After stopping en-route for fuel we arrived at the carpark we found on the park4night app around 10am. Unfortunately, we couldn’t work out where to park. The whole area was full apart from a few spaces which had a sign consisting of a red circle and a diagonal cross - in the U.K. this would mean “no stopping” - however below the circular sign was another with a picture of a motorhome. Totally confused - we had no idea if we were allowed to park or not! We decided not to risk it and continued onwards to our next destination which is on the coast just outside of the city.
After parking up and having coffee we walked down to the beach. Here there is a small natural arch in the rocks. After the obligatory photo standing on top of the arch, we decided to walk along the coast path towards the lighthouse. There were some fishing huts on stilts perched precariously on the rocks which jut out into the water - these have a crane mechanism to raise and lower a large net into the water. We wondered if they would catch many fish until we realised that we’re at the mouth of the Garronne river.
We continued along the coast path until we arrived at the lighthouse which, unusually, is set on a slight incline quite a way from the sea. We turned round here a headed back to Kiki. Enroute we spotted another - much bigger - natural arch further out to sea which we hadn’t seen earlier - this was the one we had come to see!
Next stop, further up the coast was the lighthouse of La Coubre. We squeezed in to a tiny carpark - there’s not much motorhome parking around here as most places have 2m height barriers - and had lunch. Fortified, we set out through the sand dunes to the beach. At one point we were driven back by flying sand and had to take another route. We walked a little way along the beach until we had a good view of the lighthouse - this one is quite tall. We returned to Kiki, emptied sand from our shoes and hit the road again. Emma discovered she had crunchy lips because she’d put lip balm on before settling out!
We took the “scenic” coast route northwards but unfortunately there was no view as it was a little way inland and mostly through a pine forest. There were however lots of yellow flowers along the roadside which we decided were Broom plants.
Crossing the Pont De L’ile d’Oleron - which is a long viaduct - we arrived on the second largest island in France. We turned north and headed to the citadel of the Chateau d’Oleron. This impressive fortified town was built in the 17th century to protect the southern part of the island. We found free daytime motorhome parking - seemingly a rarity in this area - and set out to explore. The massive fortifications were really impressive. In fact there are three concentric rings of fortified walls, complete with moats, bridges and other defensive structures. Dodging the showers which were becoming more frequent, we eventually made our way back to Kiki.
Shortly before crossing the bridge we had passed a small motorhome parking area and as there’s not much else to see on the island we decided to return there for the night. It turned out that the parking place is quite popular but we managed to squeeze in just as a big rain squall came over.
After our evening meal we went for a gusty walk along the beach where we watched a kitesurfer having fun - at times he was leaping 20ft or more into the air! We returned to Kiki and settled down for what promises to be a windy night by the beach.
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