Day 18 - Rochefort to Mussonville- 82 kms

Although it seems that today was a short ride it seemed longer and harder in many respects than the rides where we had done over 130 kms. I think I can put this down to the poorer conditions on many of the roads, the hotter and more humid conditions, the fact that we had 2 stops ferry trips which breaks the riding rhythm of the day and lastly I had a puncture after hitting a pot hole on the road....

Well the day started with breakfast at the youth hostel at about 7.00 am and we were on our way at about 8 ish

It was lucky that we did not start earlier as we needed to ride a punt across the La Charente river shortly after leaving Rochefort 

The area around the punt was interesting in that there is a rebuilding projector restore a bridge mechanism that will take people across the river on a contraption that moves over the water.....very ingenious and will be interesting to see when completed 

The next 20 odd kms was through a lot of swamp land until we reached a small town called Marennes where we stopped for a drink and a very nice crepe.

As I said the roads were poor today and after hitting a pot hole I was surprised I did not get a flat straight away. It was only after our stop in Marennes that I noticed my tyre

After replacing the tube it was off to Royan. Once again the country was uninteresting with swamps and villages perched on the top of any high ground. The weather was also hotting up and with humidity it made for hardish riding 

We arrived in Royan at about 1.30 pm and headed to a bike shop to get my tyres pumped up and checked and Chris bought a new water bottle 

After this we had a sandwich and drink and made our way to the ferry across from Royan to Verdon Su mer... there was a bit of a wait at the ferry wharf but once on the ferry the ride was short to our destination .... appropriately half an hour 

Off the ferry and then on for the short 10 km ride on the cycle way to our despot Mussonville

This ride although flat was marred by the humidity and fact there was no wind....

Arriving at our destination we were pleased to have a shower and cool down 

Interesting the name Mussonville....not really French in my mind more somewhere in Australia in the outback

Anyway despite the poorer riding conditions the body and the bike are holding up

Tonight we sample some of Mussonville’s finest cuisine.... I will report on this tomorrow 

Me leaving the youth hostel 

Note my erect bag!!!

The structure being renovated near Rochefort 

Our punt across the river near the car bridge 

A view of the car bridge and the punt 

Chris and other cyclists on the punt

The guys on the right were Germans and I think they were amused after we got off the punt as we returned to the area near the wharf 3 times as we were lost...poor navigation on my part!

 At the top of a bridge we crossed later in the morning 

Note jet vapour in the sky.... we see this all the time 

After getting off the ferry at Verdon Su Met

Home for the night at Mussonville 

Day 17 - La Rochelle to Rochefort- 93 kms

Today we made an early start at 7.10 am with the thought of having breakfast on the way rather than having it at the hotel 

The Wray was also likely to be heating up during the day....

It was Chris’s turn to navigate so we were in for a fun day?

The first destination was a small island of the coast called I’le de Re which is to crossed by a bridge 

Before arriving at the bridge we had a good look around La Rochelle which is very much a sea port with plenty of both commercial and pleasure sailing and boating 

The region is big for mussels and oysters which are “grown” locally 

The crossing over the bridge was a 2 km ride with the gradients reaching about 5pc. 

Our original plan was do do a circuit of the island but we we’re entranced by a small village called La Flotte. You will see from the photos that this village has a real charm about it as a seaside resort for families with plenty of wonderful restaurants serving the local produce. We had breakfast here with Chris having a slice of pizza and a cake. I had 2 croissants and some juice followed by a coffee as we walked through the village market 

For those wanting a village type holiday and looking to have wonderful meals of mussels and oysters with local produce I would thoroughly recommend La Flotte

Having spent around 2 hours looking around the town we made our way back to the bridge and La Rochelle. This time the wind had picked up and the traffic was starting to get busy 

Our next stop was Chatelailon Plage where we visited yesterday looking for Chris’s French teachers mum... well once again we dipped out as her flower shop was shut for lunch and siesta!!!

Rather than hang around until 3.30 pm ( ie another hour) we decided to ride on to Rochefort to have an early end to the ride..... we had some washing to do!!!

The trip from La Rochelle to Rochefort was along the coast with some interesting little villages

We met an Englishman riding to Barcelona who was struggling with navigation and Chris advised him to use Cycle Travel. Com which we are using to great affect 

We arrived at the youth hostel in Rochefort at about 4.15 pm after a good day of riding 

There is a distinct increase in tour cyclists on the road mainly heading in a north direction... they will struggle with the wind I believe as it seems to prevail from the north east 

I thought I might talk a bit about how we pack each day and fit our meagre belongings in our bags...

The first thing to learn is it is NOT packing but stuffing.... yes you stuff as much of your clothes and other belongings in the rear Ortlieb bag which hangs from the bike seat 

The ideal packing job is one where the bag has a slight “erection” which seems to transfer less weight to the back of the bike

The stuff I use during the day such as my wallet, glasses ( if I can find them) , maps, muesli bars, caps etc go in the bag on the handle bars and my spare tyre bike lock and bum cream go in the bag on the cross bar

Each day there is much hilarity as we stuff our bags to get the right erection ....

At the end of the day the first thing we do is to take our clothes out of the back bag and let them hang a bottom remove creases 

All in a good days ride really 

Just to let you all know we have not heayfrom the bike shop in Niort yet as to when Chris’s new Cannondale will br ready 

On the bridge crossing to the island 

The harbour at La Flotte 

Another view of the harbour... very pretty 

Harro gazing at the harbour 

Chris getting some nougat in La Flotte... look at the size of the nougat chunks...


The village market in La Flotte... the oysters and mussels are sold in the store on the right....very cheap 

View of the beacon the island at low tide....see the oysters and mussels being farmed 

Nice view of the harbour in La Rochelle....plentiful money here!!’

Look at the colour of the ice blocks here in my drink

Yes they are in plastic containers 

Big disappointment for Chris the mother of his French teacher was at lunch.... at leather tried twice!!!



Home for the night... very nice youth hostel 

Day 15- Niort to La Rochelle- 84 kms

Feeling better today!!!!

Ready for the challenge ahead as I go in to the 3rd week of the break in France

The weather today was forecast to be hot so we got on the road as soon as we could at about 7 40 am. The wind once again was favourable being almost behind us for most of the day 

The day was my turn to navigate and we were out of Niort on about 10 minutes... a far cry from the hour that it has taken us in Day’s previously 

So we made good time to a coffee break in a small town called Saint Pierre d’Amelie where there was no coffee shop but the ladies working in the shire office provided me with a coffee and Chris with water. At this stop Chris was working the emails regarding the set up for his  new bike based on conversations we were having along the way 

Anyway the ladies were terrific and I made short work of the coffee....

On our way again to the next big town on our route called Surgeres. We stopped here for a cool drink and cakes and noticed a rather large riding group who had just finished their ride. As Chris did not have a bike water bottle ( he was a rather large bottle of water by our hosts in Niort) we thought we should ask our way to the nearest bike shop or supermarket to buy a bottle. Anyone of the group, Trevor, offyto give Chris a bottle from his home. We followed Trevor to his houses had a good chat about our travels and he made a few recommendations for the days ahead which may see us traveling to Spain on the Atlantic side and then ride through part of the Pyrenees and climb one or two of the mountains there including Tourmalat

Seems that this is better and quieter than going through to the Mediterranean Sea 

We said our thank you and arvoir to Trevor and made our way to Chatelaillon-Plage which is on the Atlantic coast 

Along the way we passed through farms where they were harvesting their crops 

At Chatelaillon-Plage we stopped for a lunch... an omelette... and a drink and then attempted to locate Chris’s French teacher’s mum who owns a florist shop....unfortunately she was out for the day and the shop was shut ... so onwards to La Rochelle 

The route north along the coast took us past some very nice holiday homes and hotels as it seems this is a very popular place for seaside holidays and the food is good with mussels and oysters being farmed locally 

Finally we arrived at the hotel in La Rochelle at about 3.15 pm and collapsed in to the swimming pool 

We had a great day of riding today after the drama of yesterday!!!

The ladies at Saint Pierre d’Amelie

Peter and Trevor at Surgeres

Harvesting the crops....

Interesting shot of a silo ... note the wheat and barley crops 

A well deserved lunch of an omelette and drink!

The beach at Chatelaillon-Plage I

Home for the night at La Rochelle 

Day 14- Forced Rest Day Niort

Today was not our best day..

We started out with great intentions having woken to a good breakfast provided by the hotel. Then as we were making our way back to our room I took a look in the courtyard where our bikes were stored only to notice that Chris’s bike was not there!!

After speaking to the owners of the hotel we ascertained that someone had broken in to the locked courtyard and had taken the bike....

Christoff who owned the hotel and his wife Sonjon were mortified at this and were extremely helpful. Christoff who works as a policeman was able to take us down to the police station so the appropriate statements were made for insurance purposes. He then ascertained that the bike loss was covered under his policy and was willing to fund the purchase of a new bike for Chris.... A truly wonderful gesture by this generous Frenchman!!!

Then it was off to a bike shop to buy Chris a new bike... Unfortunately the bike Chris wanted was not in stock so we arranged for a loan bike until the new bike is ready in approximately 1 week ( or less if delivery can be organised)

One of the interesting things I learned from this is to understand what gadgets are on the bike so when replacements are required you know 

The other obvious lesson is to have bike locks on your bike even when in what appears safe storage....

It seems that our plans for the next week are going to be some somewhat fluid as we will need to make a trip back to Niort to collect the new bike

With all the coming and going to the police station and the bike shop I seemed to have lost my reading glasses which is a real pain. Fortunately I was able to pick up a pair of cheap glasses from a optical shop which will see me through... pardon the pun!!!

Afraid relook at our schedule we head to the Atlantic coast in the morning and it looks like the weather will be quite warm 

I guess today has been one of a few challenges and we seem to have responded well to them

The other feeling is how extremely lucky we were to have had Christoff and his wife to help us through the day... they were simply grand

Also the bike store was great to lend Chris a good bike for a time at no cost so we could continue on our journey 

Despite feeling a bit flat we look forward to getting on the bikes for the days ahead

At the police station.... Chris with Christoff making the statement 

Chris and Christoff and the bike store staff helping to choose the new bike

The front of the bike store in Niort 

Some Statistics....

Thought you might be interested to know we have now done 1011 kms to then end of today... we topped to 1000 km Mark

Big celebration 

We have also climbed 6415 metres cumulative from the start of the ride

Day 13 - Poitiers to Niort- 84 kms

Today was officially classified as a “short ride “ day as only had a ride of about 80 kms as opposed to the previous few days before our rest day of over 100kms per day

We started riding a little later at 8.30 am and Chris was in charge of navigation for the day

Well it seems Chris had the navigation out of Poitiers well and truly sorted out as we took about half an hour to get out of the town rather than the more normal hour!

I thought today I would take a few photos of the typical roads we have traveled over in our trip through France....so I called today a “ Road day”

Comparing the roads we are traveling on here with those last year on the LEJOG ride both Chris and I think the roads here are better to ride on and once out of town (our nemisis so far except today ) the navigation seems to be easier than in the UK

You will see from the photos we travel on gravel roads ..... generally in short distances between surfaced roads. We then travel on country lanes in either open country of hedge rows. The next level of roads are the minor roads generally connecting smaller towns and villages. Finally for us the next level is the major roads connecting major cities where the traffic includes cars and trucks..... generally we traveled very little on these roads. Beyond this of course you have the major motorways which we have not travelled on and hopefully will not do so on our bikes!!!!

Enough on roads..... today really was sensational for riding with a breeze behind us most of the way and we were generally heading down hill although there were a few bigger pinches to climb to keep us on our toes 

At various times we were traveling quite easily at speeds of 40 KPH for long stretches 

Our stop for coffee was in a small town called Sanxay where we were able to converse with the publican for a coffee and juice ( for Chris) ....there was little else going on in the town although one of the locals invited us up to see his home. Unfortunately we were unable to find him after our coffee... pity really as it might have been interesting to see what lies beyond the walls of the homes we see as we ride through the towns

Anyway as we were making good time it seemed best to push on and see if we could make Niort before lunch. We stopped several times to look at the views to take photos of the roads mainly and to organise accommodation in Niort.... we had several offers out on Warm Showers accomodation but the responses we were getting were not favourable.

Our executive decision was to sort out a cheap hotel which we did at about 1.00 pm!!!

We tried to have a lunch at a very posh restaurant in Sainte Maxient but they were closed for lunch. The owners were happily eating lunch and I guess they though a couple of cyclists in Lycra would not be the right image for their establishment!!!

Anyway we had some water and left over lollies and were on our way to Niort in no time at all... the last 20 kms just flew by 

We arrived with no navigation errors at our hotel at about 3.15 pm well inside the 6.00pm curfew due to great leadership by Chris and some assistance from the “wind gods”

A great day of riding... for me anyway one of the best 

A lovely scene here of a village with stream 

.... on the other side of the bridge 

Coffee at last!!

Road study.... normal country lane/ hedgerow 

Road study.... major road linking towns

Road study.... gravel road 

Road study.... road between villages

Nice restaurant/ hotel where we were refused lunch as they were closed??



Home for the night.... posh hotel with towels!!!

Could be an interesting place for a new business to be born as Chris and I discussed the idea of doing these sort of trips with others as a business.... you never know!!

ANZAC Bike Tours

Day 12- Rest Day

Last evening during dinner we both thought we might have a day of rest after a few days over doing over 110 kms each day, but we decided to wait to see how we felt in the morning 

Lo and behold waking up at about 7.45 am we both thought that a day of rest would be good and we could do a few chores including cleanup our bikes and the like

So after a good breakfast provided by the youth hostel we cleaned and oiled our bikes. Whilst doing this we caught up with Helma the Dutch lady walking from Holland to Spain. She spoke to us for some time about her travels and hoe who looked at getting about 30 plus km’s each day depending on the terrain 

After the bike clean I went for a walk to find a coffee shop and in the big gardens the city I found a coffee shop which seemed ideal for us to have lunch....

Chris and I then cycled to the restaurant in the gardens and Had the most wonderful smorgasbord lunch in delightful surroundings.... the food was delicious and it was very popular with the locals. We had about a 2 hour lunch chatting about all sorts of things

After lunch we rode through the park then back to the hostel so Chris could sort out a few technical issues with his Garnim... I watched the start of the French Grand Prix

Such was the lunch we had today, dinner was going to be light 

Tomorrow we travel to Niort which is about an 80 km trip

It looks like we will start early before the heat gets up

A good day or rest for us both 

Helma from Holland and her walking frame with all her goods and chattels ....

.....finally a good cappuccino!!!!!

Venue for lunch... chef is preparing crepes!

... meanwhile another chef get the main courses ready 

Picture of map of who we have been 

.... and where we are still to go!!!!

Day 11- Saumur to Poitiers- 114 kms

After another good night of sleep ( possibly due to the 2 glasses of wine over dinner) we awoke to a beautiful morning with a wind in the direction of our ride. I must admit we have been very lucky as the past 4 days we have had favourable wind conditions. It would not be pleasant with a strong headwind on the open farm land we have been travelling through overthrow past few days. I guess the wind gods have been smiling on us!!!

We set off at about 8.00 am and I was “chief navigator “ for the day!

My start was not good as we took time to find our way out of Saumur.... we returned to the hotel twice to reset our start. So much for my navigation skills 

Any after our normal hour to exit Saumur we were heading through wine growing country with the roads going over rolling hills... all very pretty. As we progressed there were several lovely villages .... but none with a coffee and balongarie . We finally found a shop which was a delightful break. The timing was excellent to catch up with Robyn and the news from home... the dees lost against Port Adelaide and the weather in Melbourne is freezing... far cry here in France where the weather is a very nice 24- 26 degrees 

Then back on the bikes we were looking to have lunch at the approximate half way point at Loudun... well it seems the master of navigation missed the town and we had to try for a cafe in a small village. As luck would have it Chris saw a group of people near what we thought was a cafe only to find it was a private function... as we were a bit tired we took some time to rest and replan lunch options when the chefs for the function spoke to us and after much guessing it seems they were offering to share some of the function fare with us....it was a god send and the veal with champignons was gobbled down quick smart.  It made us both feel a bit humble to be welcomed by our new French friends 

After thank yous it was on our way again 

Fortunately the lack of navigation worked in our favour as we traveled on a fairly major road in towards Poitiers 

With the wind behind we made gout one reaching speeds at times over 45 Kms/ hr for long stretches

We made a couple of stops along the way to have water a soft drink and some fresh fruits 

We also found a lovely balongari and could not go past a sweet tart!!!

Finally we arrived in Poitiers and navigated our way to the youth hostel ... the time of arriving was about 6.30 pm about half an hour after the 6.00pm curfew all due to poor navigation on my part!!

The youth hostel seems ok and we met a lady from Holland who is walking to Spain and doing 2600 kms!!! 

She has this wheelie contraption which contains all her clothing and personal items .... she has walked so far over 900 kms!

We decided rather than go to a cafe downtown we would “stay in” and use the hostel kitchen 

Chris went shopping at the local supermarket whilst I organised the washing and he came back with a veritable feast of beer and nuts/ chips followed by ham salad ....  a great feast fit for a couple of old buggers riding through France 

Today has been particularly tiring for me and we both think we might have a day of rest tomorrow.... all a bit of a mystery but isn’t that what holidays are for 

View of the Loire from the bridge 

Interesting feedlot on our way through the Loire 

A lovely farm along or travels

Gosh what is this guy doing on his bike!!!

Our lunch courtesy of the chefs for the function....yummy!

Arvo tea.....

Home for the night in Poitiers