The Vendee

Yesterday evening, having changed our parking place so we could pickup some WiFi, we ended up closer to the church and it’s ubiquitous clock. Throughout the night we were left in no doubt about the time - every half hour the bell chimed out loudly - Emma was blissfully oblivious!

We emptied our tanks before setting off this morning en-route to Les Sables d’Olonne. We hoped to see L’Armendeche lighthouse which was the last major lighthouse to be constructed in France. Having fought our way through the busy seaside town we discovered that all the parking had either height barriers or no motorhome signs. We stopped briefly whilst Emma grabbed a quick photo before quickly moving on.

Next stop was the Observatoire d’Oiseaux where we had coffee before settling out for a walk. We were a bit disappointed because, apart from a large bird hide, there was nowhere to actually walk. We spent a little while looking at the birds before returning to Kiki.

We were heading to the Chateau de Commequiers when we passed a sign for lake Jaunay. We decided to detour to the lake where we found a small carpark overlooking the water. After lunch we set out for a walk around the lake. The route started out level along the waterside where we were surprised to see bluebells growing. We caught up with some other walkers so took a detour up a wooded valley. Near the top, in the shallows there was something thrashing about in the water - we later learnt that it was carp feeding. As we neared the end of the lake the path began to rise and fall - it was like a coast path. We crossed a dam and realised that the lake is actually a reservoir - over 3 million cubic meters volume. The route back to Kiki was quite tortuous as it climbed up and down along the lakeside. We finally arrived back “home” after walking slightly over 10km.

We had a rest before our evening meal and then settled down for the night.