Asserac Rally June 2004 reported by Jenny Vowden


In May 2004 we set off from Torquay, to visit friends in Spain travelling through France and Andorra down to the coast to Denia where they lived. We set off in rain, had heavy snow in Andorra and thunderstorms in Denia, but then finally sunshine! After Denia we followed the coast as far as La Manga before turning inland over the Pyrenees and up the west  coast of France to join up with the POA Rally at Asserac  in Brittany run by Ronnie and Linda.

By now the weather was glorious so we were thankful that there was some shade on the rally fields and a very nice swimming pool.  85 members in 43 vans attended and Ronnie and Linda’s exceptional organising skills made for a very entertaining and well run rally.

We had two coach trips organised for us the first was around the beautiful Gulf of Morbihan, a visit to the medieval village of Rochfort en Terre and a lunch stop at the walled town of Vannes. Afternoon saw us board a boat across  to one of the islands in the Gulf before heading back to the site – the swimming pool being a big attraction!

On Saturday evening we all traipsed down to the local village hall where we were welcomed with a glass of bucks Fizz followed by a splendid buffet organised by Linda with a little help from her favourite supermarket!  We had a competition to guess the identity of the baby/childhood photo that we all had been asked to bring along to the rally, which caused a lot of hilarity. Next we were entertained by a group of Breton musicians and dancers all in traditional dress, and before long some of us were joining in! A great evening.

Our second coach outing, on the last day of the rally, took us first to the salt pans where we had a guided tour which proved to be  very interesting. Next we went to the fishing port of Le Croisic for lunch and finally to visit the ‘Blokhaus’ a war-time German fortification overlooking the mouth of the river Loire, built there to protect the U-boat pens at St. Nazaire. Today it is a museum of wartime memorabilia. Back at site it was another rush to the pool after a very hot but enjoyable day.

Huge thanks to Ronnie and Linda for all their hard work in making this a very enjoyable and memorable rally.

Most of us now were making our way to the Pilote Factory  Rally, the report of which you will find in the Archive.

Jenny