Tag Archives: cycling

Day 15 – L’Houmeau to Ronce Les Bains

2 Replies

(93km)

Today I woke up in a very good mood and I already knew it would be a good day. I had a whole baguette for breakfast, along with cheese, a very strong salami and another smoked sausage I had for a couple of days.

La Rochelle in the morning

La Rochelle in the morning

I made my way to the south through the nice city of La Rochette. For one more time I got lost trying to get out of the city as expected.

To the next destination via a cycle path

To the next destination via a cycle path

Luckily for most of the day, I managed to ride on tarmac cycle paths, going from one city to another. Once more though, the wind was blowing against my direction. I always though that in general the wind on the northern hemisphere goes from north to south. Maybe I am unlucky, maybe that’s my training for the Pyrennese.

That's Jim and his friends.

That's Jim and his friends.

A rathen different canal

A rathen different canal

One of Rochefort squares.

One of Rochefort's squares.

For lunch I stoped at Rochefort where I had some amazing take away pasta that kept me going for the rest of the day. The city itself looked very interesting, with rather nice old buildings and many young people. To leave the city, I crossed a bridge and had to head a little to the north to go through the small villages to avoid the highway.

Another bridge to cross

Another bridge to cross

That’s when the nice surprise of the day appeared. Brouage appeared in the map just like a small square shaped village, but when I entered a big gate to go through it, I realized it’s a big fortress. I couldn’t just bypass it, so I had a short break to walk around its walls. All the houses within the fortress were very small and cosy, surrounded by nice cobbled streets and pavements.

The fortress of Brouage

The fortress of Brouage

The inside of the fortress

The inside of the fortress

sunflowers

sunflowers

After the next city of Marennes, I crossed yet another bridge for the little resort town called Ronce les-Bains, where I chose one of the many camp sites to spend the night. I have to say, there is the island of Oleron just a few kilometers on the north which is also connected by a bridge to the mainland, but I think I’ll skip it and continue south tomorrow through the forest of Coubre.

The last bridge of the day

The last bridge of the day

Today I completed my first 1000 kilometers! Another couple to go…

A banana for celebration of the 1000th kilometer.

A banana for the celebrations.

Day 13 – Les Sambles to L’Houmeau

2 Replies

(109km)
By 8.30am I was on the road, starting my day with a pain du chocolate and an unknown type of very sugary baguette that I managed to finish in two goes.
I continued cycling south and the scenery was pretty much the same all the way through. Widely spread coastal resort towns by the ocean with nothing special to see, apart from the occasional topless granny and her minuscule dog.

Decayed joyland

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

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.

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.

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

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.