Brittany, to me, means family holidays. In a faded photo album somewhere at home there’s a record of the summers I spent there as a child with my parents, grandparents and two sisters – racing around on a beach under thunderous skies; long, messy picnic lunches; a tangle of tanned limbs packed into an old Volvo.
Over 30 years later I’m back with partner Will and 18-month-old Betsy at La Maison des Lamour, a 15th-century farmhouse with five B&B rooms and four self-catering cottages near Plélo, 15 minutes’ drive from the north coast and three hours from Cherbourg. (We chose a three-hour daytime ferry crossing from Portsmouth – a sleepless night with a child on an overnight ferry is no way to start a holiday.)
Run by Céline Lamour (who has lived on the farm all her life), her husband Marc and her two sisters, the place prides itself on being family-friendly. Our cottage, a converted forge, has plenty of space for Betsy’s toys. Old hardbacks line the shelves, vintage wooden toys dangle above the woodburner and the kitchen opens on to a (fenced-in) balcony with views down the valley. A spiral staircase (with stairgate) leads to two bedrooms in the eves (a travel cot is provided). The slate bathroom’s giant doubled-ended bath is big enough for three.
The next morning, we meet Marc in the breakfast room – a converted barn around which the cottages cluster. Self-catering and B&B guests alike are welcome to eat (breakfast can also be delivered to the cottages) – useful if you arrive too late to stock up. We teach Betsy to say bonjour to Marc – which she duly repeats whenever we bump into him. “Bacon and eggs?” he suggests. “We are not so far from the UK, after all …”
A €10 breakfast (€5 for children) comprises croissants and fresh bread, homemade jam, yoghurt and apple juice from their orchard, as well as their own eggs, and bacon from their sister’s farm up the road.
A five-minute stroll away, down a hazel and beech-lined lane, lies Au Char a Bancs, a converted watermill, which the Lamours run as a rustic restaurant, and a shop full of beautiful things – from cooking utensils and farm products to wind-up toys. We pass shetland ponies grazing and spot tadpoles in the river shallows. There’s a wooden fort, built for Céline and her sisters by their father, and outsize wooden chairs and benches provide look-out points over the 30-hectare plot.
Plenty of trips lie within a shortish drive – so activities can be planned around nap and meal times. An hour north, for example, is Cap Fréhel, a windswept peninsula with views over the Emerald Coast and Channel Islands: here we cross a drawbridge to 14th-century Fort-la-Latte. We explore the crenellations and turrets as sea foam is blown up over the walls and Betsy squeals with delight. On a warm Tuesday in early June, the nearby beach at Sables-d’Or-Les-Pins is virtually empty – just one nordic walker shares the sand with us, and Betsy busies herself collecting shells.
On our way home we stop in Erquy, a fairly unremarkable port town with excellent fishmongers. A tub of fresh brandade (pureed potato and salt cod), heated and served with a pile of green veg, makes a great supper.
The following day, we drive 30 minutes in the other direction to 13th-century Abbaye de Beauport. We wander the grounds, salt marshes, woodlands and rose gardens, and picnic on bread, cheese and Breton prune cake in the cherry orchard. For €12 (€8 for children) Marc and Céline will pack a hamper of rillettes and bread, crisps, cider, coffee and dessert.
Car-free Ile de Bréhat is close by, so with Betsy snoozing, we drive to Pointe de l’Arcouest and buy tickets for the next ferry crossing. It’s a funny place, with rolling moorland and pink granite outcrops. What it lacks in cars, it makes up for in tractors – many a toddler’s favourite mode of transport.
For days when we don’t want to leave the farm, or cook – the restaurant, run by the three sisters, is open for lunch and dinner throughout July and August (except Tuesdays). There are basically two choices on the menu: galettes (from about €5), savoury buckwheat crepes that make perfect finger-food for toddlers; and potée de Plélo (€17.80), a stew of home-produced pork and vegetables, cooked for five hours in a cauldron in the centre of the room. Dining en famille is clearly the whole point here – bunches of colouring pens hang on hooks and there are rows of vintage high chairs.
Older children can enjoy pony and pedalo rides here too, while adults sip a café gourmand (espresso with petits fours) on a lawn flanked by towering foxgloves. Packing up at the end of our stay, we tell Marc we’ll be back, then clip Betsy into her car seat. “Bye bye, bonjour,” she whispers.
• The trip was provided by Brittany Tourism . Rooms at La Maison Des Lamour (+33 2 96 79 51 25) cost from €82 a night B&B, self-catering cottages from €515 a week. Brittany Ferries provided the Portsmouth-Cherbourg crossing (from £79 one way for a car and two passengers), brittany-ferries.co.uk
