17&18 Sept. A rest
Pont L'abbé de L'Arnould was a great little town and I didn't want to leave. It took me until noon to get out of there, after a trip back to the bar and the bank to top up with cash and food for the weekend.
The cycling to Royan was pretty much plain sailing and I arrived about 5pm at the ferry port to cross the Gironde estuary.
The crossing takes about 30 minutes and the single ferry goes back and forth all day long. It doesn't even tie up at the dock but the captain keeps the engines gently turning, pushing the boat against the quayside whilst everybody gets off and on. I wish I'd taken a video of the disembarkation. There were hundreds and hundreds of cyclists coming off that ferry. They kept coming off long after all the cars had left. It was a very inspiring thing to see, and made me feel that perhaps there is a little hope for our planet after all.
It was a beautiful day and the crossing was exhilarating, everybody, including quite a number of dogs, out on deck in the open air.
I was feeling hungry and tired by the time we got to the other side and found a Vietnamese takeaway restaurant in the first town I came to, Le Verdon sur Mer. Ordering was fairly comical as the Vietnamese woman at the counter spoke her français with a very Oriental accent, and she thought I was taking the piss until she realised I was English and my French pronunciation was probably as bad as hers. The food was absolutely delicious, and I thanked her as well as I was able. All I needed now was a nice place to camp, warm showers still being off the menu. And lo and behold just outside Le Verdon was an Eco campsite which I feared would no doubt charge me over the odds for a planet friendly experience. But I couldn't have been more wrong. It was seven euros for the night and the lady at reception took great pains to guide me through the pine forest to the wild beach to see the sunset over the Atlantic. It was awe inspiring, I'm not sure I've ever seen such a clean crisp and distant horizon. The nearest land in that direction would be the USA. The ocean itself, although quiet, was full of power and appeared slightly menacing as the waves seemed to be traveling across each other in at least two different directions, creating an impression of lightly concealed turbulence. I felt strangely at home in this wild environment and decided before sleeping that I did not want to pack up and keep moving the next day.
Not only did I fall asleep early but I didn't wake up until 9:30, so I was very happy that I hadn't put myself under any pressure to move on. It was great just to hang out in this beautiful place. It was run by Kathy and Pascal who were amicably separated as she put it. Pascal had once lived in Oxford and worked as a motor cycle despatch rider. Kathy gave me orange juice and coffee for breakfast and some laundry liquid for my clothes, they were both incredibly laid back. It was the end of the holiday season and most of the people staying were attending a yoga course being held somewhere round about. I did my laundry played some music and serviced the bike. The chain was at its wear limit and would need changing very soon. I went online and found a shop only ten minutes away that had one in stock, and they were even open on Sunday afternoon. The shop was in Soulac sur Mer, the next town which was a big holiday destination and still in full swing. I know it doesn't look like it from this snap but it was veritably bustling with life
On the way back I came across a replica of the statue of liberty, gazing out across the Atlantic just as I had done last night. It was cast from the original moulds that were used as prototypes for the actual statue made in 1866 and given by the French to the newly independent USA. It made me think of all the places in the world currently trying to break free from hegemony of one sort or another, and a photo I had seen in a newspaper of Prince Harry and William with Megan and Kate by their sides looking very uncomfortable and oppressed and as if they couldn't quite believe all this was still going on in the 21st century. What a phantom this liberty is that we cherish so dearly.
Robert Zimmerman sang in my head "Are birds free from the chains of the skyways?"
Enough of all this philosophising, I had to get back to the reality of planning the next few days of my trip. Things were getting uncertain because of continuing wildfires in the region I was planning to travel through. In the previous week things were quite serious with a couple of towns temporarily evacuated and various restrictions which are still in place both to protect people from the fires and to prevent new ones from starting. My friend Sylvie who lives on the west coast just south of all the fires has been keeping me up to date with information, and I have to say it all does still look a little uncertain. But today at least there are no reported road closures although some of the cycle paths through the forested areas have been closed indefinitely. There is a constant cold dry wind blowing at the moment and everything is tinder dry, so that I wouldn't dare to use my gas stove even if I could get it refuelled. One good thing is that warm showers have come back online and I have put in a few guesting requests along the route to Sylvie's. It's also real outward bound country and is packed with campsites so I don't think I will have any trouble finding a place to stay.
Before I turn in for the night I thought I'd share this snap I took of a building in Royan. It didn't come out too clearly but once I had gotten over my initial revulsion at the ugliness of the edifice, it really made me laugh.
Notaires, I knew to be lawyers, Comptables are accountants, Assureurs, insurance brokers, and they all share the building with Hustlers. What the hell is going on here? Who are these Hussieres I've never heard of before? Turns out in the dictionary they are bailiffs! I wonder if that's the origin of our English word hustler? What a collection!
Finally I've just spotted an offer too good to miss on eBay for anyone who still runs a dvd player. This film is one of the main reasons I'm going to Algeria
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354285813762?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l1120&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=f9b46220b7284a2ba01c4fb5998d4384&bu=43131639822&ut=RU&exe=102358&ext=240835&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20220918080607&segname=11021
