DAY 6: VELLUIRE - LA ROCHELLE: 55km
THURSDAY 4 JUNE

We woke up to another sunny day with the river just outside our window. It was nice to wake up in a bedroom rather than the tent and a lot easier to prepare for our departure.

We started our day with a delicious breakfast on the terrace

After breakfast we had a little walk along the river and saw a flash of blue as a kingfisher flew from our side of the river to the opposite bank. We watched for a while in the hope that he would come back so we could get a better look but were out of luck. The hotel was in such a beautiful setting and I could easily have settled down at the riverside table for a day of rest and amazing food but we had to get going.

Back on the bike we were rewarded with far-reaching views




There was a sharp hill up to a view point

As we entered Gue-de-Velluire we reached the 500km mark - we were half way there and feeling good!

We cycled through villages with white-washed houses




and then followed a river all the way to Marans




stopping at L'Ille-de-Elle to buy a picnic for lunch




The port of Marans was very pretty




We stopped for a drink - it was a shame we had already bought food




but we went on to find a tranquil picnic spot by the river

As we were preparing to leave after lunch, what we assumed to be a class of young school children cycled by. It was good to see they were starting their cyclists young and probably more preferable for them than the normal school PE lessons.

Our afternoon's ride along the canal was not that scenic and then the track began to get very rough

We stopped and asked a cyclist what the surface was like ahead - he advised it wasn't good

It made sense to re-trace our route slightly to join the main road




We had a pleasant bar stop in Saint Xandre

We also needed to find a pharmacy for an insect bite Rob had received the previous evening

As we approached La Rochelle the traffic intensified and it was quite scary cycling through the middle of such a busy town. Having previously received instructions from the campsite warden we found the sea frontand followed it to the site. Unfortunately though the cycle route wasn't designed with a tandem and trailer in mind so it wasn't that easy.

When we first started to plan the route I had my heart set on visiting La Rochelle for our rest day and we had discussed on and off whether we should book a cheap B&B that I had found on the internet. I tried on a couple of occasions to telephone them but got no reply and then, as the total cost of the trip began to mount up, we decided that for economic reasons we must camp and forget the B&B idea. I did have recurring reservations about the campsite before our departure but tried to put them to the back of my mind. However, at one point I gave in to these and tried to book the B&B but by then it was fully booked so that had made the decision for us.

We finally reached the campsite, which turned out to be about 5km out of town (not an easy 20 minute walk as I had been led to believe) and as we cycled through the main entrance all those doubts flooded to the surface and I knew there was no way we could camp there. The site was surrounded by tower blocks of rundown flats and there were a lot of dodgy looking characters shuffling around. The campsite itself had no security barriers and looked more like a gypsy camp. The site reception was not manned after 7pm and I could see why.

It was 6.50pm by this time and I was very conscious that the tourist information office in La Rochelle would be closing at 7pm. I told Rob to wait with the bike and I would see what I could sort out (I felt very responsible as he hadn't wanted to visit La Rochelle in the first place so it was up to me to get us out of this mess). The guardian of the site was extremely pleasant as I politely explained that we had decided to get a hotel in the town as the site was slightly further out of town than we would have liked. I asked him if he could give me the number of the tourist information office and he very kindly offered to telephone them for me (I think he realised how we felt about the site and was embarassed that we had been put in this situation). He asked them if they had any rooms in town for one or two nights available. At this stage I was beginning to panic that they were going to offer us a very overpriced room that we would be forced to pay for but, to my great relief, I was told there was a room available at the Bar de l'Hotel de Ville for €55 a night. I agreed to take it on the basis that whatever it was like it would be better than the campsite. When I went back outside to break the news to Rob he was delighted and amazed that I had found somewhere so cheap.

We cycled all the way back into La Rochelle this time going through the town and avoiding the cycle route. We found the hotel and were overjoyed to discover that it was extremely near the harbour and in a really nice street. The bar below, on first impressions, seemed a bit dirty and rough and as I was taken down a dark corridor I did wonder what the room would be like but reminded myself that whatever it was like it would be better than the campsite! I was pleasantly surprised when I was shown a very spacious en-suite room. The furniture was extremely basic but the main thing was it was clean and as I went back down to the bar I realised that, actually, it was friendly full of local people and although there were some characters they were harmless and interested to hear about our trip.

Having unloaded our panniers the next thing to sort out was where to put the tandem overnight. We headed back up to one of the main squares where we had seen an underground carpark as we reasoned that at least it would have security cameras. As we were looking for the entrance I noticed a lot of bikes parked at some bike racks and better still they were right in front of the town's main police station. There were a lot of police cars parked outside and police coming and going together with some standing outside smoking. I went over and asked how safe it would be to leave the tandem overnight and was told that it should be ok - we took the view that anyone would have to be stupid to try and steal a bike from there and decided that we didn't have much choice but to chance our luck.

We took everything off the bike that was easily removable




It was dusk by the time we had showered and went out to explore

We had a lovely time just strolling around soaking up the holiday atmosphere. The town was even better than I had expected and although a popular destination, it didn't feel like a tourist trap.

We found a table and had dinner on the quay

I was really looking forward to our rest day here especially as we were in a hotel just back from the harbour and not in the tent.