Windy Miller Tour Blog

So the return ferry was actually booked for Thursday 16th due to set sail at 8:15pm and dock at 7:15am Friday 17th UK time BUT – as there are currently strikes – we received a message from Brittany Ferries on Wednesday afternoon advising that the ferry had been pushed back to 9:30am today (Friday 17th) – docking at 5:20pm – which makes it a really late finish to the day – as we have to drive from Portsmouth to Southampton to catch the ferry as Dave booked the wrong one 😐.  So we’ve decided to sleep in The Van for another night – in the car park adjacent to Pink Beach when we finally get back – gone 9pm tonight…

Summary – well I actually REALLY didn’t want to even come away on this trip – for all kinds of reasons – BUT I have been pleasantly surprised (and at times delighted) and have ended up having had a really good time.  We were talking about it last night in the bar – and we both have…

It may not be a dead-cert annual event – but it will definitely be repeated in the not-too-distant future…

So now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and prepare for the 2023 season – 5 weeks and counting…

So Adios 🇪🇸 y 🇫🇷 Au Revoir Mes Amis for now 👋😘❤️ xxx

We have a group of bikers who book all of Pink Beach for a weekend every September and their leader had just put a message out to them about this year’s trip so I took a dozen or so calls & texts whilst wandering around St Malo on the Wednesday afternoon and Thursday (for me) (as it was cloudy & dull) ended up being an admin 💻 day popping their bookings into the system, contacting them re ferries, taking payments, booking ferries ⛴️, etc.  Dave cycled 🚲 into town to get some supplies & said there was a little bar…

So later I showered & got ready and we took a little walk into the village centre – the bar was cool – it was multi-purpose and also sold magazines & tobacco.  We were there for a couple of hours and it was the meeting point for all the locals.  They all seemed to know each other and were really friendly…

I had some (not very tasty) leftover liver pate from a couple of days ago so I Googled what I could do with it then made some pasta !!!  Onion, garlic, pate, celery, mustard, pasta and sherry !!!  And served it with the fresh bread 🥖 that Dave had been out to buy earlier in the day – and (although it may sound weird) – it was scrummy !!! (if a little rich…)

We knew we had an early start so I set the alarm ⏰ for 6:50am (which is actually 5:50am UK-time and WHAT kind of a time is THAT ???), Dave went to sleep and I watched Wednesday’s Coro (well most of it… I also fell asleep… 😴)

Twinkly lights & candles adorned the place, it was all very up-market, our waitress had excellent English, was very attentive and took our order.  She then delivered a bottle of Muscadet along with some complimentary little biscuit things (which looked like mini Yorkshire puddings) with tuna pate accompaniment (which we had in St Malo in 2017 because I just looked it up on The Blog !!!)

Dave had entrecôte 🥩 with a sauce, salad & fries but I wanted my poached egg on top of a chicken salad – which I got – & it was PHENOMENAL !!!  THE best (warm !!!) chicken salad 🍳🍗🥗 I have EVER had – with the runny egg and warm potatoes & tomatoes, lovely lettuce leaves, etc. served with gorgeous fresh bread & their speciality butter.  YUM 😋 !!!

We then strolled the 5 minutes back to the bus stop (a little the worse for wear) and caught the bus 🚌 back where I then whooped Dave at two games of Rummikub 1️⃣ (just before he fell asleep 😴)

There were lots of families, children & well just loads of people in general – and I commented to Dave that it seemed strange to me – for a (albeit sunny) Wednesday afternoon in February – that it was SO busy…

We found our answer a little later on entering a bar on side street, when I made a new French (Ukraine mum & French dad) bessie and discovered that it was a French Bank Holiday !!!

The bar was fab – dollies of all kinds covered every wall & crevice and there were four REAL swings (balançoire – I like to learn a new word !!!) hanging from the ceiling as seats at the bar – so we sat on two of them (see photie below !!!).  

It wasn’t cheap – €10 for a large beer and €5 for a medium-sized vin blanc… but when this lady (Catty) sitting close by said “Sante” to me, we struck up a conversation.  She had no English so I practiced my (very rusty) A’Level French on her and Jerome (the barman) interjected now & again to clarify things…

Two drinks later plus the swapping of mobile numbers with Catty promising to come & visit us at Pink Beach (!!!) we had another little wander around the shops then decided to have dinner in the main square at Le Lion D’Or (The Golden Lion) and O M G it was amazing…

The final leg to St Malo was only an hour and a half (with no tolls !!!) and we had identified a lovely little aire “Les Ilots” which was right by the beach, a 5 minute walk to the village centre & with a bus into St Malo right outside.

We were there by midday, popped the kettle on, had a late brekky then caught the 1:15pm bus into St Malo old town.  We bought a little card with 2 adult returns – for the bargain price of 6 euros !!!  So €1.5 for a 37 minute journey – bargain !!!  It was gorgeously sunny and warm and we spent the afternoon strolling around the city walls then around the familiar streets popping into the odd tat-shop…

We went into Saint Vincent Cathedral and it’s the first time (this entire 6 weeks I think) where there were REAL candles to light (as opposed to “put in your euros and we will set going a cheap, nasty, orange flickering electric light in a candle holder”…)

There was also a full-on fun fair just in front of the harbour and (as we are now a couple of oldies) we both agreed that we felt ill just looking at some of the rides (Dave watched one particular ride intently convinced somebody would “up-chuck” at the end and was most disappointed when nobody did !!!)

So after all the kerfuffle with the Péages on Monday (and taking the much longer no-tolls route) Dave decided we’d suck it up and do the next leg via the quickest, most direct route – which we’d earmarked as an aire du camping car in Nozay – just north of Nantes (see map)…

So we came across the Péage, took a ticket & when we got off (many miles later) – the dirty, thieving French b@st@rds charged us €39 !!!

Anyway – new me – adopt a “Let It Go” attitude…

So the aire was next to a lake and there was only one other Motorhome in the whole place… Nothing of any consequence to report other than dinner, alcohol, music & a Rummikub marathon !!!