March 2011 - SW France - Day 3 La Rochelle to Dave’s Place

Another lovely day; up with the lark and we had breakfast in a small cafe in the market square. We were already packed up and ready to go so, by 8:30am we were rolling out of the center of St Rochelle. The initial part of the route was a dull dual carriage way (D-road !) but we soon peeled off towards Fouras and the tip of the promontory which overlooks the small islet of Ile d’Aix and the island of Oleron.

At this point, Dave’s pal on the R1150RT decided that now was the moment when he’d head directly for home. The GTs were now free to run at their own pace and they were happy.

Oyster beds were now in abundance as we headed across the highly impressive bridge which crosses the Seudre estuary and immediately turned right to hug the coast to follow a delightful road which snakes its way through a pile forest. The road plunges and weaves left and right and, ignoring the 70kph speed limit, it’s a great biking road! The photo below wasn’t taken by me but is perfectly representative of this part of the trip; fabulous.

We continued following the coast road and arrived at the coastal resort of Royan which I understand was flattened by the Brits in WWII as the Germans had a U-boat base there. We exited Royan and the road became quite narrow and undulating through mile after mile of vineyards. Dave was in his element and was setting a pace that I found a “tad” quick as I was unfamiliar with the road and trying to acknowledge Dave’s frequent comments through the radio indicating points of interest to the left and right! We negotiated multiple villages and with Dave exclaiming that we were 2 minutes away and that, down the hill and to our left was Dave’s final resting place. I muttered “hopefully, not just yet”!

We arrived at Dave’s place in St Fort sur Gironde at around midday and relaxed and planned the next days rides over a glass of wine or two :-)