On Tuesday we decided to make our way over to La Rochelle on the west coast of France. It took a long time to get there and even longer to get back. Our satnav kept diverting us away from congestion so that we used lesser roads a great deal.
On arrival in the port we followed car park signs till we parked up in an area on the north side of the harbour where there is a nice beach. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to use the new car park ticket machine. With some help from a French car parker we sorted it. She really sorted us out and we thanked her for her help.
I unloaded the wheelchair and began pushing Pauline along the sea wall towards one of the famous towers that mark the harbour. Pauline had to negotiate a flight of steps at one point but she won through. We headed towards the old port where we found an excellent restaurant, Le Bistrot des Pecheurs. We got a table and ordered lunch. Our choice was Moules Mariniere and we have never tasted such a dish. The mussels were tiny but had a great taste and the chips were perfection itself.
After lunch we wandered round the harbour before going through an interesting narrow street to get back to the car park.
Although I remembered parking up I could not spot our car. The sun, shining through the trees, made the car look so different I didn't notice it. Then we began a 3 hour drive back to La Belle Aube. The day had been sunshine all the way and very successful if you discount the arduous travelling. This is the downside of travel in France. Once you revert to D roads the going gets slower. A & N roads have a speed limit of 130kph and 110kph respectively so you can really move along. But 90kph (55mph) on the country roads is too slow in most cases.
Having said all this we were glad to have visited La Rochelle where there are ice cream sellers with the most enticing flavours. We prefer hard ice cream but this soft ice cream was in a league of its own! The number of flavours is amazing and the style of presentation is exceptional.
The next report is on our visit to St-Emilion.
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