Monday August 18, 2014

A long day today.  Google maps and Le Veolodyssey mileages are completely different.  Google had us cycling 62.8 to Bourcefranc and La Velodyssey had us cycling 90.88!! A little bit of a difference, mainly due to the very rural cycle route.  Velodyssey takes you along farm tracks, very rural roads and canal and river paths.  It keeps you away from all traffic as much as possible.  Unfortunately it also tends to keep you away from small villages and towns.  The route today was rather monotonous – miles and miles of canal and river path.  It was very easy going and safe, but I would like it to take us through towns and villages as well.

When we left our campsite this morning we had decided to spend about an hour visiting La Rochelle as we had blown by everything yesterday.

There were some lovely buildings and lane-ways to explore.

I noticed on the top of La Chaine, (a tower near the waterfront) an inukshuk and the Territory flag of Nunavut.

I went into the Tourisme Office to find out why they had an inukshuk and the Territory flag.  The young woman who served me (Emma) wasn’t sure but asked a colleague. Apparently the curator of the museum is very interested in the Inuit and a couple of years ago did an exhibition on the Inuit. Interesting to note is that La Rochelle was one of the major ports for exporting slaves, the French would bring them from their colonies in Africa and then \”export\” them to the Americas.  The things you learn when you have an inquiring mind.

I also spoke to a lady who told me her son and daughter-in-law were doing the same thing, New Zealand, Australia and are now in South America cycling through Peru, Chile, and will be home for Christmas.  She asked me for my blog and I asked for her sons.  I am going to try and add a BlogRoll on to my blog.  This is a technical term for other people we have met who have shared their websites with us.

This happy 3-wheeler was outside of the Tourisme office.

Although the route was flat we did see our very first stork.  We haven\’t seen wildlife or heard a lot of birds in France.

Our route today did take us through a couple of Towns and this bridge was quiet amazing connecting the old with the new just outside of Rochefort.

We came into Bourcefranc by the back road, we thought it was a small Town, but as we progressed through it, we found it to be quite large and found this lovely old windmill which had been restored by the owner of the property and is now owned and maintained by the Town\’s citizens.

The campsite was a municipal site and fairly quiet, although we could hear the highway.

Our meal tonight was very interesting – Menu option # 4 – sausages and lentils (one can) and potatoes (a second can), very filling and tasted quite good, either that or our taste buds are completely shot.  Ralf suggested we buy real sausages next time as opposed to wieners in a can.