A Fortified Town, a Feat of Engineering and Ice Cream.

As the sun went down last night the wind dropped. This meant that we had a quiet night with only the sound of the waves to keep us company.

We set out early this morning and as our next destination was only 15km away we arrived before 8:30am. We were faced with yet another confusing no-motorhomes sign with a long explanation below in French - there were however several motorhomes already here so we did the “French thing” and ignored the sign. Later study revealed - we think - that the restriction applies to the grass parking area and not the bit we used!

Brouage is a 17th Century fortified town which, before land reclamation, was virtually surrounded by the sea. The entire town is enclosed by massive walls which had only two heavily fortified entrances. Spaced out along the walls are little towers - 19 in total - which were used for keeping watch and for shooting at invaders. We found a way up onto the ramparts and followed them all of the way round the outside - some 2.5km in total!

We returned to Kiki for coffee and spent some time taking photos of a storks nest - basically a large pile of sticks on top of a pole - which contained three babies and a parent balancing on the edge.

Our next destination is the Rochefort-Martrou Transporter Bridge which crosses the Charante just outside of Rochefort. This impressive feat of engineering was built in 1898 and consists of a 66m high steel bridge across the river. The bridge has rails which a carriage runs along. There is a gondola at road level suspended from the overhead carriage. This allows the gondola to traverse from one side of the 175m wide river to the other transporting people and vehicles across. The bridge was closed for maintenance which was a shame because it would have been quite an experience!

We’re now heading for the Aire de Camping Car at La Rochelle where we’re planning to stay tonight. We stopped en-route at Carefour and topped up our LPG. Arriving at the Aire, we found a nice spot and I got our bikes ready whilst Emma prepared lunch.

Suitability fortified we set off into the city. We found a nice cycle route that led to the coast which we then followed. There are hundreds of boats here - it’s the biggest yachting centre on France’s Atlantic coast! We cycled past the two old towers which protected the entrance and into the old port which is surrounded by stately buildings. This has been a busy port since the 11th Century and is still going strong. We cycled around the port checking out the boats before heading into the winding back streets of the old town. Here we found an ice cream shop and we felt it would be rude to pass it by. We sat on the harbourside and ate our bounty before making our way back to Kiki.

We spent a little while sitting in the sun before eating our evening meal and settling down for the night.