Saturday, June 15, 2013

John & Lynne's French odyssey. Day 5: La Rochelle and the Atlantic side of Oléron

The ancient city, La Rochelle is a little more than an hour’s drive north of Ile d’Oléron
We parked near the harbour with its two towers guarding the entrance
and looked at the menus
of some of the restaurants which ring the old harbour
It is a beautiful old city
An interesting display of bottles outside a restaurant
Plenty of souvenir shops
Views from the harbour wall
Fish (small shark?) spawning in the harbour
We had a beer and a sandwich on the harbour wall
and took a walk round the town
The City Hall
A shop selling nothing but tinned fish, beautifully packaged

The tiny back streets are full of small bars, shops and restaurants
Sparrows are everywhere, feasting on the crumbs
Then back to Oléron for a walk on the beach on the Atlantic side

The sand has cross-hatching patterns, which occur naturally
The beach is long and wide with shallow lagoons
Children racing small land yachts
People digging for clams
and a wreck
Then home for a locally brewed dark beer
and supper with the Faugères given to us by Guilhem Grosperrin
RETURN TO MENU
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013

John & Lynne's French odyssey, Day 4, Château d’Oléron

After a slow start to the morning, we drove to the Château d’Oléron, which is actually an ancient walled town
with a yacht harbour
and a castle built at the same time as Cape Town Castle and in similar style. It is not as well maintained and was bombed by the French air force in 1945
Poppies growing in the walls
Only two buildings still stand in the castle grounds
one of the gates
and the moat
a fishing boat returns, with the causeway in the background
and the guard tower
a Magpie
a sculpture at an art exhibition
a dinghy race in the bay
and another view of Fort Bayard
One of the windows in the outer wall above the sea
and a place to rest, perhaps for the castle's ghosts
Two skinks enjoying a bit of sunshine
We visited a charming shop which sells our kinds of products
and went home to a supper of lobster bisque
which attracted some of the local cats

RETURN TO MENU
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013