Passage du Gois de Noirmoutier & About the end of the Vélodyssée

So this is an EPIC experience.

We arrived at a road that is submerged most of the day, except at low tide.

So twice a day, an hour before high tide until an hour after high tide, the road can take you to and from the island of Noirmoutier. The island itself was stupendous, with armies of swallows zig-zaging between us, in the thick cloud of insects. We saw rabbits, black swans, many new types of birds… We’d like to go back.

Finally we arrived at Pornic for the Fête de la Musique !!

The 21st June, is the magical day that all the towns & cities of France put on free concerts and musical events. It is my favorite day to be in France and according to me, is much more the “Fête Nationale” than Bastille Day (July 14th).

From Pornic, we decided to take the thrilling and dangerous bridge to Saint-Nazaire, where the trip ended for us as we had to go to Rennes to rent an appartment.

For our next trip we are considering doing the Eurovelo 6 which goes along rivers from France to Roumania…

Sables d’Olonne et environs

Going with the flow…

 Arriving at Sables d’Olonne, I spotted this gorgeous yellow house…!!!

I shout “Mike, We HAVE TO turn around and check it out…“

Then Michael says “Let’s go down this alley.“

We see the nicest neighbourhood ever all decorated with seashell art everywhere ! Amazing surprise !

La Vendée

La Vendée c’est bien plat, plein de marécages, rivières et ragondins
éspèces introduite pour sa fourrure et qui a envahit beaucoup de zones d’eau douce 
On aussi trouve des zones drainées qui font place aux grandes cultures et aux moutons.

On a eu des belles suprises, au cours de notre voyage en vélo. Mike a vu au loin un vieux château. C’était le Château du Talmont à Talmont-Saint-Hilaire.

Son histoire est très riche et longue. Il a appartenu à Richard Coeur de Lion et Aliénor la duchèsse d’Aquitaine, entre autres… Ça a fait le bonheur de Mike qui, venant du Canada est fasciné par les châteaux

Ce qui a aussi fait le bonheur de Mike c’était de trouver un super toboggan d’eau sur notre chemin. On ne s’est presque pas arrêté, car on n’avait pas encore fait beaucoup de kilomètres…

Mais Mike ne pouvait pas manquer cette occasion. Ça a valu le coup !

D’Angoulins à Saint Michel en l’Herme avec le vent dans la face

Ce jour là était sûrement le plus difficil.

On avait le vent en pleine face mais on voulait quand même faire un bout de chemin.

Donc on a pédalé sans cesse, si on relachait l’effort ou le moral baissait, on aurait cru qu’on allait reculer.

On a réussi le défi.

On se sentait bien fatigués, mais forts quand on est arrivés à Saint Michel en l’Herme.

Fouras ! Hourah !

Perchée au bout de une presqu’île des Charentes-Maritimes, Fouras est une belle ville vacancière, dôtée d’un des fameux Fort Vauban.

Fouras a été longtemps convoitée par les Parisiens. On comprend pourquoi.

On y retrouve un charmant boulevard commercial et des Grandes Halles de produits frais où Mike a pu goûter à son premier couscous et sa première paëlla.
On y a aussi rencontré un vieil homme passioné de livres qui a adoré parler avec nous des trésors que recèle son charmant petit magasin des livres.

Island of Oléron

Fort Louvois by Louis XIV’s architect: Vauban

Fort Louvois by Louis XIV’s architect: Vauban

As we bicycle onto the island of Oléron, from the bridge, we can see on our right the Louvois Fort, built by Louis XIV’s famous military architect Vauban.

It is just the beginning of Vauban’s fortifications, the next is the Citadelle of Chateau d’Oléron, that you can see below.

Oléron’s landscape is very unique. The whole island is interspersed with marshy lands that are gently shaped to accommodate the immense oyster farming industry here. The birds are, as you would expect, unique and happily eating away.

oyster farm

journal

marennes

/!\ However, I do NOT recommend this island for biking /!\

There are too not nearly enough bicycle paths and the few that we have been on are very washed out. Indeed they do not pave much here because the locals are concerned about water quality and want to keep as much water infiltration as possible. You are better off going to the island of Ré for a nice biking experience.

Still biking – Lacanau to Royan (Vaux-sur-Mer)

Still biking… now to Montalivet, a sleepy little town with a rastafarian undertone.
The landscape is still dominated by pines, but you can feel the rocks and the plants shifting… We’re expecting (and hoping for) a change once we cross the Gironde estuary.

…
As we were biking to catch the ferry that brings us across the estuary to Royan, we came across a 1900s party in the city of Soulac-sur-Mer.
What a surprise!

It was so festive, the whole town was dressed up, pretending it was the 1900s again.
Suffragettes, old cars, traditional trades and artisans, band music…

Then we made it to Royan, we realize that the plants are more deciduous & suddenly the coast is rocky. We HAVE left the sandy beaches and the pines after all.

Indeed, we are leaving behind the young sandy sediments of the Quartenary period and entering the a landscape formed during the Cretaceous, the golden age of flowering plants and mammals, evolving and diversifying!

En route vers Lacanau

Une grande balade pour rejoindre l’ocean,

Atlantique et bienaimé.

C’est pas si mal de faire du vélo dans la pluie,

surtout si le soleil pointe son nez.

Un peu de luxe, piscine, pinball et plage,

on l’a bien merité.

Beautiful Bordeaux

There is a lot of AMAZING art to see in Bordeaux…

I mean, a LOT of art.

What is REALLY worth the detour is the Darwin space.

It seems that the main aim of Darwin is to make our societies ADAPTED and ADAPTIVE to the changing envirOnment, climate and society.

It is a multi-faceted project based out of an old industrial site that has been artfully and smartly reclaimed, with modular homes, food gardens, art and music scenes, a grocery store and hip restaurant, a second-hand store and a million other initiatives blooming out of it.

Arcachon Bassin – camping at la Hume

Arcachon rhymes with oysters

picturesque and sandy beaches

wide, marshy intertidal zone

birds of all sounds

elaborate architecture

delicious.