Our time in Noirmoutier had come to an end… for the fire time i felt ready to move on… the nights in the campsite had been very rowdy and showed the impact of reduced security on the campsite… in fact, someone in the neighbouring tent had had their boards stolen the previous night.

We headed off waved away by the Lealan’s, but had to stop for one more bag of Oysters… these Oysters were so sweet and delicious…. we all wanted just a few more.

We got off the island quickly with no traffic jams and headed down the coast. We realised quite how far it was to the other side of le Grois as over some wine we had considered a project for next year to pass over the bridge and the Grois in one day… but its a long long way!!

We stopped in La Rochelle…. shopping supplies needed (wine) and we headed to decathlon as poor Fraser’s bed has been deflating and we thought he deserved a new one!! We nearly bought a larder unit for the van, but then found what i will call a plate hammock which fits under the table and cost 5 euro!! It’s amazing! Heather, you need this! In fact all my camping friends, a table hammock is the business!!

We made our way to the campsite… there is a story here. I forgot to book a site for the busiest 3 nights of our trip… i don’t know why… but i did so we have ended up staying in a site which we said we would never stay in again!! It noisey, dirty but well located for Saint Martin which is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL town I think i know of. I love it here.

The evenings bingo sound in the background,with its over amplified crackled helped the children off to sleep around 11 after a few words and a competitive game of pétanque! At least we got through some pages in our books!!

Today was the big day with the cycle ride… all the training Heather had done was put into practice… we left the campsite headed for Le Grois, a road only passable for 3 hours a day, hidden by the tide and a Secret passageway onto the island of Noirmoutier.

The wind was against us…literally all the way!!!!!! I don’t understand how it could be!!

On the way out we stopped and booked a restaurant as an incentive.

We cycled along the coast and reached the crossing point a little over an hour into our journey. We started the crossing and stew and I calculated that we through that we could make it right to the other side. The road is 4KM through the sea, and you will understand that there is little room for Error!!! Once the tide starts to march in… time and tide wait for no man!! Through the children’s protest at the cobbles we made it with time to gobble down an ice cream and turn around for home… even stopping to climb one of the Emergancy towers… these are designed for those who are stuck and need to seek refuge! I was thinking that I could imagine my dad and Joe riding their bikes out there and lugging their fishing gear to the top of the tower and sitting the tide out in search of the big one!!! I don’t even know if people do that!

On the way back there was a disaster. Fraser hurt his shoulder, and needed to limp back at slightly slower speed… meanwhile Dave and I were hero’s for an elderly plump french damsel in distress who’s car had broken down in a crucial part of Noirmoutier! With no English from her and very limited french from us, we enlisted the hel;p of passers by, Dave directed traffic and we got her off the main road into a lay by. I loved how her first reaction to breaking down was to put on her high vis, even though she had no idea how to use her mobile phone which clearly was designated for Emergancies!!

Once back, we had some lunch. I’ll be honest, the cheese didn’t stand a chance against Heather, Dave and I and then I got out granny’s port decanter and it was chilly and we all needed a nap! The kids faired rather better and followed their 38km bike ride with a film whilst the cheese eating adults had a snooze and stew READ HIS BOOK!!! Who knew he could even read!!

We somehow got up, showered and dressed and braved the rain and heavy wind into the town for the restaurant. I really enjoyed a seafood selection whilst the others had other fish or mussels…. a great dinner. Everyone was envious of Fraser’s Hamburger Pizza!

We headed back in time for the promised last night open air cinema, with some new friends and the adults finished their first holiday leg watching the amused faces of passers by…. trying to work out how such a teeny van had an open air cinema!!

Melon smiles for breakfast set the tone for a great day on Nourmoutier!

After an hours cycle repair and following the previous evenings cycle tuition for heather we got on our bikes for a training ride… we were headed to the oyster producing part of the island for lunch.

Since the children had all decided they love oysters or prawns, we got on board stopping at a super market to have a mooch around and stick up with some more food for dinner.

We found what we needed including some cans of pop for the children and baguette, and cycled along the cycle track to the oyster producer. I don’t believe they come fresher. After a test of my french,5 euro each got us half a doused oysters, a small glass of very cold wine and some bread. For those not keen on oysters (heather was now converted!) there were prawns for a similar price. We added som baguette and the kids enjoyed their fizzy pop.

Back to camp we headed to the beach for some paddle boarding, before a shower and bBQ. We made some new friends and invited the neighbours around after the kids were asleep for some wine and stories of france

A very slow morning, with lots of coffee to start the day. We had a leisurely french breakfast and enjoyed some time chatting whilst the kids played.

We got ourselves sorted onto our bikes and went out for a tour of the north of the island…. finding great little bays.

Back and into the sea for some paddle boarding to hone our skills before getting ready to head out to the local restaurant on site for a great meal.

Hot on the tails of the previous days dinner, everyone had decided that number 4 oysters were brilliant. We cycled into town and had a good look around.

I didn’t buy the NO! Hoody ive seen for the last 5 years (again) because no one should spend 75 euro on a hoody!! Even though I had prepared myself to shell out 50 euro on it having converted it for years!!

Penny spent some of her pennies on a knitting doll and Fraser decided he would invest in a watch.

We all met again in time to head around the other side of the river/steam/inlet to a new oyster shack we had found… we had a great light bite and glass of wine in the sun and understood a little more about how oysters were grown in this area.

We took some back and had an amazing bbq where we cooked oysters with our steak and it was a taste sensation!!

More paddle boarding and fun in the water before a brilliant open air cinema from freckle….happy happy times

The Lealan’s arrived… lots of unpacking and inflating of water craft before a brilliant BBQ in the evening.

Before that we had a trip into the town and looked at the Webber BBQ’s…. and stew was looking at his amazing machine he has at home and thinking what a brilliant wife he has for getting such a bargain when she had had too much wine!!

The day started with the blissful music in the bowels of the boat! Penny slept through the music and couldn’t understand why we were all awake and was disappointed she had missed it!

We had our instructions from the Spencer’s to meet in the posh restaurant as soon as we were ready and Henry assured me they had lots of pain au chocolate! I was in!

We settled down for a buffet breakfast, just a teeny bit bleary eyes from the late night before, and it was a yummy selection!

In a bid to hold up the whole boat, the Spencer’s left us, and returned to their cabin…. you know that one caravan you all have to drive around?! They promised to avoid us for the rest of the time they were away, but we know where they are staying and will just turn up!

We headed back to the van, slightly nervous due to the proximity to a Ferrari, which we all thought stew had hit the night before…. the deck just clonked at the wrong moment! Stews got a sore knee so Freckle was under Sarah power! What could possibly go wrong? Well… I didn’t hit either of the Ferrari’s

Off the ferry and on the road, the weather was looking ropey! Then we ended up in a storm!! The Nantes bridge was brilliant as always, but my co pilot isn’t as much of a bridge fan so no pictures! I was too busy trying not to crash!

Even the petrol station was hit by the storm so we had to spend the grandparents ice cream money for fuel as the card system went down and we had no cash!

We knew the vendee wouldn’t disappoint and it brightened up as we arrived. We went past as Fraser reminded us “where Joel nearly died…. of hunger!” And stopped to buy some oysters! I was lost for words when I saw there was an oyster vending machine!!!! So accessible!

After a quick run into grab essential (wine and cheese!) we headed to the campsite. Whilst windy, we got set up super quick, had a bite of lunch and then headed to the beach for a swim.

Back from the beach we chatted to some other van owners and then spotted Stew and Gordon’s mate from last year!! The paddle boarding expert… and what great news, he’s on the pitch opposite! 😂😂

Stew has been trying to perfect the Wolverson bottle opening trick of opening one bottle with another, but failing miserably! Mark needs to make a you tube video!

Oysters, sausages and wine made for a perfect Adamson in France evening and the kids have gone off to bed ready to see their mates tomorrow and have some more fun!

This place is brilliant! Night all!

It all started when we were out for a bike ride…. and the Spencer’s were telling us about their holiday plans…. then we realised we were booked on the same ferry and we hatched some plans!!

We got to the ferry port about the same time as domino’s pizza delivered our dinner… and we had a pizza buffet, beer and wine, it’s fair to say it wasn’t a leisurely meal as 2 slices in, we had to hop back into our respective vehicles to get through to the loading area…. freckle sailed through but our caravan friends got pulled into customs where Spenny stripped down to his pants for a through search!!

They were on the other side of the main route off the ferry for all the vehicles that had just arrived, but keen to get them their remaining pizza slices I selfless ran accross the road, hurdling the road blocks to make my delivery. I collected a beer for Stew, the second part of my mission and set off back! This prompted several safety announcements in the port, more hurdling and all the traffic being stopped to get back to freckle. I made it though!

The Adamson’s were smug in the cabin position for a few moments until we realised we were somewhere beneath sea level next to the anchor, possibly as a result of my tweet to them pointing out what I thought of their decision to cancel our return sailing into Portsmouth and send us to plymouth? It was very quiet at least and possibly we were the only naughty people sent down that far!

When we made it up all the stairs and recovered we headed to the bar and bagseyed a corner pitch to down the evening with the Spencer’s!

The deserts were polished off before we headed out on deck in the rain to see the grandparents waving from the tower!!

We came back in to drink our own drinks in the bar…. but they didn’t seem to mind!

Then came the cheese board and port… we had an bottle of cough medicine filled with port and cheese miniatures with grapes and chutney and biscuits! I’m waiting to see how Katie reuses the napkin wisely!!

We all had fun, chatting and laughing about how the people of Sholing thought they were getting the veracity ground back as the Spencer’s drove off… with one man waving them goodbye!! I hope you enjoy your sausages! The children had such a nice time together and the girls particularly loved when Katie and I recreated some roverang circa 1997.

Bed time and a short sleep before we dock in Saint Malo….

By the time we had finished celebrating the Hythe Adamson’s last night of holiday it was very early morning and stew went for a walk with his torch along the beach for signs of the paddle…. and when we woke up slit was the first thing we all wanted to do.

We quickly cleared away the evidence of the night before and checked out at reception for the tent and then went for a look… nothing.

We drank some coffee… in fact quite a lot of coffee was required and Fraser and stew decided to go for another look… the tide was on its way out. I meanwhile had got stuck into my book.

About half an hour later Fraser rushed back with news… he thought he had spotted it but it was going to need the other paddle board to go out to it.

Fraser will tell the the full story of the heroic rescue and his eagle eye for just the tip of the handle! But needless to say when he got back to the beach he was beaming and over the moon!

Stew, Fraser and Penny cycled into town for an ice cream whilst the tide was out and I read some more of my book…. and when they returned there was a fun evening filled with more paddle boarding, and bbqing!