Soulac-sur-Mer

Cumul: 941 km

We wake up at 5h30 with the garbage collecting truck right behind the hedge, and doze off again till daylight. The camping office will open at 9h30, and we still need to settle our bill. Meanwhile we explore Ronce-les-Bains. It is charming and the gardens are mature, with tall seafront pinetrees, unpretentious houses. The center is a long stretch of cafés and restaurants, but though it is market day, not a single one is open! We get a delicious “tresse au chocolat”, also called a “Suisse”, and sit on a bench facing the Ocean.
The itinerary ahead of us is one of the most beautiful of the whole trip. Through the forest, along the beach, we reach the Garonne Estuary at low tide. The colors are vivid, stripes of water reflecting the sky, bright green waterplants exposed, the path is bringing us to a series of varied viewpoints and a red painted lighthouse. We round the headland and finally grab a coffee after 21km, and a crêpe as it is now lunch time!
We need to rush for the ferry. Now…. How can that be connected to our laundry? I will explain…
To buy a token for the laudry, one needs to do so while the campground office is open..
And starting a washing cycle after 9h30 would mean taking the 16h15 ferry, which would bring us after closing time to our next camping… So we need to get the 14h30 ferry, to get to our next camping in time to buy a token to make the laundry there!
In Pornic, the laundry room was fully automated with credit card payement and washing product in the machine. It made it a lot easier.
Cycling through St Palais and Royan is very scenic, hilly, sunny, happy. The vibe is really pleasant. We do catch the ferry on time and relax on the sundeck. The South bank appears like a tropical island, with black painted poles reducing the width of the entrance, splashes of deep and bright green vegetation protecting wood painted houses from the sun.
Soulac is equally exciting, with a mexican/cuban feel to its old center, and a beautiful endless waterfront. Houses are small, in individual tiny gardens with low hedges. No picture unfortunately as we expected to be back in the evening, and our priority at the moment is to be on time to buy a laudry token…
We head towards L’Amélie, the neighborhood where all the campings are, but the closest to town are for camper vans only, or turn us down when they hear we are with bikes…
We finally find a pitch 5km away from Soulac, can’t manage to have the dryer working properly and leave all our cloths hanging while having a gastronomical dinner in the only restaurant around.Read more