Calais – Paris – Crozon Peninsula

21/07 – 24/07

I was pretty firm with my words that although we wanted to steer clear of big cities… Paris was a must do. We caught the ferry over to Calais at midnight, and parked on the side of the road somewhere nearby, adjusting and reminding ourselves regularly we now had to drive on the right hand side of the road. I had assumed we’d be in Paris the next morning, eating croissants by the Canal St. Martin and enjoying the Parisian lifestyle. Ha! How wrong I was. We had heard to avoid tolls on French highways as they sting you with a fair bit of coin.. but after driving for an hour or so, we decided we would see how much coin exactly. 39 euros… so that was our one and only toll we decided we would take. We had scouted a place to park our van on the outskirts of Paris, and were confident on leaving the van to spend two nights in an airbnb in the city of lurrrvve. Turned out, the car park we had intended to park at was hosting a music festival that weekend! So, we pulled out our various apps and hunted for a new location. We found a park eventually, after roaming for roughly two hours on unfamiliar streets, completely unaware of where we were or how safe the area was. We parked up our van, ready to ride our bikes into town. But of course… a flat tyre! And no pump! So, reverted to the train, which was an hour and half into where we needed to be. Leaving the van for the first time felt insanely sketchy and we were questioning whether to go at all. But albeit, we did, hoping for the best and ensuring the safety of our van with the surrounding old men playing boulé. Thanks to the CityMapper app, we got into Paris at around 6.30pm (so much for croissants for breakfast!) and lime scootered to our airbnb after I accidentally took us to the wrong metro station. After a shower and some scrubbing up, we spent the evening on the Canal St. Martin drinking cocktails, eating pizza and enjoying the sites and trying really hard not to worry about the van..

We awoke the next morning, still stressing, so decided it wasn’t worth the second night of accommodation. Our host was incredibly helpful and understood entirely, refunding us completely! Phew! So, we tried to squish in as much as we could into one day in Paris; saw the Eiffel Tower, shopped in Le Marais and wondered all the beautiful streets. Pity about the 36 degree weather. We headed back to the van, and of course, it was perfectly fine, waiting for our arrival. Time to get my salty dog to the coast!

We headed for the Crozon Peninsula, stopping along the way at a little spot near a lake for some dinner, a beautiful sunset and a bit of self pamper.

We got to the Crozon peninsula, on the West Coast of France, just below Brest and realised we’re definitely happiest with salt on our skin, and sand on our toes… although these beaches were pebbly as all hell, causing me a little grief. But, happy to be out of the hustle and bustle of a big city and time to relax and enjoy the everlasting sun of a European summer.

AB