|
La Rochelle: The town is an obligatory stop for us. Tradition demands to park the van at the Les Minimes harbour and take the “bus du mer” to the historic harbour. Entering the town by boat passing these majestic towers guarding the harbour entrance is a timeless pleasure. And the Moules Mariniers from that outdoor restaurant at the quay are some of the best in the country. Just look for that blue and white boat on the quay. La Rochelle definitely is a sailing epicentre. This time we got extra prove of this passion by a regatta of historic Olympic sailboats.
Ice Cream: The prices for ice cream are a joke. 1,50 Euro per ball is still “cheap”, close to 2,00 Euros is the norm. Very hard to deal with this in the summer heat, especially with a child. Don´t know how the French handle this. They seem not to care and buy huge cones without hesitation.
Ile de Ré: To my regret another obligatory stop. It´s not that I completely dislike this island. But during summer holidays it is extremely crowded. Add to this another launch of the already fairly high costs of living in France (see “Ice Cream”), an entrance fee in form of the toll for the bridge connecting the island with the mainland and a very restrictive policy concerning camping vans (there is only two camper van areas, one is too small and always full and on the other one you´re only allowed to stay two nights).
The surrounding waters are very shallow what means that there are only waves at high tide. If you happen to be here during a period with low tides during the morning you have to stick to onshore mush. It needs a lot of luck to get some waves here during summer time. Windsurfing is only a vague alterative. The summery afternoon breeze usually is just strong enough for large boards and very large sails. Kiteboarders are a bit better off. Should be a completely different story in autumn and winter.
next page >>>
|
