With just over 1500kms on her, Barbie has been a delightful addition to our travels. Why Barbie you ask? Well, with Ken as our GPS, we thought it fitting (well, I did anyway) that we give the Peugot a nickname. Before we go on, we suggest that you go and get yourself a fresh cup of coffee, because we’ve been around, and it’s been a while…and boy, do we get around!
After bidding Jean-luc and Irene au revoir, we headed to the much talked about Le Mont St Michel. It’s a former Benedictine Abbey that sits on a rocky outcrop of granite, isolated in the middle of the ocean. It’s role has changed over the years from abbey to prison and there were even a couple of fires, but even through all this it has escaped any real damage from wars or natural diasters since it was built in the 10th century. Today it’s a museum/gallery surrounded by a quaint village of shops and one of the most visited attractions in NW France. Some pics.
Le Mont St Michel
The quadrangle used by monks in the abbey
The abbey
Medieval streets that lead up to the abbey
Tide out; the road to Le Mont St Michel (cars have to leave by 5pm when tide due)
People have died in the quicksand, become lost in the fog or drowned in fast approaching tides at LMSM
Built on granite
After a few good hours exploring, we clambered into Barbie and headed south towards a city called Nantes. Our accommodation was actually a villa with full clean kitchen so I had the pleasure of cooking the JB his first home cooked meal for a while. Only pasta, but he ravaged it. Fed, rested and full of energy we set off the next day without any idea of where we would spend that night, other than in the general direction of La Rochelle – known as the white city for the beautiful limestone facades that decorate each street. We ended up at a lovely Chateau, well next to it anyway…
The Chateau just outside of La Rochelle
…it’s obviously having some work done. We had hoped to stay a few nights longer although we timed our visit to coincide with a marathon, which ensured that all accommodation in town and surrounding was booked out! So we spent our one day in La Rochelle wandering about the marina (one of the largest in France) and checking out St Nicholas and the Chaine Towers, as well as a medieval lighthouse.
Port entrance at La Rochelle; Chaine Tower on the left and St Nicholas Tower on the right
Part of the marina from St Nicholas Tower
The little green boat we caught across the water from one Tower to the other
View from port out to the Atlantic Ocean
Come up with your own caption for this one
La Rochelle, city of white, even if it's a little overcast
So unable to find a bed available anywhere, and not yet willing to sleep in Barbie, we followed the West coast down to another little seaside locale, Royan. BUT, on the way, the JB and Ken had colluded and decided to detour 3km over water, by car to visit some apparent Chateau. Boy did I ‘chateau’ myself going over the bridge, although the white finger tips were worth the result – a lovely little French Isle called Ile d’Oleron. It was one of those unexpected little finds; a fort that has oodles of history and has been left in a pile of ruins.
That's the bridge in the distance - couldn't get it all in one shot
Fort grounds at Chateau d'Oleron
Crumbling ruins at Chateau d'Oleron
We found escape routes connected to tunnels like this one through a bridge
Going back over the bridge from d'Oleron to the mainland
The next morning we set off once again seeking more adventures, this time in pretty Royan. We drove to La Grande Cote and wandered the beach where we found some relics lying on the beach. They’re definitely man made, but we couldn’t find any information on them anywhere.
Relics on the beach at La Grande Cote
Beautiful French coastline; the Atlantic Ocean
From here headed to the Grottes, Regulus and Matata, which are naturally occuring caves carved into limestone cliffs. They now cater to the tourist market, used as restaurants, holiday houses and hotels etc.
The Grottes Regulus
The Grottes Matata
View across the Royan bay from outside our little hotel
From Royan we drove east to a small town with quite a bit of Gallo-Roman history, called Saintes. We visited some the ruins – a 2000yo amphitheatre, the Germanicus Arch and an 11th Century, St Pierre.
Gallo-Roman amphitheatre; arena spectacular
The triumphal arch; where the JB would have passed through had he been a gladiator!
The JB: The Gladiator - who's next???
The Germanicus Arch in Saintes
Walkway with St Pierre view
Last night we arrived in Perigeaux, further east into France and part of the Dordogne region. Today with blue skies again upon us, we’ve been out and about town checking out more Gallo-Roman ruins as well as taking a scenic drive to picnic by the Dordogne Valley, overlooking the Dordogne River which the JB hopes to kayak in the next days.
Vesunna Tower ruins at Perigeaux
Gallo-Roman ruins at Perigeaux
Dordogne Valley
Dordogne Valley
It’s our last night in Perigeaux, which has been thoroughly enjoyable. Tomorrow we move on to a little house that we have rented in the French countryside; near Frayssinet. We are a little more remote there, so not sure when we’ll next blog, but until then keep doing as the Romans do, whatever that is…
Posted by yappingdog 