26/09/09

Day 18 – September 26
Not the first away from the aire this morning and despite the forecast for cloud we have enjoyed brilliant sunshine again today. We left La Tranche by the road we thought led to the campsite we stayed at 20 years ago, only to find that we were on a new bypass. We eventually found our way back to the original road and can report that the campsite is still exactly where we left it!
Our next stop was La Rochelle. This is a lovely port and one of my favourite places, as it seems to me to be the gateway to southern France. Full of cafes, bars, restaurants and very upmarket shops – even a Galleries Lafayette – it has a very cosmopolitan atmosphere in a historic setting dating back to the 11th century. Peter and I laughed together as we walked along the quayside at a photograph we have of Sophie as a chubby two-year old with a mass of blonde curls, clambering on a bench there all those years ago – sorry Soph!
We found the market and spent quite a while browsing round admiring food – one of our favourite pastimes! There were many fish stalls selling oysters, mussels, langoustines and every other seafood imaginable cheek by jowl with fantastic meat and charcuterie stands and vegetable stalls with magnificent colourful displays of their produce in huge baskets as centrepieces. Everything looks so fresh and appetising!
Leaving here we tried two camping accessory shops to try to get an LPG filler adapter, but they couldn’t help nor make any suggestion who could. Fingers are well and truly crossed that the gas will hold out, and needless to say our gas usage is now very frugal!
Our original plan tonight was to stay at an aire at Boyardville on Ile d’Oleron which overlooks Fort Boyard, the venue for the TV challenge show, but when we arrived we found that the aire has been closed – great!
So we have ended up using our France Passion membership for the first time tonight. This allows us to stay at a variety of participating rural locations, usually farms or vineyards, and so we find ourselves fortunate enough to still be able to sit outside in very warm evening sunshine with our G&Ts, this late in September, in a huge vineyard. What bliss!