Summer 2017
Starting off the summer with a beautiful bike trip !
We took Alexandre and Ruben down to Lacanau in mid-July. They spent a great week there with their grand-mere Zaza.
And, then, we embarked on a 10-day cycling and camping trip up the Atlantic coast! It was overall a great experience. We spent some time, but not too much, on the bikes everyday ; took the time for kid-friendly activities, whether spending time on a playground, on the beach, or at a fair ; Ruben and Alexandre really enjoyed camping and the adventure ; Eric and I very much enjoyed being the nomadic and active lifestyle.
On the minus sides: the weather was not great, often chilly and overcast, if not rainy - though we had just come out of a heat wave, and it would have been unbearable to bike in such conditions, so we were lucky actually.. And we slept very very poorly with the four of us in the tent. The tent itself is great, but Ruben and Alexandre were moving around so much at night that it was hard to rest.
Day 0: Eric and I cycling from Bordeaux, where the train had taken us, to Lacanau.
Day 1: Lacanau - Carcans
Day 2: To Montalivet.
The way there was great but also long for us, at 38 km. This was a bit beyond what the kids were happy with. Luckily, we managed to have a good break on the beach on the way.
We stayed at the camping Le Soleil d'Or in Montalivet.. Oh the irony, as it rained cats and dogs at night ! We were happy to see however that our tent held up well against the storm.
Day 3: Montalivet - Le Verdon sur Mer.
We had great stops on the way: blackberry picking, picnic in Soulac
We stayed for the night in a resort with a swimming pool and a giant playground for the kids, which Alexandre and Ruben did much appreciate. Luckily, the camping was also quiet. It was a bit rough some nights, after a day in the great outdoors, to find ourselves in the middle of rowdy campers.
Day 4: Ferry to Royan and biking along the coast to La Palmyre.
The ride along the sea from Royan was beautiful: nice views, nice villas along the way, and then a good ride in the forest.
The camping in La Palmyre was not great though ; very crowded and with a loud party in the next door camping...
Day 5: La Palmyre - Marennes
As it was raining in the morning, we were in no hurry to get started on the bikes. We went instead to visit the (really big) zoo in La Palmyre. We watched a demo from the sea lions but the most enjoyable part was to feed pop corn to the animals.
After some hesitation, Ruben and Alexandre really got into the pop corn, eating about half as much as they were giving out to the animals. Alexandre enjoyed for a while to peck the popcorn from our hand as well.
We finally got started on the way to Marennes. The ride was nice, though still overcast. We set the tent in Camping Bon Air, not far from the beach, where we were very thankful for the secluded spot reserved for bike touring travellers.
Day 6: Rest day !
We decided to spend a day not biking. It would do us good to stay in one place for once. The weather was not great but we still went out a bit to the beach, which had a play area set up (too cold to swim however!). Ruben and Alexandre also made some friends in the camping and spent some time roaming the place with other kids, which was great. They were actually very sad to leave the place..
Day 7: Marennes - Rochefort.
We cycled throught the Marais and caught the ferry accross Charente river in Echillais just on time ! The tide was getting down and the ferry actually struggled against the current to accost on the northern shore. Missing that ferry would have meant a long detour upstream to reach a bridge.
Through the Marais.
Eating a well deserved lunch after the ferry crossing.
Day 8: Rochefort - La Cabane des Frenes at Yves
We spent the morning in Rochefor, visiting the beautiful Hermione boat, before heading out to our next camping.
That one camping was very beautiful. It was like an island in the middle of a remote wetland. There was a small swimming pool, some great play equipment, and a very large grass area to plant the tent. Very enjoyable, except for the mosquitoes.
Oh, and there were two friendly storks there. Very surprising.
Day 9: Yves - Camping Le Verger in Dompierre sur Mer
We enjoyed a nice crepe and beach outing on the way to La Rochelle, in Chatelaillon Plage, and hesitated to spend the night in La Rochelle. But we wanted to spend more time biking, and have a chance to escape cities a little while longer, so we rode around La Rochelle to a camping in the countryside.
It was a friendly place, with a nice open area for cyclists to pitch their tents and an orchard.
We weirdly ended up having 3 tents similar to ours pitched just next to us - good sign that our choice of lightness - space - low price was a safe one.
Day 10 : Dompierre sur Mer - La Rochelle
The ride was nice as we were able to follow a canal almost all the way to the harbour in La Rochelle. We had train tickets to go back to Paris that afternoon and thus spent some nice time down by the harbour - La Rochelle is a beautiful city.
But then we learnt that our train was canceled (massive failure in Montparnasse station, with the majority of trains coming from the west of France being canceled) ; we were offered seats on trains leaving 2 days later (as we were with the bikes and thus needed room for them).. As we heard that a train was likely to leave later that day, we rented a truck for Eric to drive back the bikes and waited for that hypothetical train. Lo and behold, the train ran and Ruben, Alexandre and I did manage to come back to Paris that way (a looong and uncomfortable trip as it got extremely crowded). Eric had to drive the truck back to La Rochelle the next day - not fun.
So; the trip back home was quite an ordeal and I really do not want to hang by La Rochelle harbour for a few years.
And, then, we embarked on a 10-day cycling and camping trip up the Atlantic coast! It was overall a great experience. We spent some time, but not too much, on the bikes everyday ; took the time for kid-friendly activities, whether spending time on a playground, on the beach, or at a fair ; Ruben and Alexandre really enjoyed camping and the adventure ; Eric and I very much enjoyed being the nomadic and active lifestyle.
On the minus sides: the weather was not great, often chilly and overcast, if not rainy - though we had just come out of a heat wave, and it would have been unbearable to bike in such conditions, so we were lucky actually.. And we slept very very poorly with the four of us in the tent. The tent itself is great, but Ruben and Alexandre were moving around so much at night that it was hard to rest.
Day 0: Eric and I cycling from Bordeaux, where the train had taken us, to Lacanau.
The way there was great but also long for us, at 38 km. This was a bit beyond what the kids were happy with. Luckily, we managed to have a good break on the beach on the way.
Day 3: Montalivet - Le Verdon sur Mer.
We had great stops on the way: blackberry picking, picnic in Soulac
Day 4: Ferry to Royan and biking along the coast to La Palmyre.
The ride along the sea from Royan was beautiful: nice views, nice villas along the way, and then a good ride in the forest.
The camping in La Palmyre was not great though ; very crowded and with a loud party in the next door camping...
Day 5: La Palmyre - Marennes
As it was raining in the morning, we were in no hurry to get started on the bikes. We went instead to visit the (really big) zoo in La Palmyre. We watched a demo from the sea lions but the most enjoyable part was to feed pop corn to the animals.
We finally got started on the way to Marennes. The ride was nice, though still overcast. We set the tent in Camping Bon Air, not far from the beach, where we were very thankful for the secluded spot reserved for bike touring travellers.
Day 6: Rest day !
We decided to spend a day not biking. It would do us good to stay in one place for once. The weather was not great but we still went out a bit to the beach, which had a play area set up (too cold to swim however!). Ruben and Alexandre also made some friends in the camping and spent some time roaming the place with other kids, which was great. They were actually very sad to leave the place..
Day 7: Marennes - Rochefort.
We cycled throught the Marais and caught the ferry accross Charente river in Echillais just on time ! The tide was getting down and the ferry actually struggled against the current to accost on the northern shore. Missing that ferry would have meant a long detour upstream to reach a bridge.
Through the Marais.
We spent the morning in Rochefor, visiting the beautiful Hermione boat, before heading out to our next camping.
That one camping was very beautiful. It was like an island in the middle of a remote wetland. There was a small swimming pool, some great play equipment, and a very large grass area to plant the tent. Very enjoyable, except for the mosquitoes.
Day 9: Yves - Camping Le Verger in Dompierre sur Mer
We enjoyed a nice crepe and beach outing on the way to La Rochelle, in Chatelaillon Plage, and hesitated to spend the night in La Rochelle. But we wanted to spend more time biking, and have a chance to escape cities a little while longer, so we rode around La Rochelle to a camping in the countryside.
It was a friendly place, with a nice open area for cyclists to pitch their tents and an orchard.
We weirdly ended up having 3 tents similar to ours pitched just next to us - good sign that our choice of lightness - space - low price was a safe one.
Day 10 : Dompierre sur Mer - La Rochelle
The ride was nice as we were able to follow a canal almost all the way to the harbour in La Rochelle. We had train tickets to go back to Paris that afternoon and thus spent some nice time down by the harbour - La Rochelle is a beautiful city.
But then we learnt that our train was canceled (massive failure in Montparnasse station, with the majority of trains coming from the west of France being canceled) ; we were offered seats on trains leaving 2 days later (as we were with the bikes and thus needed room for them).. As we heard that a train was likely to leave later that day, we rented a truck for Eric to drive back the bikes and waited for that hypothetical train. Lo and behold, the train ran and Ruben, Alexandre and I did manage to come back to Paris that way (a looong and uncomfortable trip as it got extremely crowded). Eric had to drive the truck back to La Rochelle the next day - not fun.
So; the trip back home was quite an ordeal and I really do not want to hang by La Rochelle harbour for a few years.
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