19 - 24 June
Island Life
The Ile de
Noirmoutier was the first of the islands we visited. We travelled to the far
end to l’Herbaudiere, where there is a huge municipal site situated close to
the coastal path and surrounded on three sides by the sea. The marked pitches are a bit haphazard – adds
to the charm perhaps?! - but we managed to find a fairly level pitch.
There is no shade, which was unfortunate as the high temperatures continued. It’s a short stroll to the village centre and harbour area. After relaxing in the evening sunshine on Monday, we unstrapped the bikes the next morning for a cycle ride. The 20 km circular route took us alongside sand dunes and through woods then around an area of salt marsh into Noirmoutier, the islands “capital”, where we had a delicious “menu de jour”. This area has a significant salt producing industry and we were saw many mounds of salt drying in the sunshine.
On Wednesday we retraced our steps to the “mainland” then drove south past La Rochelle and onto the Ile de Re, across another spectacular bridge. We had selected a site at St Clement des Baleines, at the tip of the island, from where we took an evening stroll past the old lifeboat station to the Phare de Baleines, the towering lighthouse which marks the northern tip of the island but is now an historic monument.
Although the site was very nice we realised it was a little bit too remote to give us easy access to some of the more interesting places to visit so we decided to head back down the island. It came as quite a surprise when the next site we tried to book into was full! Probably because it was close to the popular St Martin de Re. However, it wasn’t a problem to find an alternative at La Couarde. The Ile de Re has an amazing, well-signed network of cycle paths and we set off to explore the villages of La Couade and Le Bois Plage, with their cobbled centres. It had struck us how Mediterranean the architecture had become south of the Loire; whitewashed buildings with their coloured shutters and wavy, terracotta tiled rooves. Another cycle ride took us to the popular town of St Martin, where, like Honfleur, the old port area is now lined with restaurants, as can be seen from the church tower.
We walked around part of the town walls to the old citadel. This housed the prison from which convicts were shipped out to the penal colony of Devil’s Island in the Caribbean. You can see names and dates carved in the stone walls, made by the convicts with their chains as they awaited transportation.
We hopped on the bikes one more time to go to Ars, passing the salt marshes and spotting birds which we think were black-winged stilts (will have to check with Barbara and Clive!!); a substantial amount of salt is produced around here. A number of individual salt producers sell their product outside the premises and we were particularly amused by the “self-service” kiosk that we passed today. Not only did it have an honesty box in which to place payment, but also a tray of change!
The areas around the old port and the market were bustling, but the centre of the town near the distinctive black and white steeple of the church was surprisingly quiet.
I am not a market fan (even in the UK) but we decided to get our fruit and veg from one the stalls. All went well until madame asked for what seemed to me an excessive sum, which I paid, rather than querying the bill and testing my French further. Back at the bikes, however, we realised we hadn’t picked up the strawberries I had paid for so I returned to the stall to collect them and also summoned up the courage to query the total. With a little assistance from a French and English speaking bystander, madame agreed she had made a mistake and gave me a refund. Result!
We made the most of the continuing hot and sunny weather relaxing outside during the afternoon, in readiness for striking camp first thing next morning.
On Wednesday we retraced our steps to the “mainland” then drove south past La Rochelle and onto the Ile de Re, across another spectacular bridge. We had selected a site at St Clement des Baleines, at the tip of the island, from where we took an evening stroll past the old lifeboat station to the Phare de Baleines, the towering lighthouse which marks the northern tip of the island but is now an historic monument.
Although the site was very nice we realised it was a little bit too remote to give us easy access to some of the more interesting places to visit so we decided to head back down the island. It came as quite a surprise when the next site we tried to book into was full! Probably because it was close to the popular St Martin de Re. However, it wasn’t a problem to find an alternative at La Couarde. The Ile de Re has an amazing, well-signed network of cycle paths and we set off to explore the villages of La Couade and Le Bois Plage, with their cobbled centres. It had struck us how Mediterranean the architecture had become south of the Loire; whitewashed buildings with their coloured shutters and wavy, terracotta tiled rooves. Another cycle ride took us to the popular town of St Martin, where, like Honfleur, the old port area is now lined with restaurants, as can be seen from the church tower.
We walked around part of the town walls to the old citadel. This housed the prison from which convicts were shipped out to the penal colony of Devil’s Island in the Caribbean. You can see names and dates carved in the stone walls, made by the convicts with their chains as they awaited transportation.
We hopped on the bikes one more time to go to Ars, passing the salt marshes and spotting birds which we think were black-winged stilts (will have to check with Barbara and Clive!!); a substantial amount of salt is produced around here. A number of individual salt producers sell their product outside the premises and we were particularly amused by the “self-service” kiosk that we passed today. Not only did it have an honesty box in which to place payment, but also a tray of change!
The areas around the old port and the market were bustling, but the centre of the town near the distinctive black and white steeple of the church was surprisingly quiet.
I am not a market fan (even in the UK) but we decided to get our fruit and veg from one the stalls. All went well until madame asked for what seemed to me an excessive sum, which I paid, rather than querying the bill and testing my French further. Back at the bikes, however, we realised we hadn’t picked up the strawberries I had paid for so I returned to the stall to collect them and also summoned up the courage to query the total. With a little assistance from a French and English speaking bystander, madame agreed she had made a mistake and gave me a refund. Result!
We made the most of the continuing hot and sunny weather relaxing outside during the afternoon, in readiness for striking camp first thing next morning.
