Bit of a gap in my posts, sorry - good wifi has been hard to track down! The weather has been fantastic for the last month - too dam hot at times. Bit of a novelty for me being on holiday in September.
Sun 31st
A short drive south brought us to a lovely aire at Soubise near
Rochefort. It is right on the riverside with lots of grass in front and a view
of the boats moored on the very tidal River Charente. Their was also a network
of cycle paths along the river – wonderful! As we were setting up the French
people next to us commented on how practical our lefthand drive van was – not
realizing I understood every word. When I replied in my best French that I
agreed they laughed out loud. We had a good conversation with them and as they
were leaving we were presented with a bottle of their local wine from the
Charente. How nice of them.
mud. glorious mud!
bit of bad boat parking?
Soubise aire
Mon 1st September
We took the cycle ferry across the river (2 years old and part of
the continuing development of the tourist cycle path network) and enjoyed a
cycle along the river into Rochefort. We stopped at the Transbordeur bridge
which was built in 1885. It is still working today after having been restored
in 1994. It was designed to allow the French navy ships get into Rochefort
without dis-masting.
cycle ferry
transbordeur bridge
Rochefort was a
major centre for the navy and Loius 14th had insisted it was built
to be the best. The dry docks were really big and the infrastructure huge. Lots
of the buildings survive today. The naval officers college is huge and very
stylish – almost like a slightly smaller Greeenwich.
They have built a replica of a Napoleonic warship – the Hermione. It
has just been completed and was due to have its first departure on Sept 3rd.
it was beautiful and very authentic looking with masses of ropes. The marinas ,
all three of them were full of boats of all descriptions. Some of them were
huge. All in all a lovely town to visit.
Tues 2nd
Our next stop was to be Mortagne Sur Gironde on the aire which gets
rave reviews on all the forums. We mooched down the Gironde’s northern bank and
stopped at Seurin D’Uzet a very small village with a small 5 van aire right by
the marina. We decided to stop there as it seemed to have all the right
ingredients for us – calm, good views, grass area nearby and lots of space.
There was even electric hookup included. After lunch we cycled down the back
roads to nearby Mortagne. I personally was underwhelmed! Yes it had good views
from the aire of the marina but there was loads of vans. Some were really
packed in tight , some camping caristes had taken up 2 spaces. We much
preferred our chosen spot – a bit of a find in our opinion. The cycle back was
good, not to steep back up to the main road – we didn’t return by our original
route as there was a 16% climb. See the warning for camping
cars!
Seurin
view across the estuary
bit steep for us
Hmm - according to Google Translate, "déconseillé aux camping-cars" means "recommended for motorhomes". Me thinks Monty Python has hacked into Google Translate. . . . I think it more likely means "not to be used by motorhomes". Surely you had much steeper stuff in Switzerland?
ReplyDeleteSteepest in Switzerland and most of the alpine countries is about 10% on major routes. Occasionally we have encountered 13% - going up these you do not stop until you reach the top! Coming down no problems, low gear and cadence braking. Brakes do however have a certain aroma when at the bottom.
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