beach

Thursday 28th May 2026 – moving a little further north to Quend Plage….

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Another very hot day and we were in two minds whether to stay put and enjoy the little bit of shade that we have on this Aire but as we have exhausted the walking opportunities from here and our days are numbered so to speak, we decided to move 30 miles further up the coast to the little village of Quend Plage.

After a small grocery shop on the way we arrived on the Aire just on the outskirts of this rather typical second / holiday home village. . Not quite as much shade here but a little. It is a large Aire with basic facilities apart from electric, which is not a problem for us, especially in this weather and is quite busy with mostly French vans enjoying the sun….

By midday we are settled and managing to channel a little breeze through the van, choosing to sit outside and wile away the afternoon planning until it has cooled down enough for us to venture the half a mile through the village to the sea….

A stunning wide expanse of pale damp sand, backed by soft high tide sand and dunes, awaits in either direction….

The main beach in front of the village has a dog ban (not that this appears to mean a great deal!) but for miles either side the beach is open to be walked and enjoyed – our perfect beach walking kind of beach – we shall enjoy it over the next couple of days.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 30
  • Miles walked – 3
  • Beaches – 1
  • O/N – £8.70 (no EHU)

Wednesday 27th May 2026 – an early morning stroll along the boardwalk to Cayeux-sur-Mer….

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Another very hot day so we get our skates on for an early morning walk to the neighbouring village of Cayeux-sur-Mer passing Brighton Lighthouse standing tall and proud, along the way….

Cayeux-sur-Mer is another one of those sort of Dorma Villages, where the main village is a mile or so inland and this is just a shell of mostly closed up holiday apartments and properties with a small collection of bars (some open, some still to do so) in the centre.

However but it does have a fine wooden boardwalk running for a couple of kilometres along the top of the stony beach backed by a row of cheerfully painted beach huts for almost as far as the eye can see….

The odd conveniently photogenic boat….

And still more beach huts and in this case providing us with a welcome bit of shade to enjoy a cup of coffee and a sit down before making our way back by jumping into whatever shade we can find….

We were glad of the opportunity to sit outside the van in the leafy shade with the little wisps of cooling breeze for the afternoon and in my case crack on with some future planning and in Tilly’s take a snooze on the cooler earth. We didn’t venture out until about 9pm and even then the temperature was still in the high twenties so it was just a quick whizz around the block before bed.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 5
  • Beaches – 2
  • O/N – £13.56

Tuesday 26th May 2026 – at last we make it to the beach at Brighton Les Pins….

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Fortunately not a long drive today as it is still incredibly hot and even with a stop for food and fuel we are at our Aire in the small mostly second home resort of Brighton Les Pins by midday.

Finding a pitch under the partial shade of a tree, we open all the windows but chose to linger outside under the shade of the tree where a tiny whisper of slightly cooler air is oh so welcome.

Even at half five the temperature really hasn’t dropped very much but we are getting hungry so decide to hug the shade of the trees as we walk the short distance down to the beach.

The beach stretching into the distance in either direction is at high tide just a wide bank if rounded pebbles, but at low tide, as it is now, a huge expanse of wet sands lead down to the sea….

The sea, though not the crystal clear waters we have become accustomed to is a rather sandy brown but actually pleasantly warm and I enjoy the refreshing paddle along the edge whilst Tilly scampers along just out of the seas reach….

Though I do manage to get her to scamper through the puddles and get a little damp and more importantly cool down a bit, that way….

Time to call it a day and head back to eat and sit in our shady spot until it cools down enough for us to sleep.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 46
  • Miles walked- 4
  • Food – £39.63
  • Ad Blue – £10
  • Fuel – £103.88 (ouch)
  • O/N – £13.54

Thursday 22nd May 2026 (Part 2) – a lovely walk from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg….

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The bus was crowded and with hindsight we should have walked down as it was probably only a couple of miles, but we are here now. The village was very busy, every cafe / bar doing a great trade on this beautiful afternoon and in fact after the serenity of Murren we were quite keen to see what needed to be seen and then move on, we started at the bottom and walked up the main street….

Pretty but too busy, so enjoying the part shade we joined the few other walkers on this glorious afternoon walking up the footpath back to the car park at Stechelberg, taking a few moments to wonder at Staubbachfall one of 72 waterfalls in the valley surrounding Lauterbrunnen….

From then on it was almost just us and nature with our guiding beacon the Jungfrau, oh and a few tunefull cows and goats proudly clattering their bells as they munch on the lush grass….

You could just loose yourself here….

We passed a couple of small picnic areas with benches and tables on the way, one with a compostable toilet and barbeque area and several other stopping points with fresh water fonts / troughs and plenty to bins – very walker friendly. There was even one of those vending machines selling cheese and random cooked sausage as well as drinks and normal snacks.

A short drive back down onto site after a lovely day, some much needed food and a bit of planning is now required and some decisions need to be made.

Considerations:

  • I am struggling to find anywhere to stay in Switzerland for the weekend as the sites are either fully booked or massively expensive. As an example the site we are currently on, that we would have happily stayed on is £55 a night and even at that, I would have had to have booked it when we arrived as they only had a couple of spaces available. The ACSI card that we used to stay at £28 per night doesn’t apply at the weekends.
  • I had wanted to do the 3 pass route through the mountains – the Furka, Susten and Grimsel but they do not open until June.
  • It is incredibly difficult to find places to park up and leave the van to explore on foot without incurring a ridiculous parking charge.
  • The weather is forecast to be very hot over the next week or so which will make driving around and visiting places a bit of a challenge.

After a fair bit of thought and research, mindful of my remaining time in Europe and the weather forecast I have decided, not totally unsurprisingly, that we are going to head back up to the coast and complete the section from Honfleur to Calais and enjoy the sea, beach and sunshine before returning across the Channel.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 25
  • Miles walked – 6
  • Excursion – £38.69
  • O/N – £28

Friday 8th to Sunday 10th May 2026 – a relaxing few days on Lido di Jesolo….

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These are our last few days by a beach in Italy, so we have decided to take them gently and just enjoy.

Sometimes we wander along the promenade, sometimes paddling along the sea edge but generally just enjoying a slower pace of life, thinking, planning or just being….

Tilly enjoying a bit of freedom as the beaches are pretty deserted and she doesn’t get a great deal of off lead time when we are on our travels – though to be fair she is quite content on a lead and mostly seems to prefer it apart from when on a beach.

This resort is pretty empty, with many hotels still not open and acres upon acres of sun umbrellas and loungers either all ready and waiting or still at the set up stage….

Even so the lifeguards are on duty every 100 or so metres…

In between the sea of umbrellas indicating private beaches – though you can still wander along the waters edge, are little tranches of Public Beach….

There appears to be a whole army of staff keeping the beaches clean, sweeping the promenade, selling passes for the loungers, manning the bars and lifesaving huts – I guess most are employed by the hotels but bearing in mind it is almost mid May, the resort is pretty deserted, so the season must be pretty short and I wonder how they make it work? I also shudder to think what it must be like when the hotels and campsites are all open and full – hell on earth!

Still a nice and relaxing venue for us right now – time to catch up on a few things and do some forward planning as time is racing.

Friday’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 7
  • Beaches – 1
  • O/N – £15.50

Saturday’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 5
  • Beaches – 1
  • O/N – £15.50

Sunday’s stats;

  • Miles walked – 5
  • Beaches – 1
  • O/N – £15.50