After yesterday’s ride into a brutal headwind, we were absolutely exhausted and were snuggled into the tent, ready for bed by 9. It was quiet on the site, and we thought most of the vans and tents were ‘garage morts’, with their owners just not there for the night.
We were wrong, but were so tired that somehow, we missed everyone returning to their vans and tents after a local Festival and not even the music from Chico and the Gipsies or Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons disturbed our slumber. After Boney M the night before, another disturbed night would have been the end of my camping days!
But we woke, as the sun started to rise and wandered out, into Coulon in search of breakfast. As we walked into the village, the colours of the sunrise intensified, setting the sky on fire, in shades of red and orange. It was incredibly beautiful.
As we walked towards the river we watched a hot air balloon rise gently from behind the trees in front of us, and float away from us, over the village.
At this hour of the morning, the village was stunning, with just us and a couple of local people walking their dogs. It was peaceful and we wandered the streets, remembering how it looked, when we first visited in 1989. Yes, it has changed, but in so many ways it was just as we remembered it. A lovely trip down memory lane to start the day.
The only slight problem was that we couldn’t find any breakfast. The boulangerie and bars are closed on a Monday and our thoughts of munching warm croissants, as we watched the sun get higher in the sky, quickly disappeared.
So, by 8am, we were packing up the tent, loading the bikes and getting ready for today’s ride to Rochefort. We’ve got into a rhythm now and everything is packing down so much quicker, and by 8.30, as the rest of the site was beginning to wake up, we were pedalling out.
First job of the day was to find breakfast, so we pottered through to Arçais, in the hope of finding something there. We did manage to get the last 2 croissants from the ‘Depot de Pain’ in the CoOp, but that was it, still no coffee.
We sat by the river, watching the day start, munching the croissants to take the edge off our hunger, before continuing on. The next village was larger, so surely there would be something there?
The simple answer was no, and in fact it set the tone for the morning, as we passed through village after village, skirting around Surgères, with nowhere open at all. Mondays are evidently closing day here and there was nothing we could do about it.
The ride started through pretty tree-lined lanes, some skirted by little rivers and canals and the roads were absolutely empty. In fact it felt as if we were on a cycle path, as we cycled for kilometre after kilometre with just the birds for company.
Then we passed into an area of vast open farmland, which stretched for miles in every direction. There were groundworks being laid for new wind turbine developments and although it was flat, and there was no headwind today, it was just a bit tedious. Perhaps it was just that we hadn’t had a coffee (or much breakfast), but it was the first time that we have both said it’s not an area that we would be keen to ride through again.
Just before 1, we arrived in Rochefort, having decided to stop here for 2 nights and to spend a full day recharging our batteries (lithium, physical and mental). It isn’t somewhere that we’ve visited before, and have simply driven past on the motorway, when we were on our way to the Ile D’Oleron for holidays. Then 2 years ago, we cycled along the river front on our way down, after we missed the last pre-lunch crossing on the Transporter Bridge
We decided that as we have made such great progress and have a few spare days to use, before we arrive in Angoulême for the rugby on Friday, we would bite the bullet and visit the town.
Apart from our ride along the river front, which we had remembered to be very pretty, we knew nothing about the town, but it would be somewhere new. As we cycled in, we knew that we’d made a good choice.
It’s an unexpectedly beautiful place, built in the late 1600s on a traditional grid pattern, and was until 1927 the premier naval dockyard of France. It was known for its innovation in shipbuilding and between 1666 and 1927, over 500 warships were built here, including Hermione, the replica of which carried the Olympic Flame for the Paris Olympics last year.
I suppose, knowing it had been a naval dockyard, made me imagine a very industrial town, but this couldn’t be further from the truth, and the old city is well deserving of its nickname as the Versailles of the Sea.
The old town is skirted by the roads, and few cars come into its beautifully planned streets, lined with elegant buildings, with stunning stone carved details and pretty iron balconies.
The lack of cars means it’s a lovely place to walk or cycle around, and after a lovely lunch in the main square, where Andy demolished his first ‘Moules Frites’ of the holiday…
We checked into our apartment, and after freshening up, took a walk to explore the town a little more. Everything is in walking distance and we wandered through the town to the old Naval Yards & the incredible Corderie. A 374m long building, originally used for rope-making needed for the boats.
We also stumbled into the Potager du Roy, an incredible walled garden that is filled with plants, herbs and fruit, much of which would have been used on the ships and by doctors too.
It’s now a garden that is supported by the local schools, with students learning about gardening there, helping to plant and maintain the space. Whilst we were there, we saw young children watering the plants, under the guidance of the gardener. A beautiful space and a lovely concept too ( especially with the menagerie of stuffed animals hidden around the garden)
By late afternoon, our legs were weary and we sat by the Marina with a beer, watching the boats as the sun shifted in the sky.
We’re already just a little bit in love with Rochefort. A place we had passed and ignored for so many years, and now wish we’d discovered it sooner
It may not have been our favourite day on the bike today, but this afternoon has more than made up for it. We have a lovely apartment in the old town, and with the windows open, it’s as peaceful as it would be in a village. You can watch A little video of today’s ride here
Hopefully another good night’s sleep tonight and we’ll be ready to explore a little more tomorrow, and start planning the next stage of our trip, to arrive in Angoulême on Friday, just in time for the rugby.
Vaucluse Dreamer 