September 2024 - all photos can be found in the complete album here!
Travel tips!
Péage! France has a system of road tax checkpoints in place, this so called “péage” cost me about 70 EUR for the route that I travelled. Keep this in mind when planning a trip in France. The system is easy and if you travel a lot in France, you might want to register for “Le Télépéage”, it lets you drive through the checkpoints without stopping. However, I just used the regular service and paid by credit card at each checkpoint. So my general tip is: Keep your credit card close by as you will pass by automatic péage stations, it can go up to about 100 EUR for a cross-France trip.
Speed in France! Driving in France is easy but do rememner that on some places you can drive 110 km/h and in other places up to 130 km/h, (Belgium still applies 120km/h speed limit while The Netherlands apply 100 during the day and 120 during the night) however, even when 130 km/h is allowed, it is mandatory to reduce to 110 km/h when it's raining!
Borders? Keep your passport close by. Although there aren't supposed to be any border checkpoints in the Shengen area, I did get checked on the border between France and Spain (and the customs agent didn't understand why I drove all the way to spain to get a ferry to the UK … why not? Well I 'm probably crazy but that's not my problem! LOL)
Sleeping in the car? Check out some of my other blogs for more tips about making your car your base for traveling. One last tip from me ... take both dry and wet tissues and keep them close, and make sure you have a garbage bag within reach, personally I always use empty bags of catfood. Main blog about my travel car
Santander and Spain in general
Spain is cheap compared to other European countries and in cities like Santander you will easily find an underground parking garage at reasonable prices, beware that the most important tourist spots also have a lot of free parking areas but these are very quickly overloaded and you will have to find a parking space away from the beaches and viewpoints, roadside parking is in most areas still free though. Groceries can be found everywhere in local Mercadona or Carrefour supermarkets, they are quick and easy and all types of payments are accepted, I could even use my American Express credit card there! For a few days in the city, you don't actually need a car, however, if you are like me and want to see some more off the track places, you are better off taking the car, most hotels offer their own parking areas but whenever I am driving to a city, I usually book and AirBNB just outside the city with a parking spot provided.
Day 1: Preparation
I had planned this trip well in advance as it needed careful preparation due to several modes of transport and passing by several places. On day 1 I went shopping and made sure my cats were safe with family before preparing the car for the entire trip. Fuel topped up and the mattress and blanket with pillow installed, the car was ready to depart. I rested during the rest of the day and by 22h00 took a last shower and left home in Belgium for a long 1400 km drive. I drove on until I needed to stop for fuel again and decided to stop for some coffee, fuel and sleep. I was already well beyond Paris and the car setup makes for a pretty easy sleep, so I slept from about 04h00 to 09h00.
Day 2: Driving
A full day on the road. I had anticipated a long day on the road and didn't exactly plan ahead, so I just drove on with occasional stops for toilet breaks, fuel, coffee and food. When I had already advanced far into France, I noticed some signs towards a place I remembered from history books, Oradour sur Glane.
This village was under Nazi control in World War 2 and at some point the Nazis decided to go to the village, round up everyone and shoot all the people before burning down all the buildings, one of the worst war crimes during World War 2. After the war, the French government decided to leave the village as it was to stand as an open air museum and memorial to the horrors of World War 2. The weather was grey and wet … maybe just what is expected in this grim looking place … and yet … seeing nature slowly taking over the once busy village makes it a place of peace as well.
I drove on and by the time I was getting hungry, I went for a small dinner and a place to sleep again, this time more or less a normal night as far as timing goes.
Day 3: From France to Spain
The last leg of this 1400 km drive was from my sleeping spot in France, through the mountains of the Pyrenees into Spain. I noticed that the road tax in Spain is a lot cheaper than in France, so is the fuel by the way! Eventually I made it to Santander and decided to look for a spot to relax and see the Pont-Aven of Brittany Ferries arrive.
Because of the relentless rain I went to the viewpoint of Magdalena and took shelter in the entrance of the palace (the main tourism spot for most people but not for me). Luckily I was able to get some good shots of the ship, the lighthouse on the small island of Mouro just in front of the viewpoint and the smaller lighthouse of La Cerda near the viewpoint. By now it was time to go to my AirBNB, but first I stopped at a local Carrefour supermarket in a shopping mall to get supplies for the next few days. By 15h00 I was at my AirBNB settling in and preparing for the next few days in Santander. The AirBNB was small but cosy and had everything I needed, it was only about 5 km from the city. I needed a good rest and made sure to be ready for the evening. By early evening I decided that this was the best time to go to the lighthouse of Cabo Mayor as it had stopped raining … for now at least!
I passed by the Santander drydocks and noticed a surprise as the Commodore Clipper was in there, sadly no good angle for photos was available and the drone could not launch due to a no-fly zone this close to Santander Airport, but I managed to get at least a few shots of her from the parking lot of the company.
Upon arrival at the lighthouse, it was pretty dry and not too windy so I decided to launch the drone (DJI mini 3), I was able to capture some good shots of the lighthouse with all my equipment and decided to wait for night to fall for some evening shots on the tripod. After this, it was time to end this day and go to bed.
Day 4: Santander
Even on my travels I sometimes take a day or 2 to just relax and finish some paperwork or computerwork, so today I slept a bit longer and only went out in the afternoon to make a video of Santander and explore the main tourist centre and shopping area with the Cathedral as a main focus.
In the evening I went out to the lighthouse of Cabo de Ajo for an evening walk and photography of yet another lighthouse, this one was painted in a colourful design and made for a great shoot.
Day 5: Santander
Today was exploring time, I had studied the plan of the city since I came back yesterday and noticed that I missed out on a small but interesting part of the city with the station and Mercado del Este being my main focus today, so I went for another relaxing walk in the city. The Mercado del Este is now more a mix of trendy food stalls with the occasional art shop and local produce stalls in between, probably very different from what was a proper market hall in the past. I do have to say the Empanadas con carne were very good indeed. This walk took me the best part of the day and in the late afternoon I just went to the shopping mall again for some more supplies before going back to my AirBNB.
Day 6: Santander
Another lighthouse on the schedule today! My focus for today would be the lighthouse of Suances, about 40 km from my AirBNB. The drive was interesting and after a few hours at this smaller but nicely located lighthouse where beaches with toilet facilities, hotels and beach bars on one side and rocks and walking paths on the other side make up the landscape hugged by the Atlantic waves, I stopped at some small church along the way back and went back to my AirBNB to start charging all the equipment and plan for tomorrow … the big day!
Day 7: A long ferry ahead
Today I needed to get up earlier as the plans were set! First of all … breakfast! I made sure all food was eaten or back in the car and did the dishes and cleaned up a bit, put the trash out and packed all bags back in the car. I was out about an hour before I really had to … so I went shopping first, then stopped near the maritime station to see the Amadea docked.
Unfortunately there is no good view on cruise ships docked in Santander if you don't go on a boat or fly a drone (ports are by the way mostly restricted areas so that's usually not an option), but I took some decent photos anyway and then went on to the Magdalena viewpoint again where I searched for a good spot for the drone only to find out that this is also a limited flying zone due to the airport … but I relaxed a bit until Pont-Aven was arriving and launched the drone anyway.
There was hardly any wind and I sent the drone up to the maximum altitude that was blocked at 45 meters and as far out on the water as possible (also blocked by Geofencing). I managed to get the arrival of the Pont-Aven and packed my bags to go for lunch nearby as I had plenty of time left. An hour later I realised that I had no way of setting up the actioncam for the drive onto the ferry so I went shopping again, found some heavy duty double-sided tape and went to the ferry-terminal. The process of checking-in was easy and smooth, then all cars were guided to the waiting area … right next to the cruise terminal where Amadea was still docked … great for some shots through the fence!
I set up the DJI Osmo Action on the bonnet of my Toyota and drove on the Pont-Aven through the bow doors a few moments later, once onboard I realised this tape was maybe a bit too strong and it took me some effort to get it all off the car … but I managed! I was now onboard Pont-Aven and found my cabin 5210 to be small but cosy, left the bags in there and went out to explore the ship … very impressive vessel I have to say! Of course I had some photos to take and after a shower to prepare for dinner, we were moving and I went out to take photos of the things I planned … the Amadea of course, the lighthouse of La Cerda and the lighthouse of Mouro island. With all this done it was time to retire from duty and go for dinner.
The buffet restaurant was already busy but I went a step higher to Le Flora restaurant and took the full formula for 42 EUR, of course with a good dinner you need to have a good wine and the Rosé from the Provence was a very good choice at 8 EUR. The buffet offered Hors d' euvres and I ordered the duck for a main course, followed by the buffet of desserts, totalling 50 EUR.
I was happily surprised to learn that it was free for me due to a meal voucher on my cabin card (I had booked it in advance and simply forgot about it). I needed some special item from the ship and decided to get the historic poster of the complete Brittany Ferries fleet from 1972 when they started up to today, my last action of the day was relaxing in the piano bar, this is supposed to be nice and calm but it was pretty loud and busy, I think the ship was pretty full today.
Pont-Aven and Brittany Ferries in general
Brittany Ferries offers a variety of routes between France, UK, Ireland and Spain. They usually aren't cheap but compared to the service you get, I think the prices are reasonable! I have done some voyages on their ships before but this was my first long ferry crossing, and I was happily surprised!
The Pont-Aven is an amazing ship (Vitor didn't lie about this at all!) so here 's my point of view. Take your swimming trunks! There is a pool, small and between 1 and 1.55 meters deep but amazingly calming when crossing on a ferry! Take your own towel with you and prepare to just place you belongings right next to the pool on the wooden benches. There is a shower and changing room just next to the pool as well.
On one of these long crossings (this one is 22 hours!), why not go all the way? Book your food voucher in advance and go to Le Flora restaurant for a full dinner experience not much different than a cruise ship experience! Great service and stylish interiors will make you feel like being on a cruise ship instead of a ferry, the main reason why these ships are marketed as cruise ferries. Make sure you have something to do during your time at sea, I had perfect weather but I can imagine not every crossing being this sunny! Internet is free for 90 minutes and I don't see any reason to pay for more as the connection isn't that fast and sometimes you lose the signal anyway. On this crossing you can sometimes see dolphins and whales so take your camera as well.
Day 8: At sea towards Plymouth
Half a day on the ferry left and I woke up earlier than normal, I went to breakfast first at the buffet restaurant and took some extra drinks for the rest of the day, a full English breakfast is perfect for mornings at sea of course. Since the Pont-Aven has a swimming pool, I naturally wanted to go in it and found out a few things, first of all there are no towels provided at the pool area so you have to bring your own, the shower and changing room are small but good enough for this voyage, for some reason the lockers were all closed and no keys were available so I took my stuff with me to the pool, there is enough space to keep your personal belongings dry right next to the pool itself. I noticed a desk right at the changing rooms but it was closed an nobody around to ask questions, I guess it's manned on some voyages but not this one.
I went back to the cabin to take my camera and do a walk around the outside decks, this ship has amazing outside deck spaces, including spaces for people with their dogs, even special cabins for people with pets! I spotted some birds out at sea and managed to take some decent of them as well and then decided to go relax in the piano bar with my laptop and notebook.
Arrival in Plymouth was easy and smooth, the only downside was that I was way in the back of the line, now leaving the ship from the stern. I did find customs to be pretty slow here but the location of the terminal is very close to the city, however … by now the traffic was very busy and I arrived at my hotel a bit later than expected, this was the main reason why I had dinner in the hotel and only went out in the evening for a drone flight at Plymouth Hoe to see the famous lighthouse that used to be the Eddystone lighthouse.
Day 9: In bed!
A traveler's worst nightmare happened ... I woke up sick! Stomach issues kept me in bed for the best part of the day and miss breakfast as well. By noon I had taken some basic medication to make me feel good enough for another drone flight to see the Pont-Aven arriving in Plymouth again, in this weather the flight was fantastic! I passed by a local pharmacy for some better medication and went back to the hotel, surviving on some biscuits and water for the rest of the day. This was supposed to be the day I would visit Falmouth the whole day!
Day 10: Next day on the road
Because I lost a whole day due to sickness … and I still wasn't 100% back to health yet, I decided to keep my breakfast small and rest some more before leaving Plymouth. My big plans made way for smaller plans and I decided to go have a walk at Start Point lighthouse. This place is just amazing, the lighthouse is located at the end of the rocky outcrop and I walked the entire trail around Start Point to arrive back at my car. From there I went all the way to Portsmouth … although I had some serious traffic jams along the way, but I made it by the evening and had time to meet up with my long time friend Louy again.
Day 11: PS Waverley
Portsmouth was now my base for the next few days, and today I had a ticket for the smaller ship that I had wanted to see for a long time, the PS Waverley! She was unusually docked at the passenger terminal in Portsmouth and they had provided a shuttle bus service from the Hard near the station. By 13h00 I was onboard the Waverley for a cruise around the Isle of Wight that would last the best part of the day. I was able to see both British current aircraft carriers, some ferries, various lighthouses from an angle I hadn't seen before and we were even treated to a helicopter exercise by the British Coast Guard when they winched a man down on the Waverley only to pick him up a few moment later. A day on the water filled with photography is what I like and of course it made me hungry as well, so I had a late lunch onboard before arriving back in Portsmouth. By then it was already getting dark and I went back to my hotel to download the photos and rest.
Day 12: Portsmouth
Today Louy and I had a day of Portsmouth and surroundings planned, I started at the Royal Garrison Church, a place that was closed for renovation on my last visit. This time I was able to make some nice shots of this historic church. Further visits took us around Old Portsmouth and Southsea to eventually end up back near Round Tower and Square Tower as my next drone flight as planned when the Bretagne arrived back in Portsmouth.
We only went out to dinner after that before I headed back to my hotel. I noticed that summer is really ending as the sun sets earlier than I expected by now.
Day 13: Last day in the UK
Today I was on my own most of the time, visiting the Spinnaker Tower and the rest of Gunwharf but also browsing the various shops at the Dockyards and doing some photo tour around the whole area in between. By late afternoon it was time to drive to the Passenger terminal where I would be getting ready to board Bretagne. Once onboard I prepared for another overnight crossing, had dinner in the Les Abers restaurant and exploring the rest of the ship until bedtime.
Day 14: Saint-Malo
Another early wake-up on a ship, this time what was probably my last time on Bretagne as she will be taken out of service in November with no news yet about her future. We arrived in Saint-Malo as scheduled and leaving the ship went quick and smooth. I knew a good place to park for free and see the ship docked so I went to the marina just opposite the terminal to see if I could launch the drone from there, Saint-Malo is hell for drones due to all the restricted zones, but I was allowed to fly there up to 45 meters, so when the Bretagne left again, my drone was in the air and I could take some nice shots of her again. The fog hadn't lifted yet which is very unusual but I went to Saint-Malo centre and by the time I was exploring the city, the weather had greatly improved, giving me the chance to photograph another unusual vessel, the “Etoile Du Roy”, formerly the Grand Turk.
She is a replica of an age of sail British 6th rate frigate, she is best known for her role in the Hornblower series where she was used to represent the HMS Indefatigable. Saint-Malo offered me a great view on surrounding landmarks, the outer walls of the city and the Ponant cruise ship “Le Dumont D' Urville”, anchored just outside Saint-Malo. In the late afternoon I went to my hotel, had dinner in a local Indian restaurant and spent the evening downloading all photos, compiling the last notes and writing these blogposts.
Day 15: Home
Breakfast in the hotel was good as always in Mercure hotels and I spent a few hours preparing the bags and the car, loaded with souvenirs and some presents, checked out and started my long drive back home. I stopped one more time for some last gifts and then only for coffee, dinner, fuel and after the occasional péage station arrived back home in the evening.
THE END
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