Short half term break to North France with Mrs J, Princess and in-laws, featuring very little tourist spots but delicious food and proper quiet time.
Day 1
Up at 2am to make the 8:30am ferry from Poole following some advisory texts to beat the traffic. Turns out it’s nowhere near as busy as Dover but definitely a simpler arrangement with one man pointing you to a lane. Early arrival meant we found a nearby McD’s for breakfast which was possibly the worst one in the UK (25 minutes wait for 3 overcooked breakfasts).
Brittany ferry to Cherbourg took about 4.5 hours. Restaurant, bar and shop sufficed – grabbed some well priced YSL aftershave and noticed the 3 boxes of wine for ~£60. Worth noting passport check at Cherbourg can take some time. They empty the ferry quickly but only 3 security cabins to handle all the traffic.
Drive to Lancieux was relatively seamless. No tolls but minimal service stations en route. Arrived at camp site to find no shops on site or nearby. Luckily, one restaurant called La Plage was open for a delicious meal for 5; selection of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes plus 2 bottles of decent wine and 2 IPAs for 5 only came to €110.
Day 2
Sun was breaking through the overcast cloud but only for short bursts. We spent some time at the campsite pool for a splash before freshening up for a walk around Lancieux beach.
Beautiful beach but nothing open apart from one bar restaurant, Les Sardines à la Plage. Thankfully made it just as the rain clouds hit for a cheeky beer, coffee and wine. In the evening, we ordered pizzas from the camp site van – freshly made with tasty selection of salami, courgettes and anchovies choices followed by an evening of Uno and drinks.
Day 3
After a lazy morning and swim in the camp site pool (abruptly ended by a shoulder injury) we headed over to Saint Clast de Guildo. Another quiet seasonal resort, beautiful and well maintained but very little open. Grabbed a coffee at La Main a la Pate then ice cream at Ty Castin before a walk along the beach.
We then returned to Lancieux for a seafood tapas meal back at Les Sardines à la Plage as the rain tried to ruin play but the food was deliciously made, proper cheffy effort, and reasonably priced. 6 dishes, 3 desserts, 4 decent white wines, 3 beers and a soft drink for €120.
Ended up drinking a lot of blonde beer in the evening, getting drunk and having a good chat with the father in law – had to be done at some point and before the final day.
Day 4
After a slow start, we headed over to Zoo de la Bourbansais for the day, about 40 minute drive from Lancieux. Beautiful château and grounds used to host a menagerie of animals. Stand out features were the amazing bird show and giraffe feeding, something quite mesmerising watching a giraffe strip a branch of leaves with just its tongue.
We were famished at the end of the day but the entire area seemed to be out of season with most restaurants closed. We ended up in a Buffalo Grill chain where I could nurse my hangover with a massive dirty burger.
Day 5
Final day of our trip so took Princess for a swim at the camp site pool (with her new goggles to do hand stands), hoovered up the remaining food and left for the ferry port. En route, we pulled in to a place called Villedieu-les-Poêles for some decent food rather than service station junk. We got lucky with a lovely crêperie place that had a huge selection of savoury galettes 🫓 for us to try. I opted for the salmon, spinach and chive option.
After a little potter around the town, buying some local beer selection plus range of colourful tomatoes and cakes from the boulangerie, it was time to set off for the ferry port and the joyful trip home. As always, British roads disappointed with a number of roadworks and diversions adding to the fun back home, finally arriving about 1:30am.