Great timing, the football 2014 World Cup started and we decide to go on holiday (just a coincidence really!).
Little note regarding the photos. You will see that Steve is in the majority of them, as I managed to escape the lense as I was taking them!!!
Steve my hubby and myself decided to go back to France and have a similar holiday to last year (if you are interested then please read that blog). We (well he, as I will not drive in France) decided not to do as much driving as last year, particularly as we were only away for 10 days, so we stayed for 3 nights in the 3 hotels that we chose from the Brittany Ferry Holiday Brochure. The first hotel was in Clisson which is in the Western Loire region, with the second being in Trizay (but I should really keep this one a secret) in the Poitou Charentes region and the third right on the coast in Billiers in Brittany. Here is a diary of our trip and also a brief review on each of the hotels that we stayed at, which I also review on Tripadvisor if you are interested.
12th June 2014
Our holiday should have started with the sailing on the Pont Aven (Brittany Ferries flagship) leaving at 8.45 p.m. but you could board early on this particular crossing, so we were going to start with a meal in the lovely restaurant, and then up to our cabin which had a balcony to enjoy the late evening sun and a glass of wine as we left Plymouth. Well that is what should have happened, but we got an email from Brittany Ferries on the 11th June saying that there would be a delay as the ferry had had a technical problem and she wouldn’t be getting into Plymouth from Santander until 9.30 pm.
So instead of a nice French meal in the restaurant, we decided on takeaway fish and chips from our local chippy instead as it would have been far too late to eat a 3 course meal at 10.30 ish. We arrived at the port at about 9.00 pm but ended up being one of the last cars on, so it was straight to our cabin, opened a bottle of wine with some Pringles, and eventually left plymouth at just after midnight (in the dark) and eventually hitting the sack about 1.30 am
13th June 2014
The crossing was unbelievably calm and I have to say that driving on potholed roads had more motion. We were woken up with croissants in our cabin at 7.00 am French time in brilliant sunshine but we hit a wall of sea fog just before Roscoff but arrived at the original scheduled time despite the delay in leaving Plymouth, so as it was so calm the Captain was able to put his foot down.
The fog lifted after about 15 minutes after we left Roscoff. and after about a 4 hour drive we arrived at our first destination at Clisson and our lovely hotel Villa St Antoine which is a converted mill overlooking the river. Our room was lovely and overlooked the river and the hotel had a very Italian flavour to it. We unpacked and then opened a box of wine and sat on the balcony taking in the views, but it was so hot we didn’t stay out there too long and retired to our air conditioned room for a rest.
We then went for a stroll around Clisson in the heat. which I have to say was a very pretty typically French town, cut in half by the river with one side being French and the other side (the side of our hotel) very much in the Italian style. Steve spied a French cake shop but decided to forgoe a French fancy until tomorrow. We went back to the hotel for a much needed dip in the outside pool which was very refreshing, and then showered and then down to dinner for our first meal in France.
The set meal was 29 euros a head, but as this was our first meal we chose off the A La Carte Menu so it was a little more expensive, but the following nights we did opt for the set menu. As there was lots of fishy things on the menu I had to opt unfortunately for fois gras as a starter, which I wouldn’t have done had there been another option, as I do not agree with how this is made, but I have to say was delicious. We then decided to have a rib of beef to share. Problem was as Steve likes his meat medium and I like mine cremated, it did cause a bit of a problem, but the waitress assured me that if it was cooked as medium then I could have mine cooked a little more once it had been carved. The little young male waiter brought the piece of meat out (which was huge) and I think he was just learning as he then attempted to carve (well more like massacre) the meat as he used what looked like a blunt knife and a spoon – yes a spoon, until a waitress came over to help him out and swopped the knife for a lot sharper one and the spoon for a fork.
Eventually it was cut into slices and served very simply with new potatoes, a little bowl of salad and a lovely béarnaise sauce and Steve was in his element and thoroughly enjoyed the caveman experience. As expected my meat had to go back to the kitchen to be cooked a little bit more, Although I enjoyed it, there was little too much neat for me, but nonetheless it was very good. Needless to say we couldn’t manage a pudding but finished off with a coffee. We then went for a little stroll around a different part of Clisson, then back to the room with a cup of coffee on the balcony and so to bed zzzzz
14/6/2014
Breakfast and then a stroll up into the village for the obligatory baguette, pâté and a bottle of rose, for a picnic in the Italian gardens by the river. We found a lovely peaceful spot, and Steve read his kindle with the odd snooze here and there in the warm sunshine, and I enjoyed watching the canoeists paddling up and down the river. We stayed there for most of the day and it was really relaxing and much needed after the long drive on the French roads yesterday.
Lovely meal again, and a little more sophisticated than a huge chunk of beef, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We sat inside again avoiding the cigarette smoke and insects from the outside tables, and made faces through the glass at a little French boy about 5 years old who was having a meal with his family, (he started it!!!) which he thought was hilarious, winding him up then he got told off by his parents – result, this was around 9.30 pm and they actually started to eat at around 10.00 pm,which I think us far too Late for kids to be up, let alone to be eating!
There was entertainment that the hotel laid on, which was a little band which were very good, and obviously the French knew who they were and came to the hotel just to see them. But then again we heard other music coming from the town so we went to investigate and found that there was actually a music festival going on in the Town. The first performers just down the road from the hotel was a rock band which isn’t really our style, so we made our way across the bridge where an orchestra was playing well known English tunes with a female singer, which was more our cup of tea, but have to say that Freddie Mercury would have turned in his grave during the rendition of “I want to live forever”. There were hoards of people wandering around including young children and wondered where they had all come from as it was buzzing.
However at 11.30 they all packed up, the crowds diasppeared and we went back to our hotel, where peace and quiet reigned, and as we went through the main door of the hotel, the little French boy we were making faces at was just leaving. This time it was time for bed and gosh it is really tiring doing nothing! result. This was around 9.30 pm and they actually started to eat at around 10.00 pm,which I think is far too late for kids to be out, let alone to be eating, they should be tucked up in bed, but in France it is so much different.
15/6/2014
I am digressing a bit here, but if you read my blog about our driving tour in France last year (2013) Steve broke his tooth on the 1st night and had to go to a French dentist the following day. Well what is it about our holidays in France but would you believe it, he was suffering with toothache again (funnily enough in the same tooth, or so he thought, you will have to read to the end to find out the outcome) and was contemplating anther trip to a French dentist, but he decided to take some painkillers first, hoping they would work to see him through to the end of the holiday and once back in Blighty to see his own dentist. Back to diary.
It was Father’s Day today and our Son Adrian had given me a bottle of brandy to give to Steve, which was just what the dentist ordered as it came in handy as an alternative pain killer for his tooth!!!. After breakfast we walked up to the ruins of the medieval castle, and found it very interesting looking around as it had been left exactly as it would have been in the 1700’s. A couple of rooms had been made into tourist information rooms but the rest was untouched.
After we had completed our tour of the castle we thought it was about time we sampled our first proper french cake, so on the way back, we found just the shop and sat on our balcony and enjoyed them with a cup of coffee.
In the afternoon we had another lazy time around the pool, sunbathing, and then in the shade under the parasol, and numerous dips in the swimming pool. As we had enjoyed the meals in the hotel restaurant so far, and apart from a couple of alternatives as Clisson is not very big, we decided to stay put.
16/6/2014.
After breakfast we said a sad farewell to picturesque Clisson and on to our 2nd hotel. After a few hours, we arrived at our next hotel (which Steve said he had reservations about) and we as we had enjoyed our first hotel in Clisson thought that that one would be hard to beat. This hotel Les Jardins Du Lac as the name suggests was right by a lake. We arrived at around 2.00 pm but the reception door was locked and there was no-one around. We waited and waited but nothing (so was Steve’s worry coming to fruition). We resorted to sitting in the car and ended up actually telephoning the hotel. An English speaking young lady answered and said the reception opens at 3.00 but apologised for not seeing us arrive. She opened the reception door and showed us to our room which included walking over glass tiles over a fish pond.
Steve’s apprehension disappeared once we were shown our room, as it was lovely, with a stunning view over the lake, very modern, very clean with a good size bedroom with modern furniture and a large wet room, which was fully tiled and ultra modern fittings including a his and hers sink with space age taps. It had a little patio area right outside the patio doors with a table and 2 chairs, and then in front of this another paved area complete with sun loungers, offering peace and tranquility.
It was still lovely and hot so decided to try out the swimming pool, and shared our swim with a rather large frog (the amphibian species) which we thought was alive, but it was eventually netted out but sad to say it was very much dead, and obviously killed by the chlorine in the pool. Why it was in there in the first place with a huge lake to live in is a mystery but he obviously had his reasons.
Although there were sun loungers and some all weather patio furniture around the pool, we soaked up the sun on the loungers in front of our lakeside room, with a glass of wine (yes, we did drink quite a few glasses over the period, well we were on holiday and it is something that just had to be done) – perfect. This really was a super location, but the big test would be if the restaurant could also come up trumps. Well we were not disappointed, the beautiful restaurant had glass all around it, and every table had a view of the lake, and it was very well furnished and laid out. The menu was varied with a set menu at 33 euros a head, or a set menu for 60 euros a head or a choice from the A La Carte. We were served with canapés to start with and then a little amuse bouche, followed by our starters, and then the main meal which was pork and I have to say it was the best bit of pork that I have ever tasted and that is saying something coming from me, it was so succulent, tender and juicy and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was then desserts and coffee which were served with petit fors. This was a super meal and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
We went for an evening stroll around the lake after dinner where we were the only ones around. The air was still (apart from loads of midges) and the lake calm with the odd fish jumping out and rippling the water and it was really tranquil. We passed a lot of ducks around the edge of the water, and if you were actually a duck or came back as a duck in your next life, then this is definitely the place to be, not only a huge lake, loads of green grass, a hotel for the odd bit of bread and an outside fish pond with a channel which runs under the hotel corridor and out the other side, down the garden to another pond at the end, so fresh clean water to drink if the lake gets a bit dirty!!!
17/6/2014
Breakfast and then decided to do a trip to Cognac, well with Steve being a brandy lover, as we were so close it just had to be done. We did the trip around Martell visitors centre, and Steve was in his element toothache disappeared! (If only). This was the first morning that we woke up to it being slightly overcast, so a trip to Cognac had turned out to be a good idea.
We arrived at the centre at about 11.30 am to be informed that the next English tour was at 1.30 p.m. So as we had time to kill, we walked up to the centre of the town and had a walk around. Steve had been doing some research on his iPad regarding tooth pain and found that clove oil was very good, so the 1st job was to find a pharmacy and try to buy some with Steve having translated “clove oil” into French. We did have success and Steve was able to ask for it in French, even though the French pharmacist could speak a little English but was interested to know the English translation. We then stopped at a street bar and had 2 cokes (no wine!!) as it was now beginning to brighten up and was once more getting warm. We sat and people watched to pass some more time, and on the way back to the Martell Centre we passed a French cake shop, so we just had to buy a couple to take back to the hotel to have with our afternoon coffee!!!
I have to say the tour was very interesting and at the end of the 1 hour we (well Steve, as I cannot stand brandy, I like a smooth drink like a glass of wine, not one that burns the inside of your mouth and throat!!!) Naturally we looked around the shop with a view to buy a bottle to take home, and steve (after tasting some) decided on a bottle of Martell that is unique to the Cognac region and cannot be purchased anywhere else. I am going to digress again a little here. I had bought steve a birthday present which was a couple of weeks ago which I had to take back as he didn,t like it. As I could not get a refund, only a credit note, and there was nothing Steve wanted, the only thing to do was to buy a watch for me, so I was really pleased, so a good bottle of Martell was a great alternative for Steve and definitely something that he actually liked
We got back to our hotel about 4.30 pm and as we had no milk with our complimentary tea and coffee tray in our room, I went to the reception to ask if I could have some milk, as the French drink their teas and coffee black. I had to do this yesterday, with no trouble whatsoever and spoke to the little French waiter who could speak English. However a different lady on reception (later found out it was the owner) who did not speak much English, my request got lost in translation. She thought I meant we would like 2 white coffees in our room, and a few minutes later a knock at the door and she appeared with a tray containing 2 coffees a jug of milk and some biscuits. I tried to explain that I only wanted a jug of milk which she then understood, and felt sure that these two coffees and biscuits would be charged to our account, even though we didn’t really want them. But they were very nice and we still devoured the French cakes that we had bought earlier in Cognac. In case I forget to mention it later on in my blog, when we got the bill for our stay, the coffees were not included, so more praise for this family run hotel, as I am sure that any extras in most other hotels we would have been charged for whether we wanted them or not. Or else of course she just forgot to add them on to our final bill!!!
This little hotel is in the middle of nowhere so it was lovely that the picturesque lakeside restaurant was so good, so we didn’t have to go hunting out an alternative. It did get quite busy with non residents eating there as it had such a good reputation. Like most set menus, they are the same each night, and here at this hotel did include some fish dishes, and as I have probably mentioned I do not like fish, which the super efficient daughter in law (I think) offered us alternatives as she obviously realised that we would not want the same each night, which we have never been offered in other hotels, and I have eaten exactly the same for a few nights in a row, which again was brilliant service and only conducive to a family run establishment that offers truly personal service.
18/6/2014
Breakfast then decided to take a short trip to Port des Barques and a walk across to Ile Madam which can only be reached across a long sand bar, and can only be accessed when the tide is out. As you can see I have added a photo some photos of a car where the driver obviously works on the island and knew the sand bar like the back of his hand. The bar on this particular day would be accessible at 11.50 a.m. but he had parked his car in readiness for the sand to appear. He parked his car when the first bit of the bar was visible and then edged his way along it as soon as a bit of sand appeared. Then when there was still about 6 inches of water and still a fair distance from the island he put his foot down, and was gone making a wake at each side of the car and reached the island in a couple of minutes.
You can walk around the island which is inhabited by a few people, but there is also a camp site there. The main reason for visiting the island was to see the fort which was built in the 1700’s as defence against the English. Before the fort was built the island was used for sick monks who arrived by ship, all of whom were sick, and were treated by the monks who were not as ill as some, and 240 died on the island. It was quite a long walk there and back in the heat, so we were glad to get back to the hotel for a cool down in the pool.
We had our last meal in the hotel restaurant and once again it we enjoyed it very much, and then took our last stroll around the lake. It was still and very quiet except again when the odd fish jumped out, and there was a mother and her ducklings who by this time were asleep at the edge of the lake, which I just had to take a photograph of, trying not to disturb them too much – sweet. then bed in readiness for travelling to our last hotel tomorrow.
19/6/2014
Breakfast and then said our farewells to the daughter in law of the owners, and although we were sorry to be leaving our first hotel, this one was in a league of its own, and we say we would never go back to the same place or hotel, but we would definitely want to come back here. This should be more than a 3 star hotel and saying that from someone who is extremely critical and hard to please is praise indeed. Quite frankly I wouldn’t change a thing (apart from the bed in our room which was a little uncomfortable for me). If you are looking for a super hotel in a beautiful and tranquil location, then this would be very hard to beat. A family run hotel with personal service and made to feel most welcome.
So it was back in the car for a fairly long drive to our final hotel in Billiers and Hotel Domaine de Rochevilain. What a long hot drive it was too, but we eventually arrived at the hotel, and first impressions we were not disappointed. We had paid a supplement for a sea view and the room we had certainly had that, absolutely panoramic. You definitely knew you were in France as it was decorated in the typically French style in blue and white, with the wallpaper actually being of material. There are six separate buildings where the rooms are situated and the building we were in is shown below.
However, once we had stopped looking out of the window and taking in the view we had a good look around. There was no air conditioning which is a big must for me, and it was full of insects both alive and dead. With no air con, the windows had to be kept open as it was so warm, so naturally the insects came in. Hidden in the wardrobe we found an insect repellent plug, which we hastily put into the socket, but it really was less than useless., and why it was hidden in the wardrobe and not actually in the plug at all times was bemusing. The furniture was also worn and tired looking although there was plenty of hanging space and drawers so plenty of space to put clothes. And would you believe it, sheets and blankets on the bed, no quilt, come on, thought they went out of the window years ago!!! There was a bath with a shower in it, but no shower screen so floor got soaked, so perhaps the shower was just for washing hair and not actually should have been used as a shower!!!!!
Being a 4 star hotel you would expect a hospitality tray in the room but nothing, obviously you were expected to pay for a tea and coffee. The two previous 3 star hotels both supplied a hospitality tray. This was the most expensive of our 3 hotels and also being a 4 star but at the moment the previous hotels were knocking spots off it with a view to decor and quality of furnishings.
We just dumped our cases on the bed, and flung a couple of things out on the bed, and then had a look around, before going down to the pool for a swim in the sea water pool to cool off after the long drive which was very refreshing. Then the next question, what was the restaurant going to be like.
Went down to dinner, and were greeted by two men in the restaurant reception, one could not speak English and the other one purported to speak English. We were asked if we would like an aperitif, which we didn’t really want, but felt this was obviously what was expected. The bloke who spoke english (who during the course of the meal we decided was a prat – pardon the expression) recommended one, and we went and waited on the terrace outside for it them to arrive. We waited and waited, and another waiter came over to us, and asked if we would like a drink, as clearly to be sat with no drink was clearly a no, no. We said in our pigeon French that we had already ordered, but still none came. Then another waiter came over, clearly worried we were sat with no drinks, so we decided as nothing had materialised we ordered some that he suggested, as we didn’t just want a wine or a coke.
The drinks followed shortly afterwards with the obligatory little tray of canapés. We were then given the menu in French (and nearly passed out at the prices, the cheapest set menu being 76 euros per head- gulp, so naturally our expectations were high). Although we could understand most of it, there were a few things we were stuck on so the waiter helped to translate, and we didn’t want to order anything we didn’t like, particularly with the price we were going to pay!!! unlike the other hotels who had an English translation, which was helpful, We drank our aperitifs and then were shown to our table. We were taken through the main dining room, and then to another small dining room, which again had a 360 degree panoramic view of the sea, through the almost floor to ceiling windows, so as you can imagine with it being very hot outside it was like walking into an oven with all this glass and no air conditioning. We did ask for some of the windows to be opened but it was very uncomfortable.
The food was okay, but highly overpriced and to be honest was not as good as the previous 3 star hotels, yet nearly 3 times as much, so really not impressed, and we felt less than comfortable and relaxed here, as it was very pretentious.
Again being a 4* hotel very pretentious hotel, breakfast was certainly different. There were 4 different menus to choose from at 24 euros a head, yes 24 euros a head if you were paying for breakfast, but ours was included in our bed and breakfast rate. You had to choose which menu you would like and order it at reception or calling reception the night before , and it was brought to your room, at the time you had specified. So when we had finished our meal we went to reception to order our breakfast, and also some bikes for the following day.
We got back to our room surprised, as someone had been in to turn the bed sheets back and 2 chocolates left on the bedside table ( a bit like being on a cruise ship!). So this is why you are paying 4* prices!!!. We left the room in a bit of a state as the intention was to sort the room out when we got back from the restaurant, as we didn’t think for one minute that anyone would come in. The mess included leaving the bottle of brandy out that steve had for Father’s Day. We do usually hide the brandy and wine that we take with us, and I would have left the room in a far tidier state, had we known hotel staff would be paying a visit.
20/6/2014
Breakfast arrived at 9.30 when we ordered it, but what an anti climax that was. Each of the 4 different menus had items on them that we didn’t like, or to our taste, so ended up leaving most of it. If we were paying for breakfast separately, we wouldn’t,have bothered again, but as this was included we ordered but left a lot of it, so it really was a waste. I had some fresh strawberries in mine on the first day, but most of them were soft and over ripe, which I would have thrown away, but they were still served, but I didn’t eat them. There was however a lot of bread, which we took with us as ideal for our picnic.
We picked up our bikes and cycled up to Billiers and stopped at the little shop and bought some cheese to have with our left over breakfast rolls and a bottle of cheap rose wine (total just under 5 euros). We then cycled to a nearby beach which was deserted, sat on the beach and enjoyed a lazy day soaking up the sun and then cooling off in the clear blue sea. Then sat on a shady picnic bench, spread out the tablecloth, etc and enjoyed our picnic lunch then back down to he beach again, for another swim, and when we had had enough of the sun, decided to get on our bikes for a little ride around the area which included the little quay very close to the hotel.
We passed a bistro restaurant which was just down the road from our hotel, so decided to book a table there for dinner tonight as alternative to eating in the hotel, but was this going to be a mistake? After our little tour around the area, we took the bikes back, and then sat by the hotel pool with a couple of swims before getting ready for our stroll down the road to the restaurant stopping off to order our breakfasts and bikes again for tomorrow.
Arrived at the bistro and our outside table was waiting, with a lovely view of the sea. We placed our order and the lady brought out our bottle of rose uncorked it and left it opened on the table with no offer of tasting it. No standing on ceremony here, so we poured the wine and served ourselves.
The starters of a duck and pork terrine arrived which was very nice, and when we had finished we put the dirty cutlery on the plate as you do, which when the plates were cleared away the knife and fork were promptly put back on the table, hence the very reasonable price!!! We waited in trepidation for the main meals, but when they arrived we were pleasantly surprised. Steve ordered steak, which he said was better than the one he had in our hotel the night before, and I had chicken and chips (a bit like being at home, but I have to say the chicken was very moist and tasty with lovely thick chips) and although we had to use the same forks as the starter we did have clean knives. Our desserts were very good, especially Steve’s which was 3 huge profiteroles, which he really liked. Total bill including wine and tip £70 euros, less than the cost of just one meal we had in the hotel the night before, and so much more relaxed than the hotel, and we certainly enjoyed the somewhat basic but pleasant service. A nice stroll back to the hotel and so to bed and sleep, well that was the plan!!
However, there must have been a party at the hotel as the terrace bar was extremely noisy with lots of people drinking and talking, and with our room being right next to this area, you could hear everything and we just could not go to sleep. This went on until gone 2.00 a.m which to us was out of order. You would think consideration would have been given to hotel guests who had paid a lot of money for their rooms with rowdy non residednts to be asked to keep the noise down at the latest midnight, so we were not very happy. For a 4 star hotel you expect some peace and quiet, and not to able to sleep due to a noisy bar area is unacceptable.
21/6/2014
After a late night could gave done with a lay in, but breakfast arrived at 9.00 am. I ordered a different breakfast this morning which included some meat (thinking ahead for our picnic) and a weird soft boiled egg wrapped in jelly. Decided however that the meat would sweat taking if on a picnic, so ate the ham but left the tongue – ugh!! Tried some of the curd cheese which was horrible and a few other things that I took one mouthful and then left the rest. I wanted to try the different breakfasts, but lots of food in each were not to my taste, and to be honest, a couple pieces of toast would have been far better, or then again a full English!!! Butt again there was plenty of bread to take with us.
Collected the bikes and off we cycled again, first to our little shop to buy the cheese to go with the bread from breakfast and the obligatory bottle of wine, and then as we had enjoyed it so much yesterday, back to the lovely beach. When we got there and put our stuff down we noticed 2 women were watching something in the sea close to the shore, and realised it was a baby duckling swimming around at the edge of the water. It was obviously looking for mum as it had a pathetic little quack. It then swam around the end of the rocks and then disappeared, but me being an animal lover I did worry for its welfare, as what was it doing in the sea in the first place and all alone?
We went for a swim then sunbathed and when we got too warm in the sea again. After a while the little duckling reappeared from around the rock. I decided to go in for a swim and it started to swim towards me! and then must of realised I wasn’t it’s mum and then it swam away as fast as it could towards the other end of the beach, and out of sight.
It was now lunch time and it had got very very warm, so Steve found a nice shady clearing in some trees, and we enjoyed our French bread, cheese and wine. We decided we had had enough sun, so it was back on the bikes , leaving the beach and just hoping that the little duckling eventually found its mum.
On cycling back to the hotel we decided we would go back and eat in the little bistro as we enjoyed it the night before, instead of partaking in the pretentious overpriced meal in the hotel and went in and booked our table. Got back to the hotel and went for a swim just to cool down and I stayed and sat around the pool area, whilst Steve went back to the room. As he unlocked the bedroom door, the catch of the door fell off in his hand, which meant unless you turned the key to lock the door it wouldn’t stay shut. He went to reception to report it, but he said as we were leaving tomorrow and we could lock the door it wasn’t a problem for us, but would need fixing before the next people took over the room.
We walked down to the bistro and had a good last meal. Came back to the bedroom to find the inside of the window full of midges, so we couldn’t turn the light on, as that would have made it worse. Steve tried to read his Kindle, but had to stop as the midges were attracted to the screen, not exactly 4 star luxury. Noticed that the cleaner had not been in to turn down the sheets as she had on the previous 2 nights, perhaps it was because we hadn’t eaten in the restaurant again!
Although our room had a superb sea view, that was about all it had going for it, and would not recommend this hotel.
22/6/2014
Ordered breakfast early as it was another quite long drive to Roscoff and back on the ferry. We drove through the Monts D’Arree through some lovely countryside and stopped at a place that was a bit like Dartmoor and had our breakfast rolls sat on top of a rock formation. We actually arrived in Roscoff a lot earlier than expected, so had plenty of time to stop at the Red Bus Wine and Beer Supermarket, to stock up on wines to bring home. We boarded the Armorique ferry and we were homeward bound at 3.00 p.m. It was another flat calm crossing, and sat out on deck in the sunshine. We had a meal in the self service restaurant, but this was a bit of a comedown to the meals we had been having in France, but it was okay.
We arrived in Plymouth at 8.00 p.m and we were home by about 9.15 p.m, , unpacked the cases, and the first load of washing in the washing machine and our holiday was a distant memoy.
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