After 13 glorious days and nights on the Ile de Re it was time to leave. Our journey home was planned, as I knew what sites we were heading towards and how long the journey should be so it wasn't too strenuous each day, and there was some flexibility built in, but we had a ferry booked from Cherbourg late on July 5th.
First stop was a place we had passed through the year before and should have stopped at, but we wanted to move on a bit further south at the time. We regretted not stopping because the site we found was singularly the least preposessing site we visited that year at La Trench sur Mer. The place we didn't stop at we did stay for lunch - the pretty Port de Jard sur Mer. It was an easy drive but quite busy as it was a Saturday. We sadly left the Ile de Re stopping at the last car park for coffee and a last look at the beach, went over the bridge and drove east then north. Main roads went in a big loop round, but a short route went nearer to the sea. We also hoped to find a pretty spot for lunch. We eventually found the roads of unusually poor quality and had to return to the main roads in order to make comfortable progress. We arrived in some heat, but missed the campsite reception closing and not open again until 3 which was a long wait. We drove back to the port to park up, had a drink and went for a stroll. We got into a row after we ordered water and got very expensive mineral water and was told we should have ordered exactly what I had asked for (all in French), but ended up satisfied. Back at the campsite we were placed in an odd pitch where we couldn't get level among trees and which had very loose sandy soil. Got sorted after some messing around and went to the pool to cool off. Later we walked back to the port for a look round and a beer or two at a different bar. We had thought we might eat but instead ordered pizza and chips at the camp.
Onwards the next day and the weather had broken. Its was drizzley and damp in patches but drying up later. We had decided to head for Dinard to a campsite recommended by the guy we had met in Brantome, and stay for a couple of nights rather than go to St Malo where the campsites were too far out of town to enjoy the town. This meant we could visit Dinan enroute. The sat nav had other ideas and through batting on, on a great dual carriageway, we missed the direct route to Dinan and traveled 3 sides of a square on a lorry route around the town. That mistake cost us at least 40 mins. We parked in Dinan by following instructions from a parking app and ended up free right outside the castle gates. We had a lovely walk round the town followed by a short drive to the campsite. We weren't keen as it didn't match the description or location we had been told about. This was the second time we had been recommended a site which didn't suit us. We will follow our own advice in future. We went for a walk to the beach and sat for a while. The was no wind and hazy sunshine and we heard a strange roar in the distance getting louder. We couldn't work out what it was, but there as a dull small cloud on the horizon in that direction. We walked around the headland and started to get the impression that the noise was from a ship when suddenly it stopped and from the cloud emerged a hydrofoil. Round the headland was a large campsite with some lovely pitches right on, or overlooking the beach and a view of the bay. We thought we might move there the next day, but there were no beach pitches available and when we found reception its was quite pricey. When it came to it, the following day, we decided to stay put. The second day we went to the beach again, better equipped for a stay this time. In the evening we ate at the cafe and watched England win the penalty shoot out!!
Final drive to Cherbourg took us on the coast road past le Mont St Michel, we found a nice place to park for some lunch with great views and then cracked on, in no rush as the ferry wasn't till 9 pm. We arrived at tea time and parked up on a harbourside aire, and after a rest walked into the town centre where we enjoyed beer in the square. Tea at the van, queue, on the boat and off. Lovely evening cruise through the harbour wall watching the sunset then we went to bed and the boat stopped. Obviously there was no rush to get to Poole. We went to bed and it must have set off again as we arrived the next morning in Poole
The final stage was early off the boat in Poole, tedious drive north on horrid Friday roads to Tewkesbury then home Saturday morning. OH OH OH nearly forgot. The blowout on the M42. We lost the nearside rear tyre in a sudden deflation at 60mph just by the service exit for Tamworth which we were planning to take anyway. Tyre guy arrived after an hour. Motorway cops were useless, but eventually supervised us leaving the motorway where the repair was done. We then spent an hour and a half following the tyre man who was taking us to get a new tyre at several different places. We eventually got one and set off home. New tyres all round methinks.
