It was overcast again on the morning, still warm though, so again we went for a drive. We headed to Lidl first to stock up and then continued over the viaduct onto the Île d'Oléron. We had no plan as to where we were going, we just headed for places we had not visited previously.
The first place we intended to visit was Boyard-Ville, a place with a view of Fort Boyard, we got off to a good start as I took a wrong turn at the first place I could take a wrong turn. In Boyard-Ville we drove into the main square and parked but there were parking meters, so we pulled off and drove round to the beach following the signs for view of Fort Boyard. There were also parking meters there but on further investigation, it was only a few cents for an hour so we paid and set off to see the view. We walked along the sand to the mouth of the channel and the view of Fort Boyard.
That photo was taken with a ten times zoom but there is a view, there was a cool breeze on the shore so we walked back to the car. We still had plenty of time left on the parking ticket, so we walked along the channel to the square in town we had passed through. It was quite busy and there were lots of shops and restaurants and plenty of people eating but it was still cool.
Next we drove across the island to the West coast and La Cotinière, I had seen a lighthouse there on the map, that is the only reason I drove there. By the time we arrived the sun was out and the temperature was rising. We parked in a free car park set in the sand dunes, near centre of the town. From the car park we walked onto the beach, the sand was very soft and walking was hard going, even close to the sea edge. We struggled towards the lighthouse and pier, it was very tiring just walking the 200 yards or so to the end of the sand.
We were glad to get up onto the pier and some solid ground. So we were on a pier, what do do next, we did what we usually do and walked to the end. It was not a very long pier so it didn't take long and we were soon walking back towards the lighthouse.
It was brighter than it looks in the photos and after looking at and photographing the lighthouse we headed into town. We had to take a route around the perimeter of the fish quay but at least it was on a boardwalk and much easier than walking on the soft sand.
We sat facing the harbour for a while and watched some of the fishing boats coming back in from a days fishing. Next we walked passed all of the touristy shops and round to the opposite side of the harbour, where a few fishing boats were out of the water being fixed and painted. We continued round to the end of the breakwater and sat there in the sun for a while.
Several more fishing boats came in to offload their catch as we sat there. Then we watched some men struggling to refit one of the large bronze propellers. After that we watched the lowering of one of the smaller fishing vessels back into the sea.
There was quite a busy Aire next to the harbour and I would love to be here with my one motorhome, maybe next time, maybe.
On the way back to the car we looked in the shops and got a penguin for my Mam, she collects them (long story) and I got some beers. Dot had seen an amber pendent she liked in a jewellry shop and we went back to get it and then we would go for a beer before the drive home. When we paid the girl on the till looked suspiciously at one of the €5.00 notes we had given her and then made a phone call. After the call she said the €5.00 was a forgery and showed us a "real" one, the one we had given her did look very diferent and very cheap. We changed it for one she liked the look of and left (when we got back to the van I checked and there was a new €5.00 note, the one we had, I am surprised the locals didn't know about them), we didn't have the beer but set off back to the site. The experience had upset us somewhat.
We did drive to Saint-Trojan-les-Bains at the bottom of the island before crossing the viaduct back to the mainland.
Later back at the site and knowing we hadn't tried to pass forged money, we popped over to the bar for a beer. Dot and I were the only people in the bar (I think there may have been four people eating in the restaurant) and the only draught beer was Amstle. We had a couple but it is not nice in an empty bar, we could drink on our own in the van.
Day Ten or Day Twelve
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