Charente-Maritime

The next day was really an exercise in getting from A to B so we knuckled down against a cold wind and headed for the bac ( ferry) to Royan. Along the way we stumbled across a camping store so Sally got a new self inflating airbed.

The ferry was uneventful and we found our way to our hosts for the night just outside Royan. The house is set in beautiful gardens with hens for eggs. Louis had warned us he was a hopeless cook so we stopped at a supermarket and stocked up to cook a repeat of 2 days ago – Lasagne and apple crumble.

Once again Sally excelled herself and we all enjoyed a real feast for the night.

The next morning I found a new home for the cloche ( bell) we found along side the road 2 days earlier. It is the same size ( and weight!) as the one which graces our front door at home ( 10cm diameter). Samuel, a friend of Louis was staying the night, and he collects bells so he was wrapped to have a new addition to his collection.

We made a late departure and followed the Vélodyssée 1 all the way to Saint-Nazaire-sur-Charente just west of Rochefort. The cycle trial winds its way through little seaside villages that could be any of the small bays on the North Shore of Auckland. Just beautiful. Then it would head inland by a 100 metres for kilometres, before popping back out at another bay or port.

After Marennes we had to follow the road and we found our way through some stunning old walled villages before arriving at our second camp ground for the trip. We had an early night as we had covered 65 kms into a stiff breeze and we were knackered.

Unfortunately we were awakened by shouting and cars revving at some ungodly hour of the night. We both slept much better with our new airbeds and slept in. At 9 am a local baker did his rounds of the campground. Quite a useful little side line really.

We headed for La Rochelle via Rochefort and found a cycleway which lead under the new bridge to an old hanging bridge. It was unfortunately closed for repairs so we had to remake our tracks and took on the new bridge with all its traffic. Half way up I was passed by a gentleman on a bike who, when he caught up to Sally, said ( in good English) almost there, only 200 m to go, giving her

encouragement along the way.

After the descent I caught up with him and asked him the best route to La Rochelle by bike. He lead us through town to the start of the Vélodyssée 1 again. We were very grateful as he saved us possibly an hour. The path was sometimes cycleway and sometimes we followed small roads along side the motorway that were not even on the map. We thanked him profusely.

At La Rochelle we found the local camp ground 500 m from the centre of town. Amazingly in the middle of the night we were awoken by lots of shouting and screaming which went on for about half an hour. Are we just unlucky or is it the norm at French camp grounds. I guess we will find out.

La Rochelle made its money from slavery. They loaded up with

trinkets at La Rochelle. Sailed to Africa where the sold the trinkets to buy slaves. Then across to the Caribbean to sell the slaves and buy sugar. Which was then sold in La Rochelle and the whole cycle started again. It was referred to as the slave triangle.

The town looks very rich and all the buildings are adorned with obvious signs of luxury. The harbour is just beautiful and we strolled around soaking up the atmosphere. There was a massive outdoor barometer attached to one of the houses, which must have cost a fortune when it was installed a hundred or so years ago.