and parked at Noirmoutier en I’lle. We then cycled 20km or so around the top coastline.  It was a lovely day to be out on the bikes. I persuaded Mike to stop for a beer after we had been out for an hour and shortly after that I got a flat tyre.  I managed to cycle the last 6-7km back to the van with Mike pumping up my tyre every few metres. Back in the van we took the high road bridge that also links the island to the mainland. On the way back we identified a possible campsite and we had our supper adjacent to this spot. We then drove on to Daxa’s house again where we played cards with the kids until 10pm. We chatted with Daxa for another hour and a half as Lee and Steve had gone into town earlier in the evening to watch football and then we retired to our van.

Thursday 22^nd Notre Dame de Monts

After breakfast we drove into Notre Dame. We called in at the Tourist Information office for internet info and found that we could only get half an hour free access. Still it was a good connection and we were able to deal with a few e mails in that time. We also picked up some bread and fruit and then headed to the aire near central Plage. We had our lunch on the edge of the pine forest and then walked down to the beach. Apart from a few annoying flies we had an enjoyable afternoon.
After we had left the beach we headed for the campsite we had identified the previous day. In large letters it had advertised overnight camping with electricity and water for 5 euros.  It was only a field but we thought it was a bargain but in the end this turned out not to be the case. It cost 5 euros for the overnight stay plus a further 4 for electricity and 2 for water. Feeling a little conned we  decided to stay as we needed the electricity for the fridge but we did not take the water despite being very low. The site actually turned out to be a lovely spot. It was a huge field surrounded by dykes and the open countryside. We shared it with one other van. It was a beautiful warm evening and as we sat outside eating our BBQ a huge orange harvest moon rose up. Perfect!

Friday 23^rd Notre Dame de Monts

Making the most of the electricity we spent the morning in the field. I did some more work and Mike did the useful stuff. We had our lunch outside in the lovely sunshine and then packed up. We drove back into NDdM to the aire next to the tourist info. Here we picked up free water and the internet code for the day. We used up our half hour very quickly! We then decided to cycle north up to where the road bridge crosses over to the island. It was 11km away. At the top we found a nice beach – Plage de Grande Cote and we sat there for an hour before cycling back. Adjacent to this beach we noticed a camper parking area that was free with a maximum 48 hours stay but no services.  Back at the aire Mike made use of the free facilities to service the van and then we headed back up to our beach parking spot. We found a nice space to park and Mike set up the BBQ under the pine trees. When it was too late to do much about it we wondered whether BBQs were allowed here as there was a lot of dry grassland under the pines. Anyway we sat with a bottle of water by the BBQ just in case there were any stray sparks and sat out until the coals had burned through. Another lovely evening.

Saturday 24^th August Notre Dame de Monts

For no apparent reason we were late getting up this morning. We had been expecting poorer weather and although it was very breezy the sun continued to shine. Our main  problem today was that the fridge was getting worse and had set off our carbon monoxide alarm. The only safe answer was to turn the gas supply to the fridge off. Fortunately we did not have a lot of stuff in it that needed to be kept cool although we would miss our iced water. I worked again for 1.5 hours up to lunchtime, which again we were able to eat in the sun.

After lunch we decided to cycle back to the causeway – Le Gois to watch the tide come in as we had missed this the other day. It was only a short 5km cycle but the wind was very gusty and on the high bridge over the strait I was nearly blown over. At the causeway we found a suitable place to sit along with many other people to watch the waters rush in other the flat sands.  It was an exciting experience. We were amazed at how late some people left it to choose to cross and in fact we saw a few cars having to do multi point turns on the causeway to come back as the waters were already up to the road. At one point the scene was disrupted by the sounds of a police car alarm and then a gendarme’s whistle as he ran down the causeway telling people to hurry off.  He headed up the causeway and we saw that he was heading for a car that was stuck on the sand. There was no way it could be helped off and as the minutes ticked by we saw the tide engulf the car. That must be a interesting insurance claim!

We watched the tide progress for some time and then we cycled back in the strong wind .  Back at the van we enjoyed a beer and some olives in the sun before we chose to escape the wind by going back into the van.

Sunday 25th Notre Dame de Monts

It had rained during the night but despite the forecast today turned out to be a lovely day. It was a bit overcast in the morning and Mike spent some time planning the final few days of the trip and I did some work. After lunch we went for a long walk (about 3 hours) on the beach. There was a very low tide so we were able to walk on firm sand. It was a very windy day and there were many people taking advantage with their sand yachts and kite boards. We saw a few naked people and took pity on them as they braved the beach from the safety of the sand dunes. The wind was enough to shrivel any extremities!

That evening we played boules in the sun - Mike won again but only just. We had an omelette as eggs were the only things left in our fridge (now being used as a store cupboard) and then we played a game of scrabble.