The Best of the West of France - Part 2 - Another Pleasant Isle

Greyrocks' next port of call was Île de Ré off the coast of La Rochelle. We had espied it in the distance from both La Rochelle itself and much earlier from La Tranche, but had avoided it as expensive and a tourist trap. Both are true - but less of an issue off season, and Fuerte friends Pete and Stella from Jersey had done a good job singing its virtues, so we booked a week in a mobile home on the Municipal campsite in the capital, St Martin.

It is reached by an impressive bridge (EUR8 return) and as soon as you reach the other side the pace of life and scale of infrastructure decreases. We were there from Wednesday to Wednesday and two events are worthy of note! First we had the Pentecost long weekend - (Oh No - not another French May Bank Holiday!) when a site we had thought quiet turned into a venue for an entire youth football team and entourage with little sense of civilised behaviour. (They did clear out on the Monday, Praise the Lord!) and then bizarrely the wedding of Harry Windsor to Meghan, in that Ruth remembers hiding from that of Charles and Diana in La Rochelle in 1981 in another life!!

So, what is good about the Island? Here are some elements:

Geography and Zoology
There are bays, lagoons, dunes, points, marshes  and some fantastic beaches. Camping is very popular wherever there is beach access. The island is well-forested and there is a real sense of caring for the environment. Because of the overall size it is possible to see a great variety of everything in a short trip. In the fields (and modelled in every gifte shoppe )  are the local (hairy) Poitou donkeys, and in the North-East there are numerous and interesting birds!

Seafood
Oysters are extensively harvested and farmed,  and along with mussels formed several relaxed lunches for Greyrocks. It is possible to have a degustation of the oysters at the many production sites  along the North coast. They both go down very well with the local wine! Prawns of various sizes figure a lot too, and we had some beautiful ones beside the marina at Ars-en-Re on our only car tour day. For dinners in St Martin Ruth also had some miniature skate wings, and a fine white fish risotto.

At Le Phare des Baleines

Cycling
Undoubtedly this is the best way to get around! The cycle routes are well signed and it is mostly flat. We had our own bikes, of course and Ruth is slowly regaining confidence, but hire shops are everywhere. We saw every possible variation on the basic form:- many tandems, many trailers meant for children but more usually with a dog, Dutch style front "tubs" for children, one similar but with a full-grown woman in it, some recumbent/standard confections, and all manner of devices connecting child bike to adult bike. Greyrocks made several excursions - including to the southern side, where feet were dipped in the sea, but we are more Med-people (or Arabian Sea) than Atlantic and were quickly out of the water! There were bathers - some even not in wet-suits!

A week was just about enough, but we would go again with some changes. The busiest day (sunny Sunday in the long weekend) was "too much"  in terms of tourism. The thought of July and August there is unbearable! There is quite a sense of pandering to rich Parisians, and we encountered some hostility to us when we were identifiable as Brits - particularly when in the car with GB plates - but not when speaking French in bars and restaurants where people were charming. We wonder if there is a general feeling that the place is "full".

We would have been happy, also, to return to the same campsite off peak until departure day!! We use at least three mobile homes per year and have done so for ten years and have never had a complaint about the cleanliness on leaving until this time. What a ghastly woman! Ruth had to walk off to calm down and avoid her! En route to the bridge we had an angry "Priorité à droite" incident, so left seething!