Little blog

A new post made using a blogger program on my Samsung galaxy tab.




A photo from or holiday in 2010

La Plage

On the free morning the weather was beautiful, and we went by bus to the suburb of St Mark's where the beach has been renamed La Plage de Monsieur Hulot, after a a film that was set there. There is a raised space with a view over the beach, with a statue of Mr. Hulot looking out across the beach smoking his pipe.

The waves were quite strong, and we went paddling and got a little wet.  There were some rocks which were good for clambering over, and some more that were good for the waves that broke over them.

We tried to get a drink from the Best Western hotel overlooking the beach, and went instead to a bar nearby that was just as good and quite a bit cheaper.

Plage de Porce

After the evening meal I walked to a nearby beach. The route took me past a baptist church, where I was invited in to join the midweek bible study when I stopped to read their notice board.

  There was a steep climb down to a sandy little cove, flanked by steep cliffs on three sides.  I walked along the path at the top of the cliffs to the next bay, and enjoyed the fading light.



People were dissapointed that the hotel was not near a beach, so I timed the walk back.  It took 20 minutes, steeply uphill at first, walking at quite a pace, and I was quite hot when I got back.

Guerande

To the northwest of St Nazaire is a marshy area called La Grande Briere, which is a national park area.  We drove through this on the way to Guerande, stopping at a small village where we saw thatched cottages and some horses being made ready for the day, and we took some nice pictures.  We also stopped at Kerhinet, a small village that had become depopulated as people moved to the towns, so that there were just 2 houses still occupied when the park authority bought the whole village to turn it into a museum.  Sadly the exhibits only opened as we left, but it was a very pleasant interlude on our way to Guerande.

Guerande town centre is very compact, with all the medieval walls in place, and also a long stretch of moat. There is a central square, with a market beside the church, and streets with a variety of shops and galleries.  This was a half day excursion, but we extended our time here by returning by bus later in the afternoon.

The church felt a little like the one at Vannes, with paintings in the chapels, but less large dark and heavy. One picture of Jesus at the house of Simon the leper particularly impressed me. Between the shops and the market stalls there was quite a lot to see, and then we enjoyed a crepe sitting in the main square.

We looked round an art gallery, with sculptures and paintings, and Ann bought a poster.  We walked round the walls and bought some lunch at a pattiserie, which we ate by the walls.  After lunch there was very little to do as the market had finished most of the shops had closed for a long lunch hour, so we sat at a very colourful bar and enjoyed a beer.

Come half past two the museum in the gatehouse opened, and I looked round at the variety of artefacts from the town's history, and enjoyed a walk on the small portion of the walls that was open.  After that the town took on a new lease of life as the shops reopened after lunch.  Some others from our party had taken the little train that took them right out into the salt marshes round about.

Getting home by bus was no problem, although finding the right bus stop from St. Nazaire town centre back to the hotel was a little uncertain.  Once back at the hotel I had a nice swim in the hotel pool.

Pornic

On the way back from Noirmoutier we stopped at the harbour town of Pornic.  We got out by the station, where it had something of the feel of Llangollen.  The railway ran alongside a swiftly flowing river, and the land rises on both sides of the river valley.  The road crossed the river over a bridge, and suddenly the river had changed into a pretty harbour, overlooked at the far end by a castle defending the entrance from the ocean.
We walked along the harbour, but got no further than an ice cream shop; delicious. Then we went into a clothes shop and Ann bought a Breton stripy blue and white tee shirt.
There is a pottery at Pornic, but we did not try to find it as Ann was not up for climbing up the hillside.  I went on my own to the church, past the town hall, and along by the castle where I saw some nice mosaics on one of the houses. The church felt much lighter than the cathedral at Vannes, with posters by children at the back.
We visited a shop that sold chocolate and some Breton cakes, which, when we asked, were made of butter and sugar, and not much else.  The shop keeper was very passionate about them, but when we got them home we were a little disappointed.  We went to another shop called La Trinitaine which is reputed to make the best Breton biscuits.
On the way back to the coach we saw some of the pottery on display at the Tourist information.

Noirmoutier

The journey to Noirmoutier took us over the Loire Bridge at St. Nazaire.  This is quite an impressive structure, the Loire Estuary is wider than the Mersey at Liverpool.  The suspension bridge arcs round in a curve which makes quite an impressive site.
After Bourgneuf the countryside becomes very flat indeed as we passed over the marais, or marsh.  There were many ditches and watercourses, but also farming and settlements.
There is a causeway to the Island of Noirmoutier, but it is only available in one direction, and at low tide, and our journey times meant that we had do do both journeys by the bridge.
At the town of Noirmoutier we saw the castle the shops and the market.  I was dissappointed to be there on a Tuesday the only day the castle museum was not open, but I guess it was more important to be there on a day the market was open.  There were several wooden sculptures in the dry shallow moat.
We were looking round some gift shops and a bead shop when there was a sharp shower, so we made for a nearby cafe and enjoyed a cup of coffee and chatted to some other folk on the tour.  After that it brightened up and we walked past the harbour to the market.
Ann had taken a picture of some hollyhocks growing against a wall, and this inspired our choice of picture to buy from a local artist who had a stall at the market. The market traders were very friendly, and it took me a while to realise that they were not wishing as a good journey, but that that is the way people say good day (jour).   We nearly bought a Breton jumper (each) and I nearly bought Ann a scarf.
The fruit and vegetable stalls were very bright and impressive, and we bought some cherries, which were very good.  There was also quite a wide choice of shops.   The artist said that the beach he had painted was a bus journey away.  I got the impression that it was a good place to come and stay for a while.
It had brightened up considerably since the early shower, so we bought some lunch at a pattiserie and sat on a bench looking out at the harbour to eat it in the sunshine.
There were some nice views of the sands going over the bridge on the journey back to the mainland, and then came the journey back stopping at the little harbour town of Pornic

Quiberon

Quiberon is near the end of a peninsula, with one coast line facing the Atlantic, and one more sheltered facing East.  We passed some spectacular cliffs rocks and bays on the Atlantic side on the way there.  The town of Quiberon faces the Atlantic, but there is a sandy beach sheltered by the harbour.
We wandered around looking at some shops, we bought some ointment for Ann's back, and we ate pancakes in a bar near the beach on the main square.