Having spent the previous day in Île de Re, and cycling back to La Rochelle in the evening to stay in the municipal campsite there – having found all the campsites I enquired in Île de Re to be full – it was time to leave La Rochelle and continue the journey south.

La Rochelle harbour is renowned for it’s sailing yachts, which I saw in abundance when leaving the southern part of city, passing through Les Minimes. Apparently this is the largest marina in France for pleasure boats.

Further down the coast outside La Rochelle the tide was quite far out and there were places selling oysters and mussels. I passed through some low key resort areas, and around the edge of Rochefort, where I stopped in a very large Decathlon store to get some bicycle things.

The most direct route south would require taking a small boat across the Charente river, as the adjacent transporter bridge was closed for refurbishment and the main bridge seemed to be for motorists only. All the other passengers were cyclists too, taking the same shortcut.

After passing through the marshland near Marennes I cycled over a bridge crossing the estuary of La Seudre and the beach on the other side fringed with thick pine forest became visible. I cycled through the pine forest for a while and then reached the campsite at La Palmyre where I pitched the tent in a large clearing amongst the pine trees and pleasant aroma of incense thanks to a neighbouring camper. Later in the evening I cycled a few miles down the road, passing the zoo and Club Med, to find a pretty long beach with honey coloured sand. On the way back to the campsite, along the seafront path, I noticed a convoy of jet skiers.

Distance: 61 miles

Maximum temperature: 23 degrees C

Leaving La Rochelle

The largest marina in France for pleasure boats at Les Minimes, La Rochelle

Beach at La Palmyre

Jet ski convoy