Day 18 - Rochefort to Mussonville- 82 kms

30 Jun

Although it seems that today was a short ride it seemed longer and harder in many respects than the rides where we had done over 130 kms. I think I can put this down to the poorer conditions on many of the roads, the hotter and more humid conditions, the fact that we had 2 stops ferry trips which breaks the riding rhythm of the day and lastly I had a puncture after hitting a pot hole on the road....

Well the day started with breakfast at the youth hostel at about 7.00 am and we were on our way at about 8 ish

It was lucky that we did not start earlier as we needed to ride a punt across the La Charente river shortly after leaving Rochefort

The area around the punt was interesting in that there is a rebuilding projector restore a bridge mechanism that will take people across the river on a contraption that moves over the water.....very ingenious and will be interesting to see when completed

The next 20 odd kms was through a lot of swamp land until we reached a small town called Marennes where we stopped for a drink and a very nice crepe.

As I said the roads were poor today and after hitting a pot hole I was surprised I did not get a flat straight away. It was only after our stop in Marennes that I noticed my tyre

After replacing the tube it was off to Royan. Once again the country was uninteresting with swamps and villages perched on the top of any high ground. The weather was also hotting up and with humidity it made for hardish riding

We arrived in Royan at about 1.30 pm and headed to a bike shop to get my tyres pumped up and checked and Chris bought a new water bottle

After this we had a sandwich and drink and made our way to the ferry across from Royan to Verdon Su mer... there was a bit of a wait at the ferry wharf but once on the ferry the ride was short to our destination .... appropriately half an hour

Off the ferry and then on for the short 10 km ride on the cycle way to our despot Mussonville

This ride although flat was marred by the humidity and fact there was no wind....

Arriving at our destination we were pleased to have a shower and cool down

Interesting the name Mussonville....not really French in my mind more somewhere in Australia in the outback

Anyway despite the poorer riding conditions the body and the bike are holding up

Tonight we sample some of Mussonville’s finest cuisine.... I will report on this tomorrow

Me leaving the youth hostel

Note my erect bag!!!

The structure being renovated near Rochefort

Our punt across the river near the car bridge

A view of the car bridge and the punt

Chris and other cyclists on the punt

The guys on the right were Germans and I think they were amused after we got off the punt as we returned to the area near the wharf 3 times as we were lost...poor navigation on my part!