Pays de la Loire

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 – Le Pouliguen and La Baule-Escoublac….

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A beautiful sunny day mostly but the odd seriously heavy shower appearing from nowhere.

We started the day with a walk along the other side of the river to the little village of Le Pouliguen (really now just an extension of La Baule-Escoublac) and it’s rather fine white sandy beach – Plage du Nau….

We then retraced our steps and crossing the river back to La Baule-Escoublac to pay a brief visit to Plage de Benoît and Plage de la Baule to capture them with the tide a bit further out and in the sunshine – well worth it…

Today the beach is covered in a fine layer of small seashells and the water is much calmer – the difference a day makes!

After this lovely morning walk, we packed up the van and set off to get the bulk of the drive, towards Caen, done. It was an easy drive being mostly across rural France by dual carriageway, with the only busy spot as we drove around Rennes.

Thoughts of the day:

  • There are lots of clumps of mistletoe in many of the trees, something we’ve noticed when driving inland – not good news for the trees apparently.
  • It is hard to believe that this journey is nearly over – will we return?

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 178
  • Miles walked – 3.5
  • Aire – £10.44 EHU
  • Fuel – £85.34

Monday 1st December 2025 – St Jean-de-Monts to La Baule-Escoublac….

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A cloudy and very wild day with a few spit spots of rain as we venture a little further north.

We started the day with a wander down to the nearest beach – Plage de la Parée du Jonc – a rather pretty almost pink beach backed by dunes and pines and stretching off into the distance to St Jean-de-Monts with the pier just visible….

Well that certainly blew away the cobwebs and gave Tilly a chance of a run around before setting off to our first stop of the day – Pornichet and the rather pretty beach – Plage des Librairies….

This beach is the southern end of the sandy beach that stretches for some 9km backed by the resort towns of La Baule-Escoublac in the north and Pornichet. Not exactly my cup of tea as I prefer my beaches raw and wild with as little human evidence as possible but with its soft white sands and Atlantic waves, I can see the appeal.

After returning to the van we drove the short distance to the other side of La Baule-Escoublac to our Aire for the night next to the Port….

Once settled we battled against the increasing wind down to the sea front and Plage de Benoit (the northern end of this beach)….

There were quite a few Kite surfers and wind surfers enjoying the brisk onshore breeze and it was invigorating watching them fly across the bay. We also marvelled at the odd original house along the seafront sandwiched between newer apartment blocks….

Unfortunately most of the original housing stock seems to have been relegated to the second row as newer apartment blocks and hotels take up the front.

We continued along the beach which is intermittently broken up by beach bars and restaurants (mostly closed for the season) and also the odd tree…

Upon reaching the main section of beach – Plage La Baule….

At this point we decided to start to make our way back to the van for the evening. Pity we didn’t get the sunshine as I imagine this resort looks completely different in the sun.

Thoughts of the day:

  • As we are heading back up towards Normandy and ultimately Caen over the next few days we shall have the opportunity to start to put together a shortlist of our favourite beaches.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 62
  • Miles walked – 7.5
  • Beaches – 4
  • Aire – £13.45

Tuesday 4th November 2025 – heading south to St Michel Chef Chef….

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Still a bit damp and gloomy this morning, serving to strengthen our resolve of heading south, with around 150 miles of driving today we were soon on our way. A straightforward journey using the N165 for around 100 of those miles, an easy dual carriageway, relatively quiet and mostly tree lined with a fabulous array of Autumn colours – Tilly wasn’t bothered but I appreciated the colour display to while away the miles.

We arrived in our Aire for the night in the small seaside resort of St Michel Chef Chef in the Pays de la Loire region and once settled headed out for a walk along the beach. Unfortunately most of the beach was hidden under the tide but we enjoyed a sunny walk along the promenade instead, taking in the quaint fishing huts on stilts – ‘carrelets’ – a revived historic way of fishing by lowering nets into the sea from these huts and then hopefully hauling in the fish….

Note the blue sky – not that we are far enough south yet to really make a difference but I’m happy we have made the right call.

Further along the Plage de Tharon has some exposed sand with the Carrelets visible at the southern end of the beach and the surfers hanging around at the northern end where the small harbour wall was creating some suitable surf….

We hung around and watched the surfers for a while before heading back to the van for the evening….

Thoughts of the day:

  • So far my experience of the road systems here has been very good (though as I’ve said a bit more chaotic in the built up areas) and this is the first time I have done an extended bit of main road driving and yes it was quite straightforward and relaxed largely due to the lack of volume traffic we are accustomed to in the UK.
  • We shall get out for a walk in the morning before heading off and check out the beaches when the tide is out.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 148
  • Miles walked – 4
  • Beaches – 1
  • Aire – £11.13
  • Fuel – £36.09