It was a beautiful morning with clear blue skies and much,much less wind that yesterday. We had a leisurely start to the day and then unfortunately the LLW had rather a lot of work to do so Ray went for a ride on his own to the north of the island. Firstly to Ars-en-Re and then on to Les Portes en Re and the lovely beaches (see photos below). It is a fascinating landscape very low lying with salt flats and lots of bird life. In the spring the avian attraction is the Avocets but they are now long gone and most of the salt pools were populated by white herons. A notable spot was a marsh harrier which flew past and then perched on a post. Back via La Coutarde and a total of 27.5 miles was recorded
The beach in the photos above in that of La Loge on the outskirts of Les Portes-en-Re. It looked wonderful in the brilliant sunshine but the temperature was still quite cool.
On arrival back at out Hotel Les Gollandieres, the LLW was almost finished with her documents and said that she had all of her men under control so was raring to go for a ride. The management committee was reconvened and it was decided that she must see the lovely beach at La Loge but the return ride there was a bit too far so the bikes were loaded on the car and off we drove to Ars-en-Re. We parked and looked for somewhere to have lunch but sadly were too late for all of the restaurants which have set and limited hours out of season. Eventually we found a very small cafe which served baguettes and pizzas and plumped for the later. It transpired to be one of the best pizzas we have had and the LLW commented that she should have had one to herself rather than sharing!
Another look at the map and it was agreed that even starting at Ars-en-Re the round trip was a bit too far so we drove on to Saint Clement des Balleines and parked there. Off we cycled to Les Portes-en-Re via the coastal route i.e.through the salt flats and it was just perfect, sunny with a clear blue sky and even feeling quite warm at least whilst we were cycling. We sat of the beach for a few minutes and then went back through the village to pick up the Forest Route for our return to Saint Clement. Again very lovely and a complete contrast to the coastal route, the village was typical Ile-deRe and quite busy in the centre, then we cycled through the pine forest parallel to the northern coast of the island. We stopped briefly to admire the Plage de la Conche close to the lighthouse Phare des Balleines which is on the NW tip of the island and as you can see from the photos below starting to show signs of the Atlantic breakers which are typical of the western coast near Le Bois Plage. Back to the car and 9.5 miles completed in perfect cycling weather.
Just back at the hotel in time for a quick shower before dinner and the LLW decided that she did not want to drive into Saint Martin or La Flotte but would like to dine in our village. Tripadvisor was consulted and we soon had the number of a small restaurant in the village where we had eaten on previous visits. Les Q Salles was busy but service was friendly and prompt and very good steak and frites were consumed (after much discussion with the waitress about whether saignant meant rare or medium rare. It would seem that the french dictionary disagrees with the restaurant!) with a glass (or two) of an excellent Cote de Rousillon. Of course puddings followed and then back to our hotel with both of us feeling very tired. Crosswords were largely completed,Premier League football checked via iPads and then we were asleep.
It has been the best day for weather so far and tomorrow is forecast to be fine but with white cloud.
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