Sandra and Baudouin Koerts

Cumul: 880 km

After a delicious lazy breakfast in the hotel lounge, we embark on the worst part of the itinerary. Worst in terms of landscape, of riding comfort, and of incredible noise level.
Though Fouras and Rochefort are real gems, and Châtelaillon is a sweet friendly place, cycling the Vélodyssée connecting them is a sad endeavour. From La Rochelle we travel through patchy parking lots and garbage collecting points to Angoulins. And from there along the railroad, to Châtelaillon where the promenade paved with names set in mosaics is refreshing to the romantic mind. Then we hit the sadest and most depressing marshland stuck between a very busy highway and the railroad. It is a comforting thought to know a place where to dispose of a body if needed. It is dry and yellow, and supposedly a birds reserve but how one can hear the birds here is a puzzle. The path is either very rough, either smooth on the surface but extremly bumpy. The sun is crushing this natural but unwelcoming environement, and it is impossible to stop to rehydrate ourselves without being massively attacked by mosquitoes!
By the time we reach Rochefort - which we love! - it is rush hour and we can’t wait to get away from all this traffic. The only matter of laugh will be cycling through “Petit Vergeroux” and “Grand Vergeroux”. “Roux” meaning “red headed” and “Verge” meaning “Dick”, it was difficult to ignore the full translation!
We choose the detour to skirt Rochefort and it is not something we would recommand. Even though Rochefort can be busy, the itinerary going to the beautifull station and along the Corderie Royale is a much better option and really worth it. The Corderie is an ensemble of very long white stone buildings where ropes were made for the French Royale Navy. It is now a good hotel and excellent restaurant, but also a museum and library. The place is right on the Charente river, an old ship building place, home port to a replica of Hermione (Lafayette’s ship sent to the help of the americans). Hermione is in Bayonne at the moment but we hope to see her as we will cycle around that shipyard further south.
The highlight of the day will be the Pont Transbordeur. Rochefort has definitely so much to offer… The hanging plateform is sliding from one bank to the other, enabling the crossing of the Charente without being an hindrance to the tall ships. The lovely 1900’ decor has been preserved in all its details, and it is a treat to go back in time for a few minutes.
After that the route is not very exciting but at least it is more human. The approach to Marennes, famous for its oysters, is more welcoming, with green salted marshes full of waterfowls songs and herds of long haired cows.
The offer in campgrounds and restaurants is overflowing in the high season, but today everything is closed… We decide to rally Ronce-les-Bains, a reknowed vintage bathing place, where we hope to get more options. There is a tiny boat to cross the Seudre till end of september but by the time we reach it it would be moored for the night. The huge bridge is facing us and we decide to climb it… It is long, high, big, windy, and the view is absolutely spectacular, as it runs above the estuary opening on the Ile d’Oléron, and is framed between the immersed oyster farms and the Domenial Forest of La Tremblade in front of us in the evening sun.
The campgroung has a few pitches for people arriving after hours (we called at 18h15 and it was already closed). The only two places open are a gastronomical restaurant, and we are definitly too tired for that, and a bar, where we drink a delicious local beer and share a croque-monsieur, a hot dog and a plate of ham with fries…Read more