31. May, 2022

TUESDAY 31-05-22

It was indeed a peaceful night, though The Chef heard a bit from the Yoof around midnight. I suspect the acoustics around the harbour area amplify any noise made in that area.

We were up in good time this morning. There was everything to dump and a fresh water tank to fill. Once again we had a shower indoors sparing us the grief of using the campsite facilities. Municipal Camping Le Soleil (N46.150737° W1.158235°) was in a great location but it's toilet blocks were quite unacceptable. This morning the toilet cassette dump rooms were both locked leaving me to walk back up towards our pitch and pour it in to a bodged facility by the side of the campsite roadway. Quite why they would want to lock such rooms is beyond me.

Back on the road, our first stop was at the local Carrefour supermarket (N46.138429° W1.143937°). It was nothing special in all honesty, but it did give us the chance to have a stock-up before we headed north.

Today we were heading for Pornic. The Satnav, 'IT', told us that it was a journey of about one-hundred miles, but would take us over three hours to complete. But somehow or other it wasn't far out, even though a chunk of it was done on a toll road.

Eventually we arrived at the aire here at Pornic (N47.120681° W2.091668°). It's on the edge of town and has a dump station which is really good. It only has space for seven vehicles, so it's a nice size.

After arriving we decided to rest in the heat of the afternoon sun and have a wander in to town later in the day when it should be cooler.

At this point I'd normally give you a bit about where we're visiting, but today I won't bother. One of the guidebooks for this coastline is a Marco Polo publication 'French Atlantic Coast'. Talk about bumming a place up. It really is naughty. People like us pay good money for such publications to get the low-down on what a place is like, and from that, make a judgement on whether or not it's worth a visit.  All I will tell you is that according to the book: The residents of this most important and probably loveliest resort (pop 14,000) on the Côte de Jade once travelled as far as Newfoundland to catch cod. We'll leave it there.

Pornic was in and out, in and out, on the Travelscript, and we only put it back in days ago, only because we were passing right by it to our next destination.

At 16:30 we wandered in to town for a look round. It was nothing special in all honesty, and I'm so pleased we hadn't made a special effort to come and visit.

It was a pretty long walk to town and to soften the blow for the uphill return, we treated ourselves to a nice ice cream before setting out.

This evening whilst I type this dross, The Chef is having a look at our options further north, as we are indeed slowly on our way home.

For me the biggest benefit to being away from home is that we'll miss the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Reading the internet news I see some tabloid daily comic newspapers are accusing the authorities of being petty minded about plans to stage street parties etc. When I was the manager for the Ambulance Service in Cambridge City and South Cambs, I always stipulated that any street party applicant MUST have manned barriers which can be quickly and easily opened to allow the passage of any emergency vehicle. Furthermore, it must be possible to clear a route for an emergency vehicle quickly if neccesary. We would also want the mobile number of the person applying for the permit so that we could contact them if required. I have to say I never had any problems from organisers of any event I made that stipulation to, they understood that need and were very responsible people. Imaging the headlines in those trash newspapers if something goes wrong big time due to an emergency vehicle not being able to get where it needed and lives were lost.

And finally, I take great comfort in reading somewhere that to be truly inclusive, and to embrace The Commonwealth in those celebrations, India has decided to have a mass sing-along involving millions of its citizens especially for Her Majesty. It is to be headed by the well know Indian TV celebrity, Mahatmacoat Shingh, and his fragrant wife, Jasmine 'T', who will both host a show called 'Sing, Sing, Sing, with Shingh & Shingh.

30. May, 2022

30. May, 2022

MONDAY 30-05-22

Ooohhhhh it was another late night. Last night it was the celebration of La Rochelle's rugby team bringing the trophy back to the masses in a hyped up show around the harbour during the evening. Unfortunately the evening spread in to the wee small hours.

This morning the intension was to have a shower in the campsites only shower block with hot water, which was only two doors down from us. I was the first away, but soon returned. The shower and toilet block is basically a temporary Portacabin building with substandard fitments to match. The shower cubicles were a raised shower tray with just enough room within the cubicle to stand between the shower tray and the door. Then the user had to juggle the separate hot and cold taps to get the correct temperature, whilst at the same time using the shower curtain so as not to get the tiny standing area wet.

I returned and decided to have a trip wash instead. We'd have had a shower in the motorhome but we would have needed to heat the water to 60°C from scratch.

I decided last night that today I would have a 'day off', in that I would not take a camera out with me. I had after all, taken enough photographs yesterday and it was unlikely that I would find anything new that was worthy of taking a picture of.

On our way out we said goodbye to our UK neighbours who were leaving this morning heading for home. It felt rather nice walking around not having to look for a potential photograph, and I was able to give my darling Chef my undivided attention.

We wandered around pretty much the same territory that we covered yesterday. The city (only because it has a cathedral) was very much quieter than it had been over the past couple of days, though surprisingly many businesses remained closed. Even the covered market with its exterior stalls was almost non-existent. I guess they all made their money over the weekend and decided not to open today.

We had in mind to have lunch out, and The Chef fancied trying crepes whilst we were here. In the end what we did was bought a lovely filled baguette from the same place we bought yesterdays baguette which we filled ourselves 'at home' for lunch yesterday. Then it was off to the nearby park (yup, today she's remembered the tourists map) where we sat in the sunshine and enjoyed half each. We didn't want a big lunch because we intended to follow it up with a crepe.

With that devoured we wandered back in to town. By then it was about 13:30 and nearing the end of the French 'lunch, beer and a lie down afterwards' period.

Coming in to town we'd spotted a potential eatery serving crepes, and so we made for that. Having sat down and waited we approached by les chubby waiter who pointed to a small sign on the table which informed us we needed to order using a mobile phone. Jesus! What's up with these people? What's so hard about treating a customer like a customer? I just told him we didn't have a phone with us, so he flipped out his notepad and took the order. These damned waiters will be working from home next.

So in good time we were each presented with a coffee with hot milk, and a crepe with sugar and lemon (just like home, only we call them pancakes and they're a damned site cheaper). The Chef and I were guessing how much it would come to, and I said given the location and its popularity we wouldn't get much change out of twenty Euros. When we asked for the bill, he told us how much it was in Frogspeak and The Chef gave him a twenty Euro note. He went away for the change. When he came back I told him to keep it. Given that his eyes didn't start watering at our gratitude and generosity I guess the change didn't amount to much. The Chef was a bit put out that I didn't check how much change he was giving us before telling him he could keep it. But hey, how often do you get to play a flash git?

Soon after that we made our way back 'home' where we, that is The Chef, cracked on with some chores. I was occupying myself with amending the Travelscript before discussing with Rosina our options for where we go after this.

This evenings fine dining experience was to be a barbecue. However I had seen a sign somewhere telling us minions that they were banned, though from previous experience gas barbecues are usually exempt. Rather than risk breaking the rules I popped up to Reception. Dear Lord, the lass up there was so slow. I think I reached the front of the queue after about forty-five minutes, just to ask a thirty-second question, and yes gas barbecues were permitted.

So a barbie it was, followed by our getting the vehicle as ready as we could for hitting the road tomorrow.

We've very much enjoyed our visit here to La Rochelle, though we do look forward to getting a proper, quiet night's sleep tonight. Fingers crossed.

I'm adding just one picture tonight, taken while I'm barbecuing, and only because a picture will separate today's text from tomorrows.

29. May, 2022

29. May, 2022