Thursday 2nd October 2025 – St Malo….

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Not quite such a nice day today with the sun not quite managing to break through but ideal for the long walk we had planned for today…

A brief revisit to Plage du Val as we begin our walk along the coast to the walled city of St Malo…

A little further along this north facing coastline is the small but perfectly formed Plage du Nicet and Plage de la Varde…

As we head now westwards to St Malo we are able to enjoy around 3 miles of beach walking as we pass along a series of wide sandy beaches – starting with Plage du Port, Plage de Minihic and Plage de Rochebonne (surfers aplenty)….

And continuing along Plage de la Hoguette, Plage du Sillon with its striking sea defences and finally Plage de l’Eventail leading to the walled city of St Malo and the small islet of Rocher….

We then wandered for a bit through the pretty streets of St Malo – ideal if you are on the lookout for designer gear, a drink, biscuits (of course) or les bonbons!….

Finally we took a moment or two to enjoy the two beaches just sitting on the outside of the city walls – Plage de Bonsecuers with is sea swimming pool and from where a number of sailing and kayaking schools operate and the more sedate sheltered Plage du Mole….

My favourite city so far and now just the longish walk back…

Thoughts of the day:

  • Even though St Malo was busy the streets didn’t feel claustrophobic and it was pleasant to just meander around though it does beg the question – how many biscuits can one nation eat!
  • I enjoyed the remoteness and vastness of the Normandy beaches but somehow prefer the intimacy of these small bays and coves of Brittany.
  • Today is what this journey is about

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 0
  • Miles walked – 10.5
  • Beaches – 11
  • Food – £3.06
  • Aire – £11.37

Wednesday 1st October 2025 – from Port Mer to Rotheneuf…

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A beautiful day for us today, without the morning mist and some stunning beaches – proper ones with sand and everything!

We started our day with some food shopping as we appear to be low or out of everything but were soon on our way to our first stop the Pointe de Grouin, the headland that juts out to the east of Cancale looking out on the uninhabited Ils de Landes…..

From there is was a shortish walk down to Port Mer – our first sandy beach in a while….

From here a bit of a drive westwards along the coastal road with enticing glimpses of a couple of beaches that we just could not get to and one where I managed to squeeze into the side of the road long enough to grab a quick photo – Plage du Guesclin….

Our next stop was much more successful and we enjoyed a longish walk first to Plage de la Touesse, a beautiful stretch of soft sand in a sheltered bay, split into 2 beaches except at low tide….

We followed the footpath around another headland and eventually came down onto the stunning Plage des Chevrets…

We could happily have spent the rest of the afternoon here but there is no suitable overnight parking and we have a couple more beaches to see when we do get to our Aire for the night, so we made our way back to the van via Plage des Mitres on the inside of the natural Havre du Lupin…

A short distance along the coastal road we arrived at Rotheneuf (the outskirts of St Malo) and were soon settled onto Aire des Ilots for the night (maybe 2 depending on the weather) and were quickly off out again to enjoy the rest of the afternoon’s sun, firstly on Plage du havre du Lupin and then on Plage du Havre…

We continued our walk across the village to see our final beach of the day – another beauty Plage du Val…

Thoughts of the day:

  • It is a shame that much of the more rural beach parking is height restricted so we do end up missing out on a few of the more remote beaches – but I can’t complain as the availability elsewhere of motorhome parking is very impressive.
  • Today’s beaches have been outstanding – the Normandy beaches were great for beach walking but these are my kind of beach with lots of soft sand and sparkling waters
  • This stretch of coastline is called the Emerald Coast because of the colour of the sea

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 13
  • Miles walked – 8.5
  • Beaches – 8
  • Groceries – £43.64
  • Aire – £11.37 (inc EHU)

Tuesday 30th September 2025 – from St Benoit-des-Ondes to Cancale….

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Another very misty and chilly morning until late morning so we decided to sit it out on site before moving a couple of miles up the road to our first couple of beaches – still somewhat shrouded in mist was Plage de St Benoit-des-Ondes and a bit further on Plage de Porcon….

Our next stop was the large village of Cancale where we spent a couple of frustrating hours on the phone trying to sort out the fact that any internet access has disappeared (late yesterday afternoon) which is very debilitating as even Apple Maps doesn’t work – in the end I solved it myself as I had the VPN set to the UK and somehow this was making a fairly weak signal here in France even worse – you live and learn. That sorted and as the day has rather runaway with us we decided to park up in the local Aire and head off on foot to explore the beaches on offer. First we made our way down to Baie de Radegonde – not much of a beach really – again mostly crushed shells leading down to rather muddy sand….

But much like its neighbour Plage de Houle, both beaches were backed by a promenade and street lined with bars and cafes – all those that were open were busy on this beautiful sunny afternoon….

From here we walked on back up to the old town – looking down on the Oyster and Mussel farms of Cancale where many folk sat enjoying fresh oysters from the local market…

From the old town we walked around the headland to look down on Plage de l’Abri des Flots…..

Before wandering back through the town to the Aire…

Thoughts of the day:

  • Technology – I used to be so up to speed with it all but now I’m afraid a lot of it is just a mystery!
  • It is nice to see so many people out just enjoying the fine weather – it is a very European thing to do just wandering along the promenade or sitting outside a bar enjoying the sun – even on a school night!

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 10
  • Miles walked – 6
  • Beaches – 6
  • Aire –

Monday 29th September 2025 – Mont St Michel to Hirel….

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A very cold and misty start to our day, as we started the 3 mile walk, a very pleasant riverside walkway, to visit Mont St Michel, so much so that we had to layer up and the Mont wasn’t visible until we were nearly at the causeway….

By the time we got there though it was full sunshine and very warm and incredibly busy…

So much so that the tiny narrow streets were full of visitors – it reminded me of the Alley in Harry Potter – and poor Tilly was totally overwhelmed and needed carrying! I knew we would not be able to visit the main castle on the top (not dog friendly) so instead of battling our way around the crowded shops and bars we took advantage of the low tide and wandered around the outside of the Mont, marvelling at the amazing architecture and engineering feat of its construction before making our way back against the flow of the crowds still arriving…

We were very hot and bothered by the time we got back so took a moment to rehydrate and change – the shorts are back! Before setting off to our first beach in Brittany – Plage de Cherrueix….

Not really a sandy beach more crunching our way over millions of broken shells on what I think is really salt marshes or meadows, like much of the surrounding land – we watched awhile at the children hurtling around on Kite carts….

Our last stop of the day was a couple of miles along the coast at a Camping Car Park Aire in Hirel where, after parking up we went for a late afternoon stroll across the salt meadow to the shoreline (though a long way from the sea) and enjoyed watching a couple of horses and carts galloping along and further along another Kite Carting session going on….

Thoughts of the day:

  • You wouldn’t really want to spend the day on one of these beaches but they are ideal for walking on at low tide – probably a bit messy / impassible at high tide or after a wet spell.
  • I wonder if there is ever a quiet time to visit Mont St Michel?
  • Surprisingly these salt meadows seem to be quite fertile as there are fields and fields of vegetables being grown and sold locally

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 19
  • Miles walked – 10
  • Beaches – 2
  • Aire – £11.38 with EHU

Sunday 28th September2025 – St Jean-le-Thomas to Mont St Michel…

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A lovely day – having given into jeans a couple of days ago the shorts are back out! We started the day with a lovely stroll along the beach, only a few other dog walkers and a couple of joggers about so plenty of beach to go around….

Our one and only stop today was to a little village called Dragey where there was plenty of parking right down by the beach, so from here we enjoyed a lovely long walk along the beach…

Firstly we headed eastwards to the next village to see what beaches St Jean-le-Thomas had to offer…

And then back on ourselves to catch our first glimpse of Mont St Michel….

After a nice sit and cup of coffee in the sunshine we made our way back to the van and travelled inland and back out again to the small village of Beauvoir where we are booked into an Aire ready for our walk to Mont St Michel tomorrow.

Oh and we might just have stopped at the Mont St Michel biscuit shop on the way – where else would you find a biscuit shop?

Thoughts of the day:

  • These Aires are brilliant because you can book up to 24 hours within the overnight fee – so on this one I have book 4pm until 4pm tomorrow which gives us plenty of time to walk down to the Mont in the morning without having to rush back and also saves £20 car parking fees!
  • The land around here appears to be very sandy but clearly good for growing maize and leeks!

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 37
  • Miles walked – 8
  • Beaches – 2
  • Aire – £15.58
  • Biscuits – £3.45