Biking Day 35

• Length ridden: 72 km
• Ascent: 100 meters
• Rating: 6.5 out of 10 - the riding itself was a bit dull
• Highlights La Rochelle was great, but Saint Martin´s church in Esnandes was the big surprise
• Lowlight: Quite dull weather
• Map of the day

As if the sun knew that it was the beginning of a new week - actually, my sixth one on the road - it decided to hide behind the clouds that day. As such, the first beach I saw that morning, at a La-Tranche-sur-Mer,was completely deserted.

Later in the day, I rode through a maze of canals - meeting other bikers, too. In fact, the two you see on the below pictures are ones I had met the previous day. It´s a small world...

On one of the many bridges, I saw a young boy fishing. with a net being lowered into the water with the help of pulleys - he had made quite a catch for the day.

Where there is so much water, there is a lot of vegetation - and that is where you see lots of animals. I saw herds of sheep, many horses - and lot of waders.

I was nearing the town of La Rochelle - and bikers had to make a detour, as a highway was leading to town. I was actually quite glad for this, as so I bumped into the Église Saint-Martin d'Esnandes. It is both a church and a fortress, which built in the 12th century in Romanesque style. It was really imposant - what was surprising is that there were hardly anyone around it - neither tourists, nor local caretakers. A 900-year-old treasure being so lonely! I tried finding a tour guide, there was a phone number posted, but the call was left unanswered.

Just before La Rochelle, I bought a pizza to go, which I ate later in town - surprise, surprise, it was actually quite good. At the below bakery, I got some pastry to go with it.

La Rochelle itself was impressive - so much so, that I decided to stay there for the night in this fortified city - even though it was in the early afternoon that I got there. So what did I like about so much?

Since the 12th century, the La Rochelle has been the most important port on the European Atlantic coast. In the 12th and 13th centuries, it was the port through which the Templars and their wealth passed (a sister town is Acre in Israel, also connected to the Templars). Today one can browse through its long history, be amazed at the towers of the port, walk the cobblestone streets and visit the many (in fact, very many!) restaurants.

I found a youth hostel, Auberge de Jeunesse, and decided to sleep in a single room that night, if I recall, it cost €60 - actually, I was surprised they had vacancy (the campsite, where I wanted to crash first, was fully booked). I took my room in the afternoon, packed out my stuff and rode back to town, discovering its streets, monuments and churches. At the port, I even had a short boat ride on an electric ferry. In the evening, I went to an Asian restaurant and had a Pho, it was quite OK. As with many similar places, there were restaurants as far as the eye could see, one touching the other - and even with such a supply of places to eat, there were queues in front of quite a few.

That day I added only 72 kilometers, the ride being cut somewhat short by La Rochelle.