Lazy start to the morning, we left St Jean de Mayenne about 9.30am. We travelled about 155 miles to St Jean de Monts, in the Vendée, on the coast. Along the way we came across a road with triple white lines in the middle, Paul decided this was to say to people ‘don’t even think about overtaking!’
We decided on Camping Plein Sud as it is only 14 euros with ACSI, only a few euros more than the aires wanted, and this way we get a toilet/shower block and a large pitch.
Good journey, mainly toll free. Of course we arrived whilst the campsite was closed for lunch, but it gave us an opportunity to wander around and look at the pitches. Initially we weren’t taken with it as there were a lot of high hedges and trees, it felt quite claustrophobic, but then we found a new part where the hedges hadn’t had chance to grow very high, perfect for us.
Just before 2pm a young girl opened the office and we went in. I have to say she gave us one of the best welcomes we’ve ever had. She was smiley, friendly and informative, giving us naps and booklets, a bag and a present!
Shower gel, shampoo and soap
We were able to have the pitch we wanted in the new part of the site, although she was most apologetic that there wasn’t any shade – we assured her that we didn’t mind! And a huge plus was that Lottie could go in the beach! We were told that to access the beach we were to cross over the road outside the campsite and go through the campsite opposite as they both had the same owner, there was a back gate out towards the beach. I could also use their indoor pool if I wished, ours ‘only’ had an outdoor pool.
Once we had pitched up we cycled off to the beach to have a look, it was just under a mile away and lovely. We had a walk along the beach and let Lottie have a play with her ball, Paul had to wade in and get it at one point as she dropped it in the water, unusual for him to be in the sea before me.
After that we cycled along a lovely cycle path to St Jean de Monts.
Nellys Ranch
We weren’t sure what to expect, so initially we cycled along the front, following the beach and locked up our bikes at a busy spot which seemed to have a Main Street through which everyone was funnelling. There were large signs all along the beach saying No Dogs so I was pleased we weren’t staying here. We wandered down the Avenue du Mer, which was full of ice cream shops, churros stalks, cheap clothes and fast food. Not really our cup of tea. I looked on the map to see where the actual town of St Jean de Monts was, this turned out to be another half a mile away so we abandoned our walk and headed back to the bikes. We will cycle in to the town tomorrow for the market, hopefully the town will be more interesting.
Back on our pitch the sun was shining so we had a gin and tonic before tea.
2019 Autumn follow the sun 