Soulac-sur-Mer – Eurovelo 1

The most direct route down the west coast involved getting a car ferry across from Royan to Pointe de Grave. To avoid that would have meant a large detour, almost to Bordeaux, so I cycled the short distance to Royan and arrived by ferry in Pointe de Grave at lunch time.

When the sea became visible from the cycle path there was the most surf that I had seen so far on the trip, and the main beach at Soulac-sur-Mer looked very appealing. The area looked like a nice place to stay and I found a campsite which I checked in to around 3pm. It had access to a beach where people were kitesurfing and enjoying the surf and it was a relaxing place to spend some time.

Distance: 22 miles

Maximum temperature: 23 degrees C

Beach next to the campsite in Soulac-sur-Mer

Kitesurfing at Soulac-sur-Mer

Main beach at Soulac-sur-Mer

The sunrise over the ocean at Soulac-sur-Mer was picturesque, it was an easy early morning walk towards the beach from the tent pitch to view the sunrise over the sea. The beach stretched quite far, but further in to the day and further south, the beaches would appear to stretch even further and wider, where the coastline would become less curved.

The sea wouldn’t be visible for much of the route south as it involved travelling along very well constructed paved cycle paths through the pine forest. Often they looked newer and were in better condition than the adjacent roads. I only made 2 stops at the coast at Montalivet-les-Bain and Hourtin-Plage, where I stopped for lunch. Both of these places seemed to be popular with surfers, and the beach at Hourtin stretched impressively in both directions, as far as one could see.

Then I diverted inland further, going through Carcans and Lacanau, before turning almost due east to Bordeaux. The whole route was incredibly flat with only 452 feet of vertical ascent. After turning east I was expecting to encounter some vineyards as I approached Bordeaux. I didn’t see any, and it turned out that the wine regions are mainly found to the north, east and south of the city. The Lacanau – Bordeaux cycle route was very impressive, with a long, well surfaced dedicated cycle path, which is notably straight, with a cleared area a few meters to each side, and then lots of pine trees.

The hotel was in the north of the city close to a lake and it was a nice to see how the scenery changed on the approach through the suburban areas. The following morning I took the tram in to the centre.

Visiting the Tour Pey Berland, next to the cathedral, gave excellent views of the city and provided some historical insights. As did the Musèe des Beaux-artes with it’s large classical collection alongside some scenes of life in the city many centuries ago.

Distance: 82 miles

Maximum temperature: 26 degrees C