Here is a very top level summary of our entire trip.

16/9/25: Boarded the ferry at Plymouth to Roscoff. We had a cabin for the overnight crossing.

17/9/25: First day in France. We drove as far as Combrit, near Quimper, staying one night at a free Aire de Camping Car. Combrit was a delightful little town with all the essentials – a boulangerie, a bar and a butchers. After pitching up we strolled into centre-ville and stopped off for a glass of wine – a very civilized way to end the day.

18/9/25: Moved on down the west coast of Brittany arriving at a paid for Aire at Arzal. This was a paid aire next to the main road – very quiet at night though. There was EHU, water and grey & black disposal included in the cost (about 8 euros). We were perhaps 200 metres from a lift bridge across the River Vilaine. I would imagine the place would have been heaving in the season but now towards the end of September it was fairly quiet.

19/9/25: Now at another paid for Aire at La Turballe. The free aire nearby no longer exists. We did wander down to the beach and have a quick dip – it was cold!

20/9/25: Realised we’d brought far too much stuff so we decided to find a campsite for a couple of nights. We stayed at Les Rives ed Grand Lieu campsite at Saint Philbert de Grand Lieu. The site was decidedly battered after a long and busy season but it had good WiFi, EHU and hot showers. We also got ourselves more organsied as best we could.

22/9/25:Drove the 117 miles to a free aire at La Ronde. After taking a wrong road through a village , we happened upon a fabulous, ruined abbey (Abbaye de Maillezais).

23/9/25: Another campsite at La Rochelle – on our bucket list. Again, the campsite was a bit tired but good hot shower. We wandered into La Rochelle city for a looksee.

24/9/25: It may sound like we were only doing campsites but in this part of France free aires are in short supply. Stayed two nights at Beausoleil Campsite on the outskirts of Bordeaux where we met Lorna and Fruit – who knew Steph!! 25/9/25 day trip into Bordeaux – it’s a very big city.

26/9/25: This marks the start of the more interesting part of our adventure. We moved to a free aire on the coast from Bordeaux at Cap de Ferret and a small town called Jane de Boy. Camping was in amongst trees next to a large holiday complex. We ended up spending three nights in that location. Long walk out to the beach and a short road trip to the end of the Cap.

29/9/25: We were so impressed with the beach along the cap that we spent a day on the beach a few miles from Jane de Boy. Sea was very rough but the water warm enough for a quick dip – Dave went in twice. Later found a free aire a short distance away.

30/9/25: At this point we were seriously considering doing a short stint in Spain so in preparation, we moved a short distance to Parentis en Born. It was a paid aire but in a great location (Think Windermere). One for further exploration perhaps.

1/10/25: Pushed on into Spain today to a free aire at Amorbieta some 20 miles or so from Bilbao. It was a long drive!

2/10/25: We went into Bilbao city in order to visit the Guggenheim Museo – most impressive. Learning point is we keep out of sync with restaurant/café opening times. Probably due in part at least to it being out of season. Missed our stop on the way back but sorted out without too much stress…

3/10/25: Moved to another free aire on the west side of Bilboa. It was free but of little value otherwise.

4/10/25: Saturday and we stayed until Monday morning. Moved further into the Basque area of northwest Spain to Orduna Burgos. Spectacular country here and the free aire had water and EHU – BUT it was located next to an abattoir. OK for a weekend but be away handy on the Monday….

Town was very nice and our visit coincided with a music festival. Never knew Spanish people played bagpipes!

6/10/25: Today marked the start of our return journey back to Roscoff. Be headed back towards the Spanish coast staying at a campsite near San Sebastian. Lovely site, hot showers and washing machines. 7/10/25 bus trip into SS but I understand there is a free aire somewhere in the city.

We liked San Sebastian and will return next trip perhaps.

8/10/25: Back up the road to France. Free aire at Mont-de- Marsan parking next to a sports complex. Quiet enough with a lovely neat village nearby.

9/10/25: Free aire next to a canal not far from Marmande. A scruffy site and we moved on the following day. Could be a good area to explore by bike.

10/10/25:We were recommended to visit St Emilion if we were ever in the area, so in preparation we stopped at a free aire in Saint Sulpice de Faleyrens. Tiny village but a great bread shop!

11&12/10/25: St Emillion today. We got up really early to avoid driving around looking for a parking space – as it happens, we got there before everyone! One of the few advantages of going out of season. Later in the day we pushed on to Bergerac (bucket list favourite). Parked up in the town/city and went for a wander. Lots of shops and bars but once more we’d missed the main opening times for meals. Got chatting to another Brit couple who were there on bikes – interesting concept of converting existing bikes. I will need to look into that when we get back. Onward to a free aire at Lembras. We ended up staying two nights partly due to re-plumbing the waste water drain from the kitchen sink to rectify ‘reflux’ via the shower plug!!! On the Monday we intended to re-visit Bergerac but everywhere was closed. It’s a Monday thing apparently, especially OOS.

13/10/25: Bergerac then Chateau Corbiac before setting off for a free aire at Sers. Free with water and waste plus limited EHU if your cable is long enough. We stayed two nights here and went for a walk in the woods to another prehistory site. Every now and then we came across these weird ‘nests’ at the side of the track. Turns out they are wild boar ‘wallows’ – places they cuddle up for the night…

15/10/25: This next aire, at the Musee des Tumulus de Bougon (prehistoric burial chambers), came highly recommended.. Most interesting and somewhere we may well revisit in the future despite the 7 Euro entrance fee.

Aire had free EHU and grey water dump but the water looked dubious and the black waste was blocked with large stones. However, there was a toilet available 24/7.

16/10/25: Went around the tumuli site first thing then after lunch set off for Aire de Camping Car at Montreiul-Bellay. Turned out to be a cracking aire – no EHU but water , grey and black. Liked it so much we went for a walk the following day which, of course, turned out to be a bit of an epic with poor signage… Got beeped at by a huge train though..

18/10/25: Travelled next to the northern bank of the Loire today on our way to a free aire at Chateau Gontier. Loire was stunning, so much so that we stopped for lunch with a view across the river. We noted that the water level was really low. Almost no water flowing seemingly at one point.

The aire at Chateau Gontier is absolutely huge with a capacity of 150 vans! No facilities though (of course) other than water,  plus grey and black emptying.

19/10/25: Weather has finally turned with the first rain we’ve seen for several weeks. Stayed at a seriously crappy aire I the east of Rennes. It was here that we decided we would push on the Caen in order to get an earlier ferry due to adverse weather due on our sailing day (23^rd). Contacted Brittany Ferries who changed our sailing for a charge of 38 euros – I did think it would cost a lot more!

20/10/25: Christina’s birthday. Located an aire close to the ferry terminal but it was very exposed and the van was rocked about for much of the night.

21/10/25: Up very early (5am) and a short drive to the ferry in Caen. No issues with getting onboard. The trip was good as was getting off at the other end. Downside of course is we then have 160 miles to get home, but a meal at West Bay eased the passage. Bumped into some people who were probably more enthusiastic about our van than we are!

And just like that we’re home where autumn is well underway!!

1962.7 miles driven.