Seeking the sun after a long (pre-lockdown) winter, Ailsa and Don James set out south

Ailsa and Don are keen caravanners and enjoy touring in the UK and Europe

IT HAD BEEN a winter of discontent (which reminds me of a clever camping advertising slogan, “Now is the winter of our discount tent…”) and we were itching to drag the caravan off the drive, hitch up and head for the sun – which shouldn’t be too hard to find in France, right?

We are ‘pensioneers’, so we can come and go as we like – and we do like. We live in North Devon, so the Plymouth-Roscoff crossing on Brittany Ferries is our favourite port of call; because we use it so frequently, we are members of its Club Voyage France, which means we get 30% off every crossing and free breakfast if we take the overnight option (which of course we do).

Crossings and campsites 

Roscoff, with its beautiful, solid Breton architecture, is a welcoming sight, and a stepping stone for destinations unknown. We had our trusty ACSI Campsite Guide and for an annual membership of just £15, this gave us the location of all the sites open at this time of year, at discount prices.

Spring was late arriving in Brittany, the fields were ploughed but not yet planted with their usual crops of artichokes and onions, but it was encouraging to see great swathes of rapeseed stretched across the countryside like bold yellow brushstrokes straight from a painter’s palette.

We headed for Saumur and Camping L’Ile d’Offard, set on an island in the middle of the Loire, where the château looked down on us from its lofty perch. Classified as a monument historique, this really is a beauty, with its pointed turrets of mellow, creamy tuffeau (limestone).