March 2011 - SW France - Day 2 : La Turballe to La Rochelle via the coast road.

The sun was shining and breakfast were served from 8am. The owner’s wife had already been noted for her slightly abrupt tone; so when, in response to asking for a plate (on which to prepare a croissant, butter and jam) she replied; “ah non”, we were not unduly surprised; clearly not a people person; unlike her (much older) husband, who was charming.

The route we took started OK but it was hard to enjoy when the roads were all 90, 70 and even 30 kph restricted. This was made worse by Dave’s friend on his R1150RT having an almost obsessive addiction to the speed limits. This made riding together challenging because, although I was trying hard not to us my GT’s power, the 1150RT is totally annihilated by the GT’s pace; even when you are consciously trying not to use it!

The route what went from poor to awful as we went through featureless (modern) residential villages which then “blossomed’ into commercial estates with countless roudabouts. The Ile de Noirmoutier was a total waste of time as it had nothing of note that we could see; despite riding around the entire island.

Things bottomed out when we stopped for lunch in a nondescript layby; more out of desperation that anything else. Things should have improved after lunch as we abandoned the planned route and headed directly for La Rochelle. However, Dave's friend's obsessive observance of the speed limits and his inability to accelerate in a meaningful way, meant that at times it was like following an electric disability scooter!

La Rochelle was and is a lovely place. It was my first visit and I was and am pleasantly surprised. We had a walk to and around the harbour followed by a few beers and a simple meal. Dave had cleverly found a 3 bedroom apartment right in the centre of La Rochelle with underground parking for our bikes.

Tomorrow we plan to travel south towards Royan and then to Dave’s house. The weather these past couple of days have been incredible; like summer; however the forecast is for this to change; possibly tomorrow (Saturday 25th March).