Patagos on Ile d'Yeu

Life on this very small island just off the Vendée coast is slow ... normally. During a normal week in May there are a few visiting boats mainly containing retired people like us, some elderly land-based tourists, and perhaps a few young families with pre-school-age children. A few of these people hire bicycles to explore the island. Otherwise it's the local population and the little old fishermen in their tiny motor boats who predominate. That all changes on a sunny Saturday in May when a massive influx of kids of all ages arrive on the ferry from the mainland, here to terrorise the tiny tracks and roads on bicycles. Rarely, in fact never have we seen so many bike hire shops in such a small area, and indeed never seen quite so many humans so dead-set on self-destruction.

We had enjoyed a pleasant walk the day before, on the Friday: about 12 miles anti-clockwise round the north and west coasts of the island to the mid-point of Port La Meule on the south coast.

Having reached this tiny, picturesque harbour late in the afternoon, we just caught the last bus back to Port Joinville on the north coast where Follyfin was berthed. But it was a tiring walk, so we had determined to 'louer les bicyclettes' the following day since this seemed an attractive alternative for completing our circumnavigation of the island, using the extensive network of cycle tracks provided. That is until the spectacle described above greeted us on approaching the cycle hire shop on Saturday morning. Enough said - we caught the bus back to Port de La Meule and completed our tour on foot!

We felt we had earned a meal out that night. On a recommendation we headed for Chez Martin, a small créperie on a back street. They don't take reservations and when we arrived shortly after 8p.m. it was full. Luckily we only had to wait 5 minutes but the couple who arrived just after us were told to return in half an hour. The photo below shows the main reason why this place is so popular - just about everyone there was ordering the island speciality, Patagos, in one form or another. And people were still arriving at 9.30p.m. when we left.

Patagos are a variety of shellfish similar to cockles, and they are scrumptious! Skipper in 7th heaven as the ones we chose were swimming in cream and garlic ... well I suppose we had earned it after walking about 12 miles round the north coast of the island!

What did we see on our circumperambulation? Quite a lot as it happens, apart from beautiful views over rocky coastline and sandy beaches. There were many lovely holiday homes and cottages,

ancient winding gear for drawing up fishing boats to the beach,

prehistoric structures such as this one, Dolmen de la Planche à Puare, thought to be from about 4000 B.C. (gee, those Neanderthals must have been short ...)

and views of offshore rocks, severe hazards to seafarers before the days of maritime markers, this one we had sailed past the previous day (and by popular request, includes a shot of moi, your blogger), not to mention imaginative methods of preventing fishing boats from floating off to sea ...

Then there was the massive concrete crucifix on the Pointe du Châtelet and across the inlet from it, Le Vieux Chateau, built in the 11th century and thought to be a pirates' lair, it rises up out of the rock; one hesitates to speculate on the number of local lives lost in the building of such a structure.

Continuing along the south coast we came across Gandalf's bridge over the Chasm of Doom (you remember, the one he fell into) and passed a couple of gorgeous beaches, including the one we anchored off on last Wednesday night (Plage des Vieilles).

Finally it was time to leave, so at dawn on Sunday we set sail again, turning south and east, bound for our next destination, Les Sables d'Olonne. The wind dwindled almost to zero after only a few hours so, always reluctant to use the engine, it was a long day. Arriving at the Quai Garnier about 17:00, it was hot and windless - our first taste of the southern summer. Supper on deck for the first time this season, looking out towards the town of La Chaume just across the river - magic.

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