Thursday 6th November 2025 – Royan to La Verdon-sur-Mer…

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Still grey but definitely warmer as we take the last hop of our coastal journey to South West France. As we plan to cover the whole of the Côte d’Argent we decided to take the ferry across the Gironde estuary and save ourselves quite a few hours of driving and miles. Whilst waiting for the ferry we had this rather nice beach to walk on, whilst in full site of the van and any ferry activity – Plage de Foncillon of Royan – a nice clean sandy beach though clearly fully tidal….

The ferry crossing is only half an hour and though passengers are supposed to leave their vehicles and go up into the passenger lounge, I’m afraid I didn’t, as Tilly gets pretty freaked out anyway when boarding ferries, I decided that leaving her alone in the van when she is already anxious could cause all sorts of future problems, so we both stayed put and nobody was any the wiser. Arriving in La Verdon- sur-Mer we made a the short journey to find parking and go for a nice walk through part of the national park that covers much of this region….

Visiting St Nicholas Lighthouse which looked too small to be of any practical use…

Before making our way across the scrubland / dunes….

To reach the sandy beach that pretty much runs all the way down this coast – this section being Plage de St Nicholas a naturist beach, though not in very high demand today, in fact the only other footsteps were from a horse!….

We then headed straight to our Aire for the night at Port Médoc – a fishing and pleasure boat marina….

With the marina in front of us and a beach right behind us, we shall be lulled to sleep by the sound of the sea….

Thoughts of the day:

  • Ok so maybe I’m not going to get full sunshine but at least the sky is brighter and it is quite a bit warmer too, happy with that.
  • I can leave Tilly quite happy in the van whilst I go shopping or for a shower but as soon as we are queuing for a ferry she becomes quite whiny and clingy not sure why.

Today’s stats :

  • Miles driven – 55
  • Miles walked – 4
  • Beaches – 2
  • Aire – £12.02
  • Fuel – £62.78
  • Ferry – £20.32

Wednesday 5th November 2025 – St Michel to Châtelaillon-Plage….

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Still grey and still windy but pleasant enough as we took a morning walk down to the sea front to see what the beaches look like at low tide.

We joined the beach at Plage du Cormier which was totally submerged yesterday….

And wandered all the way along to Plage de Tharon with just a glimmer of sunshine catching the carrelets and highlighting our way…

Feeling suitably refreshed we returned to the van and were soon packed up and on our way, continuing our journey south in pursuit of some better weather.

By mid afternoon we were parked up in our Aire for the night, just south of La Rochelle in the small coastal resort of Chatelaillon-Plage and were soon out in pursuit of said beach…

A nice long pink sandy beach even though the tide is in – nicer sand here than at St Michel and the resort looks fairly new or has certainly seen some significant recent growth – smart enough, in a new, freshly painted kind of way but not very charming and it isn’t tempting us to stay a while – our journey continues.

Thoughts of the day:

  • I’m not sure that chasing the weather this late on in the year is actually going to pay off but in reality, I just want to take it slow for the next few weeks by some lovely beaches, so that is our revised goal and I hope that Côte de d’Argent (the silver coast) to which we shall be arriving tomorrow, will tick that box.
  • I can’t believe that we have already been here for 2 months and that soon we must start our journey home – but not just yet!

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 118
  • Miles walked – 6
  • Beaches – 3
  • Aire – £12.01

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

Monday 3rd November 2025 – Crozon to Locronan….

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At the risk of sounding boring it is another grey and showery day, maybe the showers are not as heavy or as long lasting but even so – boring.

We started the day with a walk from the Aire down to Plage de Portzic, a little further than I had originally thought – probably a mile and all down hill, which of course means just one thing! Still we were treated to a rare glimpse of sunshine and blue sky – however the beach was not dog friendly so it wasn’t long before we started to make our way back up through the town to the van….

After stocking up the food cupboards we left Crozon and were soon parked up at our next beach – Plage de Postolonnec….

This beach was dog friendly so we took the opportunity for a little play around as the clouds are beginning to gather again. Next stop was the long sandy beach – Plage de l’Aber and watched a while as a lone windsurfer made his way up and down the beach in the brisk winds….

Next on our list was Plage de Trez Bellec another long sandy beach, with much of the sand fast disappearing under the rising tide…

A little further along the coast was yet another long sandy beach, a bit more easily accessible with parking all the way along the front and a few bars and restaurants (though mostly closed up), there were a couple of dog walkers and at the far end some kite surfers enjoying life….

Our next and last stop was not so much a beach walk as a dune walk as the tide is almost at its peak – Plage de St Anne la Palud and over a headland to look down onto Anse de Kervijan….

With a slight change to our norm, tonight we have headed inland a bit to take a look around Locronan a traditional village of character!….

The village appeared almost deserted with many shops closed, to be fair it is late afternoon and from experience a lot of the smaller shops don’t open on Mondays – never mind at least we get to wander around the quaint little streets and the sweetie shop was open – all hand made from natural produce so I’m told and believe based on the price!!…

Fruit jellies and they are 😋

Thoughts of the day:

  • I think I’ve mentioned before that the tides haven’t been an issue up until now but all these on the Crozon Peninsula seem to be completely tidal, whereas I guess that hasn’t been the case before.
  • On the subject of beaches – I am not finding these ones very attractive, partly it is the weather and tides but also the sand is a bit coarse and a sort of dirty sand colour.
  • Partly influenced by the above – I have made the decision to head south (quicker than currently) and chase some better weather – I can always fill in the gaps another time but I’m fed up of everything looking grey and getting wet!!

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 27
  • Miles walked – 6.5
  • Beaches – 7
  • Aire – £11.51
  • Groceries – £38.98
  • Sweets – £10.19!!

Sunday 2nd November 2025 – Cameret-sur-Mer to Crozon….

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Still showery and breezy but not too bad so we press on, taking a short hop to the Pointe de Pen-Hir where we felt the full force of the Atlantic breeze as we first took a closer look at the Croix de Pen-Hir….

A monument to the Free Bretons of France. A little further along the coastal path we had a good view of a natural archway standing proud against the Atlantic waves….

Crossing over the headland we took the coastal path down amongst the heather and gorse to Plage de Veryac’h….

Not much sand exposed as the tide is high but we continued along the path to find Plage de Lamzoz, a little cove in the middle of nowhere, hereto the tide has worked its magic on all the sand but what a sky!….

At this point we made our way back up to the van and ventured further down the west side of the Crozon Peninsula stopping briefly at the surfers beach – Plage de Kerloc’h….

Then on to the remote twin beaches, either side of a small headland, of Kersiguenou and Goulien both with just a couple of surfers out on the waves and otherwise not a soul to be seen….

More remote still and after a fair walk through scrubland and low dunes we arrived at Plage de Lostmarc’h….

And then following the coastal path up and over a headland the stunning stretch of dune backed Plage la Palue….

Time to head back into civilisation – that is the small town of Crozon to our overnight Aire with just a quick pitstop at Plage de Morgat…

A not so nice day but well spent me thinks.

Thoughts of the day:

  • I wonder if these remote beaches ever really get busy – I would guess not as the parking situation would be less than ideal – ok for a few surfers and the odd tourist like me.
  • On my travels I’ve noticed how well kept and full of fresh colourful flowers all the cemeteries are and they all seem to be in the towns and villages unlike in Scotland where the coast is littered with them.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 21
  • Miles walked – 9.5
  • Beaches – 8
  • Aire – £14.04 EHU