Two day break-- La Rochelle and l`Ile d`Oleron.

We had decided to have a little break, and to visit La Rochelle and the Ile d`Oleron, staying, as usual in the Formule 1 Hotels. We have always found these clean and cheap, the sole disadvantage is that the showers and toilets are on the landing near the room. Still. as the new publicity states, they are probably nearer than our bathroom at home!

   Our neighbours Ian and Sarah kindly agreed to feed the cats and ducks and we took the dogs with us as they are well used to living in the car when we are on tour. Normally when we go away, we pack everything the day before, this time we needed far less equipment and threw it hurriedly in the car on the morning of our departure on Wednesday. The only thing we forgot was Kim`s sun hat, not bad!
   We were away by 1030 a bit later than planned. The GPS chose a strange route, going West nearly to  St Jean d`Angély, then North nearly to Niort before adopting the usual route from there. Must plot it out on the map to see if perhaps it does make sense, but it was very picturesque anyway on a lovely sunny morning when we were not in a hurry. Talking of the sun, we had beautiful weather both days, as the sun seems to shine on the righteous! Dont bother to remind me of the other half of this saying....
  The Formule 1 for La Rochelle is located at Angoulins-sur-mer a few k`s towards Rochefort. We located it and signed in with zero fuss, they are all the same wherever you are. Dull, perhaps, but you know in advance what you are getting. Then we went out to explore around Angoulins.
But first we had rather a strange lunch. We went up to a little sandwicherie in the local shopping mall, and chose filled baguettes, Kim`s were cheese and ham, mine chicken and salad. The server handed over our coffee straightaway, but retained the two baguettes for a moment. She then inserted them in a sort of guillotine and pulled down the cover. They emerged piping hot and tiger-striped!  Delicious but unexpected...
   We had seen on the map a Nature reserve a few k`s towards Rochefort, and went to have a look. A bit of a disappointment-- it really WAS a nature reserve, i.e. reserved for ducks and geese and prohibited for humans and dogs!We consulted the map again and went on to Fourras, which turned out a pretty little coastal town, the embarcation point for the ferry to the Ile d`Aix. It also has a little castle, constructed by that indefatigable coastal fortifier, Vauban, and even a railway station, though possibly not for long-distance travel!

   Also, much in evidence were establishments for growing and collecting coquillages, oysters, mussels etc. I went down onto the beach to snap the picturesque fishing cabins, and the foreshore was littered with oyster-shells. We had a good walk with the dogs along the track above the beach. You could even see Fort Boyard in the distance.
   After that, we returned, tired and slightly sunburnt, to our hotel for a shower, and later for our traditional meal at the local MacDonalds, which we could reach on foot by crossing some roads, although we had the strong suspicion that we were the first people that had ever done so...And so to bed.

  The next day, after stuffing ourselves as full as possible with the `unlmited` breakfast we set out to visit the Ile d`Oléron. After turning off the Rochfort road, we headed down towards the Charente, into the marais. We started to see storks flying across, and then, to our surprise we saw that they had built their nests on the high-tension electricity pylons! There was a stretch where every pylon had a huge nest with a sitting stork, there really doesn`t seem to be any shortage of these huge birds, unless, of course, they start to `short` out the power.. I would not have believed it unless I had seen it! I stopped to take a photo, not good, but incontravertible evidence.

  We crossed the causeway onto the Ile d`Oléron  and Kim suggested we drive round the coast to get an overview. The island really has two industries, oysters and mussels, and holidays in the form of holiday cottages and campsites. Nevertheless it is attractive with lots of fishing ports and plenty of woods into which the crowds at the bridge end quickly disappear. We decided to head for some pine-woods near Boyardville, the nearest land to the celebrated Fort. We parked in a shady clearing and took the nearest footpath, which by a happy coincidence led to the beach opposite the Fort.The dogs were delighted to be able to play on the almost deserted beach,each in their own fashion. Jilly plunging into the sea, Toffee walking along the edge and paddling, skipping aside when the foam threatened to damp his tummy, and Laika watching the waves from a prudent distance with deep suspicion. Jilly also took the opportunity to eat three decaying starfish corpses which led to a deplorable accident the next morning after we had returned home...

  From here we went on to see the impressive lighthouse at Chassiron on the end of the island. Unfortunately it had been affected by subsidence and Kim had to push it back up...
  Finally, we had a huge pizza for a late lunch and returned home via St Jean d`Angle to prevent any fantaisies on the part of the GPS and to see more storks and herons in the marshes before the town.
  We arrived back tired and slightly sunburnt after an extremely pleasant two days. We count ourselves most fortunate to live in a region where there is so much to visit and to enjoy.

  By for now, got to get Kim up soon, we`re going to a book fair