We picked the wrong day for our first breakfast outside; a sea mist rolled in gobbling up the sunshine, just as we sat down to eat. Then it was sadly time to say goodbye to Le Bois Plage En Ré. Eileen took us further on down the island to Ars En Ré for a stroll around both sides of the village and port, both of which were far more lovely than the name suggests…..
After that we drove to Saint Clement des Baleines, parked, ate a baguette lunch and then cycled over to the lighthouse. We paid €3 to climb the 257 steps up the 55m high Phare des Baleines; my knees wished there was a lift. The scene from the top is splendid; 365˚ views over the Breton Straights, the Straights of Antioche, the Vendee coastline, the Atlantic Ocean and back over the Ile de Ré.
Rodney may be brilliant at keeping on the right side of the road when he’s driving (still absolutely no dramas there), but when he’s on a bicycle he keeps riding on the left. I’ve threatened him, if he doesn’t cycle on the right, the next car round the bend will make him mincemeat and I’ll use him for tonight’s pasta dish…..
Our next stop was right at the very end of the last road at Pointe du Fier. The car park had a 24 hour Aires de Service, so we chose to stay the night, along with eleven other happy campervans and to then travel back across the island to La Rochelle tomorrow. After dinner, with our now functioning Orange dongle, Rodney was able to check the cricket scores at Trent Bridge, so he’s a happy camper too…..
On Sunday after our first, rather quick on-board douche and some breakfast we drove the full length of the Ile de Ré back to the mainland. There was an enormous queue of traffic coming on to and across the island, thankfully all travelling in the opposite direction to us. It’s another public holiday tomorrow and we can certainly understand the island’s attraction.
We parked at Les Minimes Marina, in La Rochelle, which can apparently accommodate 3,200 sailing /motor boats. I’ve never seen so many boats all tightly packed in as far as the eye can see. We ate a huge paella at a restaurant in the Le Gabut area, right next to the Vieux Port. It was very tasty, but not as good as yours, Rosie, because we didn’t get any sticky bottom bits…..
Strolling for hours around the fortified port and the old town really did wear us out. So we headed back to Eileen, I picked some poppies and cornflowers that were growing next to her front wheels and we drove south down the coast.
We passed Rochefort, drove right through the centre of Saintes and on to Cognac. We had problems finding a campsite and ended up driving right past Cognac to a campsite on the river near the village of Bourg-Charente. I’ve saved a tiny jam jar and it is now full of flowers: purple clover, buttercups, daisies, cornflowers, poppies, grasses, etc.
Voilấ…I have decoration in our home and life is more beautiful for it.
Pics are awesome…but the thought of a “Rodney bolognaise” pasta dish is another story. Slap him around a bit and tell him to be careful not to end up as a hood ornament on a Citroen.