Today started energetically with a run (for pastries!), with the children “coaching” me!  A quick swim followed by picnic preparation and route planning session.  We were still feeling accomplished after our 25km ride last night, and thought that as the routes are so accessible we would try another today. 

After breakfast we set off in the direction of Saint Martin de Re and hoped to avoid the situation we had the day of arriving in the middle of a busy town on our bikes… however Stew and his excellent map reading skills found us right in the middle of the town!  We navigated the busy streets, stopping briefly to watch some acrobats doing a display. 

We made it back out on the the cycle path again, and quickly found ourselves with vine yards on one side and the sea on the other. Probably one of my more favoured locations! It was slightly cooler today, so perfect temperature for our ride.  We started to pass oyster farms and I had a sneaky feeling that my food heaven might be around the corner!  We passed what I can only describe as a court yard with trestle tables with the tops made out of logs with high chars and an oyster bed in the middle.  I had already decided that we would have to pop in on our way back.  We went passed several more of these small oyster producers and their rickety restaurants, which all looked as amazing as each other.  Before long we arrived at the beach we had wanted to head for… but it looked rubbish.  Fraser was in a terrible mood and announced that he was as happy as he could possibly be but that was miserable, due to being asked to leave the pool earlier than he’d liked so we decided that we would go the extra 2km to a decent beach in the hope that his mood would be washed away by the sea.  Sure enough it was!  We had our picnic on the beach and the scamps played in the sea, but it was reportedly cold today.

After lunch we set back off along the path, retracing our movement back to the oyster place… it was much easier with the wind behind us and happy children!  We parked the bikes and found seats right beside the sea… that sounds like a great stroke of luck but there was only one row of tables, and they were all along the sea.  We ordered the dish of the day, the children got ice creams and headed off over the rocks to play on the shoreline, and then we realised they didn’t take card and we could only pay with cash!  Whilst I waited for the food to arrive, stew went as fast as he could back to the bank… he came back just as the children were tucking into his prawns and was rather hot and bothered.  We sat in the sunshine whilst the children pottered on the sea shore, popping back sporadically to pinch our food.  There were oysters, prawns, bulots (sea snails) and langoustine, each prepared slightly differently to any we had had before and all totally delicious and as fresh as you could imagine.  Ive looked up their website and if you are ever in the area its really worth a pop in!

In fact if you are looking for a great place for a holiday in France this is somewhere I would recommend.  Between the long cycle paths, there are interesting small towns, with markets and unique shops, long beaches,short beaches, sandy beaches, sailing, and lovely places to eat and have ice creams.  Im not sure id return to this campsite specifically, its not bad, we have just had better, but the location works well for everything we need.  La rochelle is in easy reach too, so all in all its a fab place to be and I think that I could even spend a whole week here…. maybe 2 if I didn’t have a camper!

The duke of Buckingham attacked Ile de re in 1627, unsuccessfully and the city of Saint Martin built defences shortly after.  We cycled through the gates to the city and managed to skirt around the edges of the centre and headed back past the campsite we had stayed at before.  We passed the file de re donkeys which we had been searching for!  quite a unique looking donkey and nicknamed the scabby donkeys by the scamps! Poitou Donkeys were apparently a status symbol in the 18th century.  They were big and stronger than ordinary donkeys and good to work on the salt flats around here. They also look like they are wearing pyjama trousers, which their owners add to stop the bugs getting them… and some owners even got them straw hats for added protection.

A little further we passed the prison, which had inmates until the 30’s.  It was used mainly as a holding site for prisoners who were off to french guiana for hard labour, few escaped apart from one chap who escaped on a sack of coconuts!

Thats enough history! We got back, having done another 27km and went for a swim, and I turned into widow twanky!  I did a couple of loads of washing but with no where really to hang it i’ve been playing the hokey cokey with it ever since!

The scamps, absolutely exhausted went to bed early… we’ve got used to them being up in the evening, so it feels quiet now, but they really needed to catch up on their sleep and there were no arguments at bed time!

Stew and I are preparing to finish off some wine and have a steak for our dinner, and just relax!

****This is the update… no relaxing… at 9pm, fraser is sound asleep, penny is not and they start blasting out hideous music at a volume their speaker can not cope with. Ive been in quieter nightclubs! Stew currently dancing to the YMCA and blaming the wine! grrrrrr how disappointing!****

This morning we decided that today would be a bike ride day.  Stew headed to the market in La Flotte for pastries and bread, and I took the children for an early swim.  We had breakfast and packed a picnic, and headed out.  It didn’t start that well as we ended up in the busiest street market i had seen with out bikes, needing to get through to the other side.  We picked our way through and managed to get on the right route for the bridge.  There is a large bridge which connects lie de re to the mainland, and I’ve always fancied riding across it.  I do love a bridge!  It was a good ride to the bridge and then up to the half way point with the children cycling really well and looking forward to the way down!  Once back we followed the coast around to find a beach.  We managed to find the perfect beach bar, with deckchairs on the sand, ice creams, a tightrope for the children to play on and right by the sea.  They were in and out of the sea whilst we sat and watched from the shade of the bar and enjoyed a glass of wine… cold wine!!

We left the beach and headed on around the coast, through vineyards and pine forests and eventually to a dead end with access to the beach.  There was literally us, another couple and a random man on a bike buzzing around…. we stopped and had our picnic and the children played, and we decided to head on…. as we arrived back at the bikes, it became clear that my gel sadle cover had been removed.

The rest of the journey along past a couple of beaches and through a few more vine yards was harsh on my tender bottom!

We headed back and hit the pool to cool down… I finished book 5 of the holiday and the children played before we all showered and headed down to La Flotte for dinner by the harbour. 

Back and into bed with Stew falling asleep in the chair after our mammoth 25km bike ride and a full tummy!  I went to bed and go to listen to the “entertainment” in the bar!