From La Rochelle, with our new Competent Crew, aka the Pooles, aboard, we had an excellent sail from La Rochelle under the bridge connecting the Île de Ré to the mainland. To everyone's delight we were able to sail virtually the full distance; with a WSW wind varying force 3-5 (max 21.8 knots), we covered the 13 nm in 2.36 hours, maximum speed 8.7 knots and average 5.0 knots. This was pleasing despite the gloomy sky and occasional shower. Our spirits were undiminished as we entered the lovely harbour of St.Martin on the Île de Ré. You can see the ruined Citadel in the centre left of the photo below. Like so many other harbours in this area, Vauban was responsible for the fortifications on this island, and they are impressive, reminiscent of those in Berwick-on-Tweed. Of course here they were built to keep the English out. According to my sources (thanks Duncan), Vauban was responsible for 160 great fortifications along the borders of France, not a bad record for the 17th century. More information for those history buffs amongst you is available online Vauban, military architect
According to all the books, this picturesque little harbour gets very crowded at weekends, especially during the summer months so arriving on a Friday, we were prepared to be rafted up. As it happened the combination of poor weather and being quite early in season meant we were provided with a very comfortable alongside berth close to all the facilities (see Follyfin lower right corner below). The inner harbour dries but we stayed afloat in the locked harbour. Widely considered to be one of the most attractive harbours in West France, we well understand why. The island has hollyhocks scattered all over the place, which must look very pretty when in flower, and gorgeous little alleyways inviting further exploration.
There is also a daily market where all sorts of goodies can be found, including wonderful fresh fish and oysters ... talking of which we were delighted to sample some of the said shellfish on Saturday evening in a charming little restaurant whose speciality was the oyster. They had about a dozen different varieties, hot and cold, to choose from. Had Monsieur Le Patron not been so patient explaining them all to us, we may well have missed the experience of trying the 'Royale' which is grown just down the coast from here. Definitely less salty and more meaty than the equivalent no.3 size oyster ordinaire, 'twas a taste sensation! Managed to restrain ourselves from trying the Gillardeau oyster (named after the producer) which is purported to be the Rolls Royce of French oysters, with a price tag to match; apparently these ones are exported to Dubai.
Wonderful seascapes in this type of weather.
The weather at sea was not inviting, and we wished to explore the island anyway so we hired a couple of tandems, as one does ...
thereby fulfilling a lifetime's ambition for me. What I found rather disconcerting was being entirely unable to control the situation (as I was riding pillion) as well as being unable to see ahead! We survived, however, and enjoyed several hours riding along the cycle tracks beside the north coast all the way to Ars-en-Ré. And just to remove any nagging doubt, Ars is pronounced exactly as if it had an 'e' on the end! A fete in the town square was in full progress when we arrived so we spectated whilst enjoying ice cream - caramel au beurre salé being the popular flavour - before the return journey.
Sunday came all too quickly and it was time to return our crew to the mainland. Virtually no wind necessitated very slow progress back to La Rochelle. One last evening with Penny and Duncan was spent in the huge marina 'Les Minimes' built onto the outside of the coast about 5 km from the town centre. This marina is wall-to-wall masts, over 3000 boats being berthed here. Not our ideal overnight spot but very convenient for our crew to get back this morning to their camper van parked at a campsite only 6.4 km south of here. Sad to see them go indeed. Now to plan our next bit of exploration whilst lying to anchor this evening a few miles from here. Within the next few days we plan to go up the Charente river to Rochefort, which is the furthest south our current insurance allows us to go. In the meantime the weather is settled but in low pressure so cloudy and rather dull. Good time to get the chores done!
What a Royalle-ly good post! How much was the Gillardeau then? I'm a little surprised you didn't visit the Cognacq museum, but impressed with the tandem effort. What visit number is that from those Pooles? They'll need a frequent mariners pass at this rate!
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