August 24, 2013
La Rochelle to Rochefort: Am easy day
We woke this morning to hear the wind whistling, not the best sound when you are cycle touring. It must have been our lucky day as we had a powerful tail wind most of the day. I was particularly sorry for one heavily laden girl coming in the opposite direction she looked exhausted and was making little progress.
We followed the official track all day and unlike yesterday it was fantastic, well signed, nearly all paved and taking us through interesting countryside. At first it was along beaches but these on the whole tended to be wilder than the ones we had seen previously. At Angoulins there was a huge group of people playing in the wind. They were kite surfing, leaping about on the rough Atlantic and at times going quite high into the air. The young man I spoke to said that it would be better this afternoon as the wind would have dropped a little and they would have been able to go higher. Apart from this there were only a few brave souls swimming. The temperature was very warm but the wind fierce. When we stopped for coffee we had it inside so as not to have it blown over.
At the end of the beaches the track went a bit inland and followed a large 2 lane road but was always far enough away from it to be largely protected from the awful roar of traffic. Arriving in Rochefort we had our usual hunt for first the Information de Tourisme then our pre booked hotel. Our room wasn’t ready so we got out our folding chairs and had a picnic. The hotel is near the Pont Transbordeur which takes cyclists and pedestrians to the other side of La Charente. It is a strange contraption built at the end of the 19th century, cage like and doing the job of a ferry which is not possible here because of the enormous tides. Tomorrow we will take it as we progress along the coast.
Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 1,570 km (975 miles)
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