Marennes

September 10, 2019

A really lovely ride

Breakfast was at 8am and as we wanted to catch the 9am ferry we gave it a miss. It is a lovely peaceful ride of around 10km to the ferry through forest crossing and recrossing a little railway that takes tourists for a little jaunt to the port. We were just quietly riding along then across our paths kept a beautiful deer There were some cars already waiting and we were amazed how little it cost us for our tickets, only 7.20E for 2 people and 2 bikes. The bikes safely stowed up we went and got ourselves some breakfast of coffee and pastries (which cost much more than our fare). By the time 9am came it was quite full and off we went with a great view over the estuary - our fellow passengers included a number of dogs, one cute little one just had his tiny head sticking out of someone’s backpack and two cats, who didn’t seem to thing seagoing was their favourite thing.

No we are not suddenly in New York - Soulac sur Mer has a mini Statue of Liberty

Looking at the little harbour while we wait for the ferry to go

Arriving at Royan disembarkation we fast and furious, we followed the other cyclists, saw a couple of signs and were off at high speed. This was a beautiful area and we were making good progress till we realised we were heading back up the estuary towards Bordeaux. Never mind we saw that lovely port area with its beautiful old buildings for a second time. Getting out of Royan is a bit complicated, we were impressed by the beauty of the Belle Epoch houses. The town, I suppose rather like Auckland, seems to be all about the sea and we went through sea side suburb after sea side suburb. For the next part after clearing the town I rather felt I was a kid in a skate park. There would be one very steep downhill followed by an equally steep uphill - it was fun, there were many cyclists and lots stalling and were laughing. From there we rode along the most glorious coast with its miles of white sand, there were optimistic fishermen patiently sitting on rocks forever waiting. There were little inlets with people on jet skis buzzing around and more sedate boating though I didn’t see any yachts.

We were looking at this lighthouse from the other side of the estuary yesterday

At La Palmyre I felt in need at a break and a coffee stop - there was a lovely cafe so we sat and relaxed before continuing. The next part was over 20km through forest. The coast here is called the Coast Savage, sandy tracks were leading off the main paved track and you felt that at no time were you very far from the sea. The one criticism I would have of these cycleways is that there are very few seats and we began to feel we would like the bread,cheese and peaches which are our customary lunch. A small van had gained access to the cycleway and was feeding a group of cyclists on a guided tour a scurmptious looking lunch. But we are tough we rode on, a seat appeared and we ate our day old baguette.

We reached Rouce and saw the camping ground were we had camped in on an earlier trip. Then came my moment of glory. Crossing the estuary of the Seudre between Ronce and the outskirts of Marennes is a huge, high and very scary bridge. There was a brisk head/side wind and at the side a narrow bike track - the traffic was fast. Onto full power and yes I rode the whole way I was terrified but if I had walked, with the present state of my walking I would probably be still doing it. What a relief to reach the other side - Ken too I think felt somewhat relieved to see me there in one piece without having fallen of my bike.

Marennes is known as the ‘Cite de Huites’ (the city of oysters). here in the mouth of the Seudre there are perfect conditions for their culture with the correct mixture of salt and fresh water, there is so much aqua farming in the area. The usual sting in the tail finding our hotel but it even has BBC World and CNN to give Ken his fix

Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 2,139 km (1,328 miles)

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