A hot night, but eventually cools enough so that I can sleep, and get up at 7:30. Some routine maintenance to do on the bicycle, adjusting the front shifter cable and pumping up the tyres, and then get on the road again by about 9:30.
Another beautiful morning, and the roads are very quiet. In the first village, St Pere en Retz, I stop several times to work out directions, and each time seem to cause some sort of traffic hold-up or confusion, so pleased when I find my way out and head south on the D97. With about 10 miles completed I come to the tiny village of Le Clion sur Mer (actually about 2 miles from the sea) where it is time for the morning coffee, alongside the usual locals chatting over espressos.
Onwards again, and suddenly I turn the corner and there is the sea. I now pass through a seaside holiday town La Berniere en Retz, full of the typical bustle of such places, somewhat of a shock after the emptiness and peacefulness of the countryside so far. I find a sign for the Velocean cycle route, which follows a small country road bordering the Baie de Bourguin.
Along the Velocean at La Berniere
Now, for about an hour I pedal along completely flat roads, zigzagging through salt marshes, some huge ploughed fields, some fields with dried grass where cows or horses struggle to find grazing. It is truly a surreal piece of riding, but unfortunately the now steady southerly and hot dry wind keeps reminding me of the hard work.
At noon I stop for a sandwich in the village of Bouin, which must be just a few feet above the rest of the marshes, then on again. It is now about 31°, and with the wind it is hard going, but eventually I reach the resort town of St Jean de Monts, where I cycle up to the corniche and find the wind much cooler. The Vendee coast south of St Jean is more or less an endless series of small towns and villages dedicated to summer pleasures, huge beaches, dozens of campsites, long blocks of holiday apartments, and dedicated VR45 cycle paths all the way. The quality of these varies: some are good quality gravel (not ideal for my 28 mm tyres) and some are surfaced, although here you have to look out for tree roots pushing up the path, creating serious trip hazards. By about 3 o’clock I pass through St Hilaire de Riez, where I enjoyed a camping holiday with my children many years ago. I stop to look at the beach where we swam and dug holes probably 25 years ago.
What is surprising is how empty places along the coast are. Although it is still August, the traditional holiday season in France finished last week, and while beaches and campsites a few weeks ago would have been packed, now everyone has gone back to work. The beaches are empty, and the campsites are starting to pack up for the winter. And yet it is still hot and sunny, all difficult for a Brit to understand.
Where there is not commercial development, pine forests lie along the entire coast, and the road makes its way through these down to the tourist mega city of Les Sables d’Olonne. However, Helen in the support van has found a delightful, simple and almost empty campsite just north of the city, one with the great name of Camping Amite Nature. 62 miles done today, and only 400 feet of ascending, so when I climb off the bike I feel more or less a normal human being.
Today has been hard work, but having turned the corner and crossed the Loire, and having completed four days of cycling I now actually think I can complete this journey. I realise that up until now I had been thinking that I had barely even started and that the whole journey was far too ambitious.
We decided that spending two nights here would be a good idea, with a chance to relax together and my legs to recover a little. So it will be Thursday before I set off for La Rochelle.
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