Days 49-50. 79km (85966kms 8yrs)
A day off in La Rochelle gave me a morning of good weather for exploring and a rainy afternoon of admin catchup. The next morning following Thierry’s advice I followed the Eurovelo route with a couple of his alterations. It was a drizzly grey day but with the wind down I resolved not to grumble about the weather.
Stopping first in Rochefort I had a little look around the town and the old marine arsenal. It’s a nice looking place but pales in comparison to La Rochelle so I scooted around a bit waiting for the transporter bridge at the south of town to reopen from lunch. Here, for a couple of euros you can skip 3kms of unpleasant bridge and take the transbordeur across the river. Despite the constant drizzle it was still a fun little trip.
Another of Thierry’s recommendations was to abandon the eurovelo south of Rochefort and head to the little fortified village of Brouage. Now 2 and half kilometres from the sea it had been a busy port back in the day and home of Samuel de Champlain remembered either as the “Father of New France” or coloniser of Canada depending on your perspective.
All day the route had been utterly flat – bridges being the only climbs – and now I rounded the headland (the upper lip if you see France as a dismayed face looking to the left as I do). The Eurovelo bike path cuts through an enormous forest here so after a few kilometres I selected a track off the main trail, far away from the nearest road access and headed down to the beach. Hoofing Gibbo up a sand dune I found a nice patch with fantastic views of what turned out – against all odds – to be a spectacular sunset. As I pitched the tent a patrol boat appeared to be investigating me (coast guard?) while a few surfers bobbed about in the water until dusk, apart from that I was utterly alone with the sound of the waves.
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4 Comments
„Red sky at night, sailor’s delight" should work for cyclists also 🙂
Worth the slog over the dunes, lovely camping site and sunset .🚴♀️
That was a spectacular sunset! What a fabulous way to end your day. Sunset, wine, blue cheese with a baguette; can’t get any better than that. 😊🫶🏼
Good to see that bridge. I was there when it was being repaired. Cobblestones, I know what they are like to cycle on in Portugal. Nice sunset.