Day 10 46miles Saintes to La Rochelle

We were feeling very confident that today's ride would be a breeze. Only 45 miles and no hills, what could possibly go wrong??

We set off just after 9am and made it out of Saintes in no time at all. The weather was pleasant - about 17 degrees and the sun was trying to come out. We cycled along country lanes and everything seemed to be going to plan.

About an hour into the ride though we heard a noise which at first sounded like a hedge strimmer. We soon realised it was coming from the back of the bike and one of the panniers had come loose. Nothing too serious and Max fixed it back on in a jiffy.

Shortly after this we encountered a river and according to the directions we needed to be on the other side which puzzled us somewhat. It turned out we had to catch a crazy French giant cable car (Max's description of the transporter bridge) to cross the river and it cost us 4 euros!! 

Having crossed the river, a few more miles on we reached a traffic jam and as we weaved our way through we realised there was some sort of event (a festival with street food we hoped) so we decided to make a stop and explore a little. It turned out to be a very big flea market which didn't interest either of us so we quickly decided to exit again. This wasn't as easy as it sounds though because a) there were so many people to navigate past b) we were then stopped by a French cyclist wanting to borrow a pump c) the chain decided to come off the Tandem for the first time this trip, causing the pedals to go out of synch and then d) it started to rain so we had to get our rain jackets out. We were starting to wish we'd never stopped!!
Eventually we were back on the road but by this time the rain was coming down pretty hard. We made one more stop to put on our waterproof shoe covers (and very glamorous they are too 😂) these being our very last line of defence against bad weather😅
The rain continued for the rest of the ride only switching from heavy rain to light rain and then back to heavy rain again. So it was simply a case of trying to get to tonight's destination (La Rochelle) as quickly as we could whilst still arriving in one piece! We rocked up at tonight's B&B around 2pm and although check in wasn't officially until 4pm we tried our luck for an early entrance. Our hosts welcomed us in no problem - I think they took pity on the two drowned rats that appeared at their door. After a hot shower and a cup of tea we began to feel normal again.
We wandered round La Rochelle while our washing was drip drying back in the room and decided on Galettes for tonight. Whilst they didn't look spectacular Max in particular voted his delicious and we both cleaned our plates 😋
The only remaining excitement of the day was gelato (not a patch on Altobell's though 😜) and another episode of Ozark before bed. 

Our fingers and toes are crossed for a rain free day tomorrow 🤞


Comments

  1. Rosie6 June 2022 at 12:57

    A very different flavour day for you both! Fascinated by that bridge and how you got across! Glad to hear that nothing slowed you down too much or stopped you getting to the end of today's journey, though each time something happened you must have thought "uh oh!!". I note how you are rationing your Ozark episodes... like an end of day treat 😍.

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  2. Sarah6 June 2022 at 13:30

    It certainly was! You're not the first to comment on the bridge, I've never seen anything quite like it before. All credit to Max really, he's nothing if not persistent and resourceful. I got us into the b&b early though so I think I earned my stripes on that alone today 😉

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  3. Steve and Tracey7 June 2022 at 02:54

    Keep going guys - you're doing amazing and great that finally someone made it out to see Andy & Helen. Loving the pics and food chat. I think there is a travel/restaurant guide book in this to pay for the next trip! I hear LA to New York is quite picturesque.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah7 June 2022 at 12:52

      Aah thx for all the moral support, it really helps to keep us going. Our days revolve entirely around food at the moment 😋. LA to New York?? 😳. Only if you come too 🤣🤣

      Delete

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