Day 8 - Lourdes to Ars-en-Ré (Ile de Ré)
Wednesday 28/06/2023
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Back to the lovely rural flat lands and an island!
Slept OK but we stayed up late so ended-up having a late start this morning despite knowing that we had a long day ahead of us. We agreed that we would not use the peage roads but that we would endure a few motorways, just to get us around Bordeaux.
The morning started off quite hot and muggy and I think we had some rain overnight. We made some morning porridge and dried our tents the best we could. It was sad to leave Lourdes and see the Pyrenees disappear in the rear view mirrors. You could explore the region for years and never see everything. I see the appeal of cycling, mountain biking, hiking and paragliding around the area.
We first headed toward Pau which was meant to be our original stop before we decided to stay in Lourdes. From here we travelled on a very empty and very straight forest road for much of the way to Bordeaux. Lovely road and a great temperature sheltered from the rays of the sun by the trees. We had the odd fast corners to contend with but it was a very pleasant and relaxed ride and enjoyed the villages that we did ride through.
In one of the villages we stopped at a bakery and bought ourselves a tasty lunch, including cold pizza, donuts and cokes (like a Boulongerie Greggs). Really pleasant views in scenery that won't have changed much in the last 80 years. It seems that they will soon be building a high speed rail line through the region and the locals are not happy.
Eventually we hit the busy traffic on the Bordeaux ring road. It got up to 31C and it was a bit of a slog. When we eventually got onto the much more pleasant A roads, I felt really sleepy so we stopped for refreshments and considered where we should stay tonight.
My original plan had us staying just outside of La Rochelle. Konrad was keen that we take the bridge over to Ile de Ré and camp there so after filtering through a long traffic jam, we stocked up on wine and then crossed over the toll bridge onto the island. At the shops Konrad clumsily pushed past my bike and caught my pannier. Luckily only a scratch on my side box, but we were all feeling tired after a long day enduring the heat.
Crossing over the bridge was an experience as we had a great view of the island and the colourful sails of all the wind-surfers. Lovely breeze here and the temperature is far more pleasant than on the mainland. Konrad found a campsite on the beach on the opposite end of the island (I think he chose it because it has a funny name - Ars-en-Ré) so we rode there to find that it was closed and the nearby one was full. Luckily we have found another great campsite just down the road so all is well.
After putting our tents up, Leon and Konrad rode off to explore a lighthouse, take a swim in the sea and to watch the sunset. In the meantime I drank a bottle of wine.
Felt like a very long day today, with most of it much more enjoyable than I had expected. Tomorrow I think that we will ignore exploring Le Mans and instead camp as close to Cherbourg as we can, just to make Friday's ferry crossing that much easier. If we have time then we might visit one of the Normandy landing beaches and perhaps camp there.
Fines: 0 (possibly 2 in the post)
Bribes: 0 (£53 tolls)
Ass pain: 7/10
Mechanical issues: 1 Puncture, 1 lost toolbox cover, 1 lost front wheel weight
Accidents: 0 (Konrad scratched my pannier)
Wetness: 0/10
Coldness: 0/10
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