I’ve been putting off writing this post, because our stay on the Baie de Locquirec had its ups and downs (more downs than ups).

We had a booking for Camping Municipal du Fond de la Baie since March, based on an instagram recommendation of someone who stayed in their van right on the edge of the beach and had a great time. The pictures on the camp website and their flyover drone video looked great. You could book the pitch you wanted and reserve for 60€, which is what I did. I had visions of us sat out by the van whilst the kids played on the sand below for hours on end, no need to move, no desire to go off and explore beyond the shoreline.

You would think that years of camping experience would mean this was a sure thing, but you would be wrong!

We were ready to enjoy some relaxation with the sound of the waves, and happily paid out the €344.40 it was going to cost us for 10 nights, but regretted it after driving the mile or so down to our pitch and discovering we couldn’t get the van on it properly.

The pitches were marked out with shrubs at the corners, and the roadway was single vehicle width, so we couldn’t turn in easily. The far end of the pitch was shelving, so we couldn’t reverse up without risking the underslung tanks and pipework. There were wooden posts at the far end anyway, which made turning in from that way a no-go. And we discovered it was supposed to be a one-way system.

Our German neighbour was very sympathetic,  she said when they arrived, they pulled on through our pitch to get to theirs and have not moved their van for a week. She volunteered to move her washing line, so we had a bit more manoeuvre room.

The pitch sloped from side to side and from front to back. The banking at the back had clearly subsided a few times as there were mounds and hollows at the back to add to the rabbit holes, which made trying to find a level spot impossible.

After about 45 minutes of fruitless wrangling we decided we couldn’t make it work, and did something we’ve never done before. Complained and asked to move. Explained clearly and politely in French that we could not get a van our size on to that pitch because of the access, and have it so it’s level enough to sleep in.

Request denied. Campsite full. The pitch opposite, which was unoccupied, was not available to us as you chose your pitch when you booked, like we did. Nothing to be done. Money paid, thanks very much.

Again, unusually, I insisted they do something about it. The only offer they were willing to make was to move us in 2 days time, and then 4 more times after that as we couldn’t keep one pitch for our stay if we moved off the one we have booked.

I consulted KB and waited the 12 minutes it took him to walk down to the office and explained what I had been told. If we hadn’t paid up so quick, and if all other things were normal, even being the first week of August wouldn’t have put us off making another plan.

But we were defeated, having lost KB’s dad just less than a week before setting off, we hadn’t even been sure if we would get away and desperately wanted to stop and rest. He had driven us hundreds of miles over the course of 3 days and just needed to stop.

So we gave in and went back to manoeuvring, eventually parking diagonally across the space, with levelling chocks at cocky angles, and our tables and chairs on top of the shelving bit squeezed in by the fence.

But the views were nice.

Off the back of our €16 a night flat, level Camping Car Park experience this was all the more disappointing. 

The site’s instagram page was full of their winter renovations of the facilities, and the toilet block closest to our pitch was the new one. With 3 toilets, no paper or soap and a code to get in and out.

We spent 3 days doing very little on the site and the beach, where we discovered the battered and broken mini golf course (and had an argument with the office about a deposit for the clubs), the wristbands we’d been told to wear were not being worn by anyone else we saw on site, the laundry cost €6 a load and the beach had a serious problem with green seaweed, which could cause a health hazard. Nice.

It was a long walk to the waters edge, and you needed walk and surfs, because of the massive proliferation of clam shells. When the tide was out you could almost walk all the way across to Locquirec town it went out so far.

But it was warm and sunny, which was better than expected and we had lots of time messing about on the sand, which we love. Rock pools were fruitful and walks along the beach were long. There is something to be said for falling asleep to the sound of the waves.

There comes a time, though, when you need to go out for supplies and a change of scenery, so we took a few trips out to discover a bit more of the local area.

More posts to follow on Locquirec, Lannion, and Morlaix.

So, what have I learned from this experience?

Never trust the images. Anywhere can be made to look good with the right weather and from the right angle. I should know. I’ve got about a thousand great looking shots on my camera roll.

Don’t follow other people’s recommendations unless you 100% trust their judgement

Use your own judgement. If that means sticking to what you know works well, apply that to a new place or situation.

And the moral of the story:

Big campsites can be a big letdown.