Day 62: Marennes to La Rochelle

April 8, 2024

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The "zen room in the country" that we booked in to for last night was indeed very quiet, but it made us nervous rather than calm. The reason was that this was just a room on somebody's house, and we were sharing the space including the bathroom with them. Our unease was increased because they had not bothered to clear or tidy their personal stuff from either the bathroom or the kitchen table, where we were given to understand we could eat. So we just holed up in our tiny room and waited for morning.

What turned out to be a major advantage was that the window to our room opened to the patio where the bikes were stored. So we could pass all our stuff through the window and avoid passing through the house. We did of course have to pass through to get out ourselves, and at 7:30 a.m., when we were ready to go, our housemates were still nowhere to be seen. That was ok, except that the door was not only locked but also had a motorized shutter affair lowered. Fortunately the key was there, and after some time we escaped the building. We felt a little bad about not saying a nice (or any) goodbye, but we hadn't formed any sort of bond or liaison the night before, and had spent our time basically hiding. So the open road looked pretty good.

Most of the area for our ride today, from Marennes to La Rochelle, is covered by marsh. This was of course all different from the pines forests we have become accustomed to. No pollen! (no trees). We did immediately begin to spot various birds. Our first one was the Common Shelduck shown below.

Looks like a Black Kite (slightly forked tail).

The EV1 signage starting around Marennes claimed to be provisional, but we have no idea what that meant in practice or how long the route has been "provisional". But for the most part it was paved, if a little rough.

The route wound through marsh, between watery channels, in a rather exciting way.

This is ideal ragondin territory, and we spotted several, but they all dove before we could get a picture. The ragondin might be "nutria" in English, but that is also the German name. "Coypu" also seems to be a name for this, and the Germans may also call it "sumpfbiber" (swamp beaver).

What a ragondin photo would look like, had we gotten one.

These are nice white horses, but not the glorious ones found in the Camargue, on the other side of the country.

These are having a party - must be getting close to breeding season.

Before too long, the single track landed up at a village, and we were back to pavement. We also ran into that helpful style of man beside the road, who wants to know where you are going, and then begins giving elaborate directions, which distracts from looking at the GPS, which is the only true way to get where you want to be in the long run.

Back on pavement, beside characteristic yellow Spring field of rapeseed.

The man trying to give us directions did mention "Transbordeur" in his presentation, and in this he was right on. In an effort to pare our distance to La Rochelle to something manageable for today, we had developed an alternative, one that dispensed with a big loop in the EV1, and that crossed the Charente river near the town of Echillais. At this point, there is a giant bridge across the river, and one that bikes are theoretically allowed on. But theory is one thing, and having the courage to go up high, in the cross wind, is another.

But this "Transbordeur" was another way. Dodie says she knew about this thing, but it was all news to me. Further, I was asking what "borders" this might be crossing, and Dodie did not have an answer, at least at first. Later, it dawned on her. Here is the whole story. The "Transbordeur" is an amazing 100 year old "bridge" that consists of high towers on either side of the Charente, with an ironwork structure spanning from one tower to the other. But this thing, way up high, is not the bridge. Rather, a flat bit of decking is suspended from overhead, and this deck crosses the river as the suspension cables are moved along the ironwork overhead.

Echillais is famous for a couple of reasons.

First look at the "transbordeur". I had no idea what I was looking at.

A poster dramatizes work on the transbordeur. One exciting thing from history - in 1920 a truck almost fell off the gondola, and it was a delicate but critical job to bring it to shore and get it to safety. It was carrying 4 tons of brandy!

Some other cyclists arrived while we were waiting for the gondola. They are from Lyon and are doing a circuit of France.

The gondola has quaint old style benches and railings.

Here is the bridge we are avoiding going on!

So what's with "Transbordeur"? Despite having been in the French environment for over a week, it did not occur to us that "border" in French is "frontiere", so "bordeur" is not even vaguely related to borders. No, in French "bord" is an edge. The "transbordeur" is a contraption that goes from edge (shore) to edge.

We had said that Echillais was famous for a couple of reasons. One is clearly the transbordeur. The other is the author Pierre Loti. Loti is the famous author of perhaps 40 books, one of which is "The Story of a Child" (1890) in which Echillais apparently figures prominently, though Loti was born in Rochefort. Tours are offered here today to see sights from the book.

After the transbordeur, we continued through even more marsh, with EV1 taking the Charente Trail, which follows the river.

The marsh here seemed a little tamer than around Marennes, with some horses, and fences to keep them off the road.

Fairly suddenly, we popped out of the marsh and into some new kinds of territory. We were at the ocean now, though with the tide out, there was little water to be seen.

In ponds along the shore, oysters were being grown.

Surprisingly, we now ran into those three fellows from Lyon. We expected them to be much faster than us. Probably they stopped for a long French lunch. We exchanged some more UQs, before they were off again.

The track led down the waterfront, on a dirt path.

This soon became an active beach community.

With another one of those Ferris wheels that seem to be everywhere.

Many of the houses in this area were similar to "Soulac" style. I did not quite get the right photo to illustrate this.

In due course, the beach community thing changed into the major LaRochelle harbour. Here were hundreds or thousands of recreational boats, repair facilities, and large boat transport rigs that cradle the boat in straps and move it along.

We arrived at the entrance to the La Rochelle inner harbour, which is guarded by three towers. Standing directly in the entrance is the Saint Nicolas tower (14 th century) and the Chaine (also 14th century). These defensive towers actually did have a chain stretched from one to another at some time. The third tower is the Lanterne. The Lanterne is a lighthouse, joining two others around the harbour, but also in the 16th century it was a prison for privateers, and later it became a military prison.

The towers that control the harbour entrance.

The harbour is surrounded by handsome houses. They are not Belle Epoque, exactly, but just picturesque.

This wheel, right at the harbour, was in operation when we passed by.

The buildings at the back of the harbour - on the way to our hotel.

There is a lighthouse among the buildings.

A view of the harbour, with the three towers.

See the church at the left? Tomorrow we plan to go there, and pass through the arch, which we think leads to a pedestrian street.

Our hotel, on the harbour. Our window looks out at the towers. Interestingly, the Tour de Nesle is not a tower in La Rochelle, in fact it is not a tower anywhere. The Tour de Nesle existed near the Louvre in Paris, but was demolished in 1653.

Dodie booked our hotel, for 114 euros, but later found out they had no room for bikes. They proposed a larger room, on a lower floor, which could then accommodate the bikes, but the new room was 50 euros more! We then missed the time for cancelling the booking, and the best that could be done was to negotiate only 40 extra euros for the larger, lower room.

"Lower" meant first floor, but not to worry, the desk lady said, they would carry our bikes up. When it came to it, I refused the help, and demonstrated how with the right grip I could easily carry the bike on the stairs. I took one bike up, and was returning for the second, when I found the two desk ladies had grabbed it, and hoisted it up the stairs. What's more, here came the two ladies, one joyriding the bike in the corridor! Quite a difference from that uptight hotel in Seville! That's where they would not permit the bikes anywhere near the room, and the bikes got deposited for a hefty fee at a parking garage a block away.

It was raining now, but we grabbed some umbrellas and made a quick tour of the block.

On our quick tour we found a little grocery, and a bakery (there are perhaps five bakeries within a block of our hotel) and stocked up a bit, to avoid the 15 euro each breakfast charge that the hotel wants. In the grocery I noticed a fellow with a totally waterproof backpack. Not that we are at all thinking about walking the Chemin St Jacques, but this seems like it would be very good for something like that. The fellow got his at Decathlon.

We are back in our room, trying to absorb as much ambiance and harbour view as possible, to balance the approximately double cost. The bikes also are really happy here, standing in the corner, looking ready to go.

Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 2,988 km (1,856 miles)

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Jacquie GaudetI'm envious! The Pont Transbordeur was closed for a major restoration when I was in Rochefort in 2019. I had managed to see the one near Bilbao in 2016 and it's very different--and it was open to vehicles. It looks like this one was restored for bikes and pedestrians. How wonderful!
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1 month ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Jacquie GaudetIt was really great fun. We were the first passage of the week (they do their regular maintenance checks Monday morning) so we were as safe as we could be. Last time we were through, 2017, it was not running either.
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1 month ago

Keith KleinHi,
La Rochelle is a great town. I found it really bike friendly, as you have, although the staff at the hotel BordO did not ride my bike down the hall!
Many of Sue’s Quebecois ancestors came from La Rochelle, although many did not go to Quebec by choice!
Cheers
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1 month ago

Suzanne GibsonWe took the pont transbordeur in 2006. A great experience.
https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/2006france/day-36-soulac-la-rochelle-times-up/
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1 month ago