Oh, it’s a gloomy day today! The skies are threatening and it is cold – wet and cold. We knew we were due a bad day soon, but we were sure hoping it wouldn’t be today! Bummer! Oh well – we’re heading out anyway – what else can we do?
Docking again is painful, but finally we are released. We headed out to the $15 shuttle hoping it’s not the rip off that the Lisbon shuttle was – but we got differing versions of how far it is into town – so we went with the shuttle. As it turns out – you aren’t walking into town – that’s for sure. You can barely walk out of the port – much less to town. It was 20 minutes minimum of highway and city navigating to get to the old port. Once there we headed out to the train station to pick up our car and head to the Ile de Re – a cute little island that was actually right across from where the ship docked!
We navigated out of the city well – it’s so easy with the directional signs – and 15 minutes after getting in the car, we were paying the 9 Euro toll (ack!) at the Pont de Re – heading onto the island. Our original plan was to leave the car in the first little town and bike our way around the island. There are 70 miles of bike trails and it looked adorable. Unfortunately the weather is not cooperating! It started raining as we came across the bridge and it kept on – a steady heavy rain – the entire time we were on the island.
It was a shame, because it really reminded us of a French Sanibel – gorgeous scenery, cute little French villages just waiting to be explored, a cool lighthouse at the end of the island. It would be a perfect place to spend a sunny day – but not so much for a rainy day. We circumnavigated the island – tried to go visit a cathedral in Ars en Re – but got roadblocked by a work van and then couldn’t go any further into town on the little windy, narrow roads. So, as the rain came down even harder, we decided to just bag it and go back into La Rochelle.
After filling up the car, we headed back over the bridge. Of course getting back into town was harder than getting out. We made a couple of wrong turns on the auto route – and then went all over hell’s half acre to get back to the old port. Sometimes following those stupid road signs is NOT the best way to get around. We were at this one Plaza and I knew the port was only a few blocks away, but we followed the signs and ended up driving for another 20 minutes before we got back to the car rental. It was definitely an adventure!
Back in town, it’s still raining! So much so that we both have our umbrellas open. We searched in vain for a cafe with free wi-fi access. The tourist bureau (again, fabulous info and so helpful!) told us that there really weren’t any cafes that had internet – just the pay type. So we settled on lunch at a restaurant right on the marina promenade. Called Les Grandes Yachts brasserie, their specialty (and we think every other restaurants too) was Moules Frittes. Ed was in his glory – he ordered the country style which ended up being cooked in a rich wine/beef type broth with onions and cheese all over them. I had a Cassoulet of seafood, which ended up being mostly mussels, but also baby shrimp and some octopus. It was quite good and the perfect size for lunch. Wine and beer 0f course, always good! And all at a bargain price too – the total bill was less than 20 Euro. We were impressed!
We wandered about for a while, then hit the internet place to catch up on emails. Skyped the voicemail and Jamie! I’m like a little kid with Skype and even though I was trying to speak quietly, I just think it’s so cool I get all excited. The guy sitting in front of me was laughing at me as I was explaining to Jamie how cool it was and how I was trying to whisper!
We wandered a bit more around the old town, window shopping, buying the sea salt for which the region is famous and a caramel with sea salt (that promptly pulled off the crown on my back molar. Yay!). Then back on the well-worth-$15-a-piece shuttle – and back aboard as the dumb rain stopped and the sun broke through the clouds! Bummer! But – at least sailaway was nice!
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