Decayed joyland

A little more interesting town I went through was Talmont Saint Hilaire which had more character and a castle from the 11th century.

11th century castle

It also had a big petrol station along with a car wash, where by using my perfect by now french, I managed to convince them to let me use their pressure water spray to clean my bike. After 12 days on the road through many dusty cycle paths, my bike was full of dirt and mud. After the wash, all the wierd sounds from the chain disappeared and the ride was once again smooth and more enjoyable.

The freshly washed bike, ready for a few more thousand kilometers.

As I approached La Tranche, I went into the supermarket for picnic supplies and to look once more for that stove I need. This time they had the two different types of gas tanks, but none of the burners. I had my lunch by the beach under a tiny patch of shade. At least the wind from the ocean kept me very cool. After lunch, book reading, a short siesta and an ice cream, I departed for the last part of today’s ride.

That's a big water tank and one of the interesting things of the day.

It was hot all day long, but I don’t mind while cycling as the air cools me down and as long as I drink pleanty of water everything is ok. For about 10km I was heading north and I noticed that I could effortlessly reach speeds of 40km/hr but that was of course because of the strong tail wind pushing me. Then there was a big U turn and about 25km in the opposite direction and for about 2 hours I was strugling to cycle over 15km/hr. The wind along with temperatures sometimes above 35, made it one of the toughest rides I’ve done so far in the trip. As a teenager I used to hate the wind because it was messing up my carefully styled hair before school. Now I hate when it is on my face as it makes my ride harder.

Fighting with the wind

I guess with all that struggle I should have found a camp site on the way and call it a day. But what I wanted was to get as close as possible to La Rochelle, but not inside, as it will probable be a lot more expensive. Tomorrow I am taking the day off, so I’ll be close enough to go and visit the city and I will also have the opportunity to cross the bridge to the opposite island de Re. I also need the next map and a banana to celebrate.

Some of the nice alleys in Noiremoutier

Today I though I should try having something heavier for breakfast. So after I packed my stuff, I went to Noiremoutier’s old port and I had some of yesterday’s picnic leftovers. Some tomatoes, cheese and smoked sausage. I think it works better for a good morning start, as by noon I had already covered 40km, which helped to spread the distance along the duration of the day.

On the way to exit Noiremoutier

This time I left the island not by the Gois passage, but by the normal bridge. From the top there was an amazing view of the island, the countryside and the ocean.

On top of the bridge looking at the island

Just after I descented the bridge, I noticed a cycle path which I followed. It was not on tarmac, but cement covert with very fine sand which was good enough for my thin tires. The ride was within a dense forest of pine trees. It’s been the last couple of days that I’ve been noticing more and more pines, which is an indication that I am making some progress to southern climates. After about 10km, the road became to rocky so I abandoned it for the smoother and faster road.
By lunch time, I bought a bread stuffed with cooked onions, something that I had never tried before and I really liked, which I had by the ocean, where I had my break to read my book.
My next stop for ice cream was Saint Giles, which as a summer resort town was very spread out and looked a little deserted. The only interesting thing I saw was a preparation for some kind of cycling event. The road was full of cyclists warming up for the start, wearing their colourful clothes and riding their high-tech bikes. It’s very common than people that see me on the road will stare at me and say bonjour or something, but most of these cyclists only checked what bike I was riding and moved on.

Unknown cycling event

Leaving the town, I noticed another cycle path, which this time took me through the coast, within sand dunes next to the beaches. Today it was hot, so the whole area was rather busy with people enjoying the sun, swimming and also surfers in the ocean’s waves. I really enjoy these cycling paths, even if they are a lot slower to ride and indirect, as you feel closer to the nature, you see more interesting landscapes and you don’t have to worry about traffic. I just need to find a way to wash my bike, as it is now covered in mud and dust.

Endless beaches

I got to Sables, my final destination a little early, so my priority was to go to a cafe by the beach with wifi and update my facebook statues. By the time I was done, it was a 8pm, so I quickly looked for something to eat as I still had to look for a camping site. Luckily in the restaurant I met the french couple sitting next to me and they kindly helped to locate the closest one. They also bought me the dessert as they liked the idea of me cycling all the way to Greece. To be honest, I didn’t get to see much of the town, apart from the fact that has a very long beach, in front of massive appartment buildings, which I don’t find very tasteful.

The packed beach at Sables

This time I woke up and got ready very early, as I was keen on covering some distance. I had my breakfast and started cycling to the south via the coastal towns of the area.
The first interesting place I saw, was Saint Gildas, which has a few remaining WWII bunkers overlooking the Atlantis ocean. I had the chance to go into one of them and it was amazing how thick the walls and the ceiling were. But I guess their job is to be strong.

It seems that it was that day of the week and I saw many markets on local streets in different towns. I started buying various goods for my midday picnic which I had in Pornic. Pornic is a very nice little town and is located exactly where the Canal de Haute Perce meets the sea.

After eating my pate and cheese, I had pleanty of energy to cycle until the evening. In Bourgneuf after visiting the local tourist office I decided to spend the night in Noirmoutier, which is an island close to the mainland. This island is connected via a bridge and also another road which is rather interesting. What is so interesting about it, is the fact that the road is submerged under the sea water for most of the time, but during low tide drivers have a window of about an hour and a half to cross these 5 kilometers. Luckily the timing was perfect when I got there. I only had to wait ten minutes half way through the road, in order to avoid getting my socks wet. It was very strange cycling so close to the water and the whole scenery was something I’ve never seen before. Next to the road, many people were taking the opportunity to go to the freshly revealed sand, to search and collect oysters for their dinner.

Passage du Gois

Salt... loads of it

Traditional fishing hut

Roadkill, I saw hundreds of them on the way to Noirmoutier

When I got to the island, I started looking for a camp site and I knew there are pleanty as it is a very poppular destination. But of course, something that didn’t really come to my mind beforehand, is that because of its popularity everything would be a lot more expensive. After visiting about three of them, I found a municiapl one which is cheaper than anything else and stayed there for the night.

Noirmoutier

]]> http://blog.ch3.gr/day-11/feed/ 1 http://blog.ch3.gr/day-10/ http://blog.ch3.gr/day-10/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:23:16 +0000 Georgios http://blog.ch3.gr/?p=324 Today I woke up late and decided to take the day off again even if I wasn’t really planning to. It was a sunny morning and a good opportunity for a general laundry. I had also run out of map, so needed to get a new one for ‘Pay de la Loire‘.

Marion, me and Aline

Last night I met two German girls that they were on a cycle tour as well. In the morning when I got out of the tent they kindly invited me to have breakfast with them. Aline and Marion started their tour about ten days ago from Orlean and did the whole cycle route that goes next to the Loire Canal. It’s the second time cyclists suggest me that I need do this route as it is very beautiful with very nice villages and many castles on the way. After a long discussion with them and seeing their photos, I started seriously thinking of making a long detour to my trip and cycle over that route, but in the end I decided against it. It would need at lest a full week and I would sacrifice other places I want to visit. Maybe that’s a good reason to come back one day.
After breakfast, I did my laundry and headed for the town to look for the map. I also looked for a gas burner as that’s something that I am still missing. But how stupid, the only supermarket in town that had them, didn’t have the correct type of gas canister to go with them. So I am still unable to cook my own meals and prepare a cup of tea in the mornings.
After a short visit to a cafe for some internet access, I spend the rest of the day in the beach. It was probable the first time that I actually relaxed so much. I even started reading that book that I’ve been carring all these days with me, which I already really enjoy.

The endless beach in front of the campsite

Kite surfers after a hard day at work

For the night, me and the two girls had reserved some peaella in the camp site’s animation evening. As far as I understood, they are calling animation all sorts of etertainment events for kids and famillies. I think it’s very common some French famillies will keep revisiting the same camping, where they know each other very well. The food and the wine were good but when the French people all started singing and dancing their own special music, we politely dissapeared.

Crazy local