A cool choice in a heatwave
AND SAMPLES ‘LA VIE BELLE’
AS WE drove onto the Quiberon peninsula in bright, hazy early afternoon sunlight, it shimmered in the early summer heatwave. While the Atlantic Ocean’s cooling winds took the edge off the temperatures that were hitting 40°C elsewhere in France, it seemed unthinkable that the surfers dotting our roadside view still felt the need for wetsuits as we baked in the heat.
Yet, in the shimmering summer sun, it was hard to imagine a better place to savour the warmth being blown our way by African winds.
The nine mile-long Quiberon peninsula sticks out into the Bay of Biscay, buffeted on its western side – the Côte Sauvage – by the winds of the Atlantic, which bring people for the sea and kite surfing. Horse riding and watersports activities, such as paddle boarding, were well in evidence during our time on the sands.
On the calmer eastern coast – it forms one side of Quiberon Bay, sheltered by a cluster of towns, including the picturesque St-PierreQuiberon – families use the beaches for swimming, relaxing and less hectic pastimes than those of the Côte Sauvage.
It would be difficult to find two more contrasting stretches of coastline so close together as, at its narrowest, the Quiberon Peninsula is only 20 or so metres wide.
Our base was the Siblu holiday village Le Conguel, to the east of the town of Quiberon at the southern tip of the peninsula.
Le Conguel is a modern site catering mostly for those wanting a high-end mobile home to stay in, but there are a limited number of pitches for motorhomes.
It has a pool, bar/restaurant complex and a shop which sells the essentials, including bread and croissants for breakfast.
The restaurant is excellent, doing brilliant thin crust pizzas and a formidable ‘entrecôte-frites’, the steak dinner which is the measuring stick of any French bistro. Judging by those around us, the ‘moules-frites’ – mussels and chips – another bistro staple, were also up to snuff.
Le Conguel’s situation is its main strength: a few metres from the front gate are some great beaches and walks which will keep even the most active of families entertained.
The town, with a selection of restaurants, supermarkets and shops, is a couple of minutes away by car, or 20 minutes on foot.
It’s like a modern Cornish seaside town, where high-end art galleries,
travelled to Siblu’s Le Conguel holiday village on the Brittany coast. Seven-night holidays start from £623, based on up to six sharing a two-bedroom Elegance holiday home with terrace from June 20, 2020.