France Wednesday 3 rd June Saujon to Cognac

Thai Buddha Rupa 

Voltaire -my man 

 

France Tuesday 2 nd Royan Saujon

 Royan s church built in  ,1954 

Fruit and veg market like an upturned clam shell 

France Royan Monday 1st June coastal walk 12 ok

 

France Day Sunday 31st May -Tuesday 2 nd June June 2026 Royan

 Fishing cabins all  along this coast. Went to the Cinema (£9 each ) ten mins walk from this quiet residential district  shady spacious camping car Aire  next door to the train station ( no noise) and 15 mins walk to the beach.  Mandalorian and and Grogu . Diabolical dialogue ! Minimal plot. Not much for Grogu to do. One set of fights after another for several hours . Amazing CGI effects. Exhausting . Like being in an extended video game or a nightmare you can't wake up from. We were wise to watch it on the big screen though as on Disney TV it would be an immediate  switch off. Slept well. Found some sterile waterproof plasters to cover leg wounds for a for a quick sea swim before the cinema , swam from the town beach, quite calm water.

France Wednesday 27 th May Cote Sauvage campsite Wednesday 26 th - Sunday 30th May 2026

 Stayed out due to heatwave of 36. Didn't climb La Coubre lighthouse . Swam in the pool , walked on the beach , sat in the shade. Read. Relaxed. Sleeping at night got easier from Friday 29 th onwards Toppled off bike , scraped my leg on the pedal and then fell over my  electric bike ( which is very heavy )and cut my legs in several places whilst on the cycle  path from La Cote Sausage  campsite to La Plage de Bonne Anse. Bled a lot due to blood thinners. The manager of the snack shop  not only gave us her excellent first aid kit to raid , but also very kindly loaded us up in the  work van bikes et al and drove us back. Andy appreciated  being flirted with whilst I  cried and trembled . Not great sensitivity  but her generosity was welcomed( no local taxis , we asked and she refused a donation 

Surprisingly this peddle scrape has been the most painful and slow to heal !

FRANCE Tuesday 26 th May La Cote Salvage campsite

 Satisfactory swim at 10 am for an hour , found a slot with serious swimmers either side. Left when invaded with excitable group of youngsters   from e UK with dive bombing and  big rubber rings , this activity  drove their elders out quite successfully one by one ! Cold jacuzzi Sauna Steam and Carribbean shower complete with tropical rain sounds 

ower complete with sound effects .

FRANCE Monday 25 th May La Palmyre La Cote Salvage

 Left at 9 for a wander around to find another beach, but no MH parking available , so we parked back outside the Aire and spent a delightful morning swimming and sitting on the beach under our newly acquired sun parasol from , yes you've guessed it,E Le Clerc ! Moved to a Yelloh!  Campsite 10 mins up the road.  Half term .Quiet shady pitch , swimming pool and fun slides , sauna steam and tropical shower . Atlantic beach accessed by trudging up a  huge sand dune. Too much to negotiate in mid afternoon 35 C heat,  and tidal bay was very much out. Swimming pool was rammed  We sat under our awning  all afternoon and evening ,  had showers and there was enough of a very slight  breeze to catch some sleep.

Phare de la Coubre , 10 mins walk. If I can persuade Andy to get up earlier we might make it up there 

Lemon yoghurt for afters . 

FRANCE Sunday 24 th May 26 Aire La Palmyre de Corsaire

 As this is the BH weekend , we couldn't find anywhere other campsite to stay on   so decided to risk an Aire in walking distance of the Baie de Bonne Anse on the mainland  in the region of Charente Maritime 33 degrees . We spent a grateful afternoon in E Le Clerc hypermarket in St Pierre d/ Oleron  en route . Beach was a 10 mins walk from the very crowded aire. Tidal  bay with deep water channel for swimming in against strong outgoings current. Beautiful sunset. Few photos as my phone unwell. 

France Saturday 23 May 26- Ile d'Oleron (W)

Moved to a campsite on the west coast of D'Oleron Les Sables d'Oleron , to find that it  only access to the rollers of the Atlantic Ocean. The swimming pool (which drew us)  was closed for renovation( this was  not mentioned on the English version of the camp website. Andy skilfully negotiated a refund of two nights for us. He swam in the Atlantique twice  and we had a quiet shady campsite  pitch by a wooden fence  with a slight breeze. 

 

France Friday 22 May Ile d'Oleron

 We drove to Boyardville and had a swim. It was incredibly hot today. The motor-home thermometer said 28 degrees when we returned to it after doing some shopping.

France Thursday 21st May Ile d'Oleron

 There are alot of cycle paths on the island, so in the morning we cycled to Chateau d'Oleron beach and swam at morning high tide. A lovely beach!

Photo?

After breakfast we had another go at cycling, this time to the North. The cycle path turned into poorly surfaced road so we didn't get as far as we hoped. The whole area is about oyster culture, lots of roadside purveyors. Many creeks, inlets and engineered seawater ponds to do with growing oysters.

We returned to the van, and later I cycled further to the north to a town called Boyardville. It's a small port and marina - trips to Fort Boyard and a ferry service to la Rochelle from here.

The beach at Boyard, with sailing school pupils being towed back to shore in the absence of wind.

It was an 18 km round trip.

Later we went to the bar for a pint and then looked at the sunset.

France Wednesday 20th May La Rochelle to Ile d'Oleron

 We had a walk round La Rochelle and a coffee before leaving, then drove to the Ile d'Oleron. It's France's second largest island after Corsica. It''s pretty flat, and is connected to the mainland by a causeway. We booked into a campsite on the NE of the island, and with a forecast of warm weather we were hoping to get some swimming in the sea. It turns out that wasn't a great choice as swimming is only possible here on high tides, because the sea goes out a loong way over mud flats. Also by the campsite is a marine protected zone, so no swimming anyway. There's a heated pool though so not all bad!

France Tuesday 19th May St-Vincent-sur-Gard to La Rochelle

We had a walk along the coast before we left St Vincent. There's a good coast path to the North.

Concrete remains from the WWII German Atlantic wall have been decorated with some art.

We revisited the house and garden of the former French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929). He led France through the end of WWI, and was a French hero. After the war, he spent summers of the last decade of his life here developing the gardens. He was mates with Monet. You can read about him here

WE headed south to La Rochelle, and parked in Camping Soleil. We remebered to book ahead, it gets full up!

I went out for an evening walk, Shraddhabha was too tired.

La Rochelle is a very beautiful old port. It used to be defended by a chain, which was tightened between the two towers at the entrance to the old harbour.

There was an event going on in an area of ruined warehouses by the port - karaoke. Lots of people out drinking and performing in costumes. There were some people dressed in yellow costumes promoting tequila. All very odd.