France 126 - Guerande Day 5/we dont speak Breton/Breton Not/Parking Du Theatre/ Submarine base and crunch crunch

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The weather has so far turned out exceptional. Wall to wall sunshine every day. It is a pleasure to be on the road again. It feels as hot as it would be back home in the middle of Summer. Before leaving our campsite I picked up my early morning croissants and pane , waved goodbye to the ocean and decided to ask the young receptionists if they spoke Breton. I only wondered because back home Welsh had been oppressed by the English in the 19th century. English was only to be spoken at school and the Welsh Not had been introduced. Woe betide the last youngster who uttered the last word of Welsh in school as as they would be sent home wearing the wooden Welsh Not (a wooden board with the words written on them) around their necks. Utter shame and scorn would be poured upon them. The receptionist said they spoke not one word. Here there is token Breton on the road signs but they come after the French. YOu can see which language gains precedence . I prefer to think we stayed at Gwennad rather than Vannes.

This was a sort of nothing journey along quiet French roads. Through pretty French towns. Our stopover was to be at Guerande. Yes it was another pretty French town with a free aire, ramparts, a moat and an inner quaint area with cafes and bars. Several motorhomes had obviously stayed the night as they were locked up and had their silver screens in place. We parked up easily and walked into town. We would have liked to have stopped but we are still unsure of what Gabby can do. She looks the same in her cab. All Fiat Ducato look the same. The only difference are the swivel seats and we do love those. Perhaps it is the child within us. We prefer our table which always set up for eating on unlike Suzy which needed setting up as we needed it. Needless to say we didn't need it that often. The fridge is still a mystery . We probably need to get a new larger solar panel to run it. A mistake made as we assumed the one we had fitted by the dealer would be large enough. It clearly is not . An expensive thing to get wrong but we did get it wrong and have to live with it. We also need another gas bottle - a job to do when we get home.

Today though is a blue sky day and all is right with the world. We walked slowly along the outer ramparts which were moated until we reached the first impressive stone gate into the town. It was a workaday town with both visitors and townsfolk frequenting the cafes and the shops. Some sold Breton specialities like Breton biscuits , other tat such as postcards and magnets. The church was large but simple and closed. The sign Silencio barred entry and we were later to find out why. A funeral was taking place . Such is everyday life in Guerande.

As we walked we pondered on where to go next. This is the first holiday that very little has been planned. We have a mammoth adventure coming up but that appears later. No Sion we are not off to Laos to meet up your friend Woolly.

Guarande is small, two streets and that's your lot. Another gate at the opposite end and a walk back round the ramparts. A half a day town at most. We consulted the the map and talked about what to do next. What was close by that wasn't a castle or a walled town. How about submarines? There is St Nazaire. We had read about tales of heroics during WW2 in this area. We knew that submarines were based here and the site had become a tourist attraction. Why not go? It is on the way to our epic meeting with a mammoth and would be different. Glenn set Sally Sat Nag for the Parking du Theatre, 200 places with special motorhome ones. As it was an aire it seemed ideal. Little did we know what to expect as had not looked at it on Google Earth .

I started to watch Sally Sat Nag at 3 mins away from the parking. Counting the minutes down. Eventually I spotted the car park in the dip. Yes it was enormous. Yes there were other motorhomes parked DOWN there. Glenn had his eyes on the traffic and was looking for the entrance. Soon we spotted it and indicated to the left . Committing ourselves we were confronted with a drop. The car park was at the bottom of a large ramp. Too late Glenn said "I don't like the look of that" Just as he spoke we heard it Crunch Crunch . The steps on Gabby had grounded and the only option was to reverse off the car park into the fast moving traffic. I am becoming adept at helping with the reversing, stopping the traffic. We crunched off cursing the low clearance of the van. If there is one fault with Gabby she is too long slung. Lesson learned again, a few more scratches to her undercarriage. but luckily no serious damage down other to us and our embarrassment. We reset Sally to get us out of St Nazaire . The submarines would have wait for another day.

"The season for failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success" - the words of Paramahansa Yogananda certainly ring true. Bring on the Elephant . We are getting excited .

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