Leaving Les Sables D'Olonne we continued south in search of a warmer climate, avoiding the auto routes and their tolls, the drive through the smaller towns and countryside more preferable, despite adding a bit extra to the journey time.
It was Thursday and we had been in France a week, time does fly .. there is so much of France we still want to explore.
Sticking to the Atlantic coast we headed towards La Rochelle, the choice of one of the two nearby islands seemed an attractive option, deciding on the furthest away, the Ile D'Oleron, the alternative to the north was the smaller Ile de Ré.
Ile d'Oleron (19 miles long and 5 miles at its widest) is served by a bridge significantly higher than the previous one, perhaps the original had been half washed away by a mix of age, tide, and weather!
It's a 'one road in - one road out' kinda island, as we found out on our departure from the island .. more of that later!
The main road ran up the middle like a spine, with little roads off to the outer fringes, our campsite situated towards the north east of the island close to Boyardville, a working fishing port complete with fish market.
Boyardville sits near the mouth of the 'Chenal de la Perrotine" aka Perrotine Channel, with yachts and other water craft busying themselves to and from the marina.
The sandy beach facing the Pertuis d'Antioche Straits looking out towards La Rochelle and a stadium shaped Fort Boyard [of the 90's TV programme fame... built from 1661-1667 by Louis XIV, then added to by little guy called Napoleon in the 1800's until its abandonment in 1913 having lastly been a prison]. NB: If you have ever been to Portsmouth or the Isle of Wight, there are 3 smaller similar round forts to be found between Southsea and Seaview (IoW) in the Solent
Sitting along the walls of the channel many local fisherfolk were found practicing an old technique popular since the early 1900's.. using 'Le Carrelet' effectively a big square net in the shape of a tablecloth mounted on two hoops suspended at the end of a pole, and is thrown into the water... then hauled out ... thrown in again and out.. again and again... a workout in itself.
On our travels around the island, we alos came across a number of small pontoons of various colours with fixed carrelets dipping nets into the salty waterways on the east of the island.
The area was not to dissimilar to the Norfolk Broads... perhaps just a little better weather!
After a bit of exploring we headed further north to Saint Denis, another pretty little village with a small marina.
It was whilst having a potter around that I received a message from Jill [we last met up in Normandy] and she was still up in the Brittany area. Jill's van 'Billy the Beast' had broken down, (electrics) and was awaiting the french AA.
Turns out Jill had to spend the night in her van in a supermarket car park where Billy had decided he was not going anywhere, it took about 24 hours before the tow truck arrived... guessing they were working to french time.
Jill eventually got a tow truck the following afternoon - not before many calls to the European AA ... we kept in touch but we were 6 hours south.
Fair play Jill - sorting the van and getting a place to stay for a few days, hiring a car and changing plans to get home - great work... you deserve a well earned gin!
Billy is still in France awaiting a trip home to Scotland to get repaired.. hopefully it wont be long before they are reunited and Billy is back on the road.
The following morning we were scheduled to head further south, as two days later we had pre-booked a site near Carcassonne for a couple of days, however the thought to go north again was very much in deliberation.
The spinal road out of town and off the island was tailed back, nothing moving and no vehicles approaching - there must have been an accident, the island was at grid lock, numerous emergency vehicles flying by... around one hour later and less than 2 miles down the road we came across a couple of cars - both a little mangled loading up onto low loaders... the traffic was moving again.
As we ventured south, it would be our first night on a 'France Passion' a network of venues with a few places reserved for motorhomes at no charge, you just have to be 100% autonomous in WC, water, electricity, waste, so ideal for stopovers.
France Passion sites vary from goat, duck, pig farms and every other type, to vineyards, and all sorts of other interesting places, usually the spaces available to stay overnight are usually for a max of around 2- 5 vehicles.
Looking on the map in the direction we were headed, we chose a vineyard just south of the town of Bergerac in the Dordogne area.
Vineyard Haut Pezaud in Montbazillac was fabulous, we arrived around 16.00 - no on else there.
As expected, one of the requirements is to say hello to the host, and show an interest in their produce without any obligation to purchase, ..... so a wine tasting with Aurelie was scheduled for 18.30.
Just as we were about to walk the 20m to the 'wine tasting studio" the rain came down in biblical proportions, later finding out from Aurelie that her and her husband who own the vineyard have not been able to harvest the grapes as normal this year due to the ongoing poor weather.
Later we left the tasting room (aka a warehouse and shop area) having tried various wines and made a purchase of 2 of them, it was a great place to stop over, and better value than paying for a campsite, plus you often get the place to stay on your own.
The vineyard Haut Pezaud, just south of Bergerac in the Dordogne.
Saying good bye to your host (this time by text message) is a must... we were then off to Carcassonne, a drive of around 3 hours.
Taking the off piste route south, many of the roads became single track, luckily traffic was minimal coming the opposite way, and gave us time to enjoy the scenery.
It was like a trip into an animal sanctuary, deer crossing the road in front of Tassie, red squirrels (who knew) scrabbling about, and road signs warning of wallabies in the area, (it seems an Australian wildlife park is located nearby), perhaps some have hopped off on their own.
Despite rain on and off, the drive was a delight, the pretty unspoilt villages, the endless fields of yellow sunflowers and sweetcorn lined the road for miles... the best bit - there was very few vehicles around.
Next stop - Carcassonne and the little walled city on a hill that looks a bit like Camelot!!
Loving the overnight stay for a bottle of wine idea, sadly not practical on the bike