We drove onto the island and stopped at Blockhaus R627 which is a WW2 bunker complex. It seems that they don’t like motorhomes here as everywhere has either height barriers or signs prohibiting parking. The place was deserted so we decided to risk it and stopped briefly to explore. There are lots of these defensive complexes on this island and they all follow a similar pattern. There are gun batteries, spotting and ranging stations and all the various buildings to house the soldiers. Unfortunately you can only see inside on a guided tour so we scrambled around the outside taking photos before returning to Kiki.
We drove a short distance further to the Aire de Camping Car at L’Epine where we’re stopping for the night. Our plan is to cycle around the north of the island on the well marked cycle routes. Emma had already made a packed lunch so we got our bikes ready and set out.
We headed north on a nice cycle track until we got to the harbour. We then followed a small road along the coast which had great views out across the rocky shoreline to the sea. After a while the road ended and we picked up a track that ran along the back of the sand dunes. The track was quite sandy and therefore hard going - we ended up pushing our bikes.
We stopped and sat at the side of the track for coffee.... actually we only had water but the chocolate was still enjoyed. Suddenly Emma jumped up - she had been sitting on an ants nest and they were all over her jacket and trousers! We managed to knock them all off - they were big un’s - so not harm done.
We carried on, finally coming to a proper road and continuing north until we came to L’Herbaudiere which is situated at the top of the island. Here there is another, larger blockhouse which of course had to be explored.
Heading now along the east coast we soon came to the Plage des Dames where we stopped for lunch. Suitability fortified, we followed the cycle path past some very expensive looking seafront properties and through villages filled with cute fisherman’s cottages - all brilliant whitewash with blue shutters - until we came to Noirmoutier-en-L’Ile.
The clouds were building so we decided to head back across the marshes. We hadn’t got very far when the rain started so we stopped and put our waterproofs on. The wind and rain seemed to be directly ahead which made the cycling hard going. Fortunately after a few minutes the rain stopped so off came the waterproofs and we soldiered on against the wind. Today we cycled about 24km.
After a while we arrived back at Kiki where we moved to a better parking space before sitting in the sun and reading for a while.
Before our evening meal we went for a walk around the village. We walked as far as the beach where it was high tide and the sea was crashing in. We returned to Kiki for supper before settling down for the evening.
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