Up the Atlantic coast (2)

5 -7 July

Next morning it was a good ride up to the ferry at Pointe de Grave and a ferry trip reminiscent of the inter-islander, except that the crossing across the Gironde takes less than half an hour.

We had time to have a look around Royan, including the unusual and modern cathedral, before pushing on northwards in search of a camping ground to spend the night in.

We try to find municipal camping grounds, preferably 2 star, rather than 3 to 5, as these places have all we need and are not outrageously priced. The one at St Palais was  cracker. Again, right across the road from the sea, albeit at the top of cliffs. We had our own marked out camping space, with plenty of room for a clothes line, and an electric point that we could use (we have an adapter) to charge our technology. In addition there was a lovely sunny and shady shared space under cover with a number of powerpoints, where I could plug in the computer and spend some time updating the blog.

In fact, we liked it so much that we spent a second night there, then a third. Easily got all our washing washed and dried, and we very much enjoyed the company of an English couple, Barbara and Brian, who insisted on sharing their wine purchases with us. They had a really great campervan which they had had fitted out to their own specifications. And had bikes with them too.

St Palais had a lovely beach, which was accessed from further down the road, a lovely clifftop walk, and another beach at the other end that drew crowds of people during the day, many of whom paddled in the shallows but few swam. In addition there was a bread and croissant shop not far away and fresh fish and shellfish available in the same area. We bought some crevettes to add to our salad and they were extra nice! In the evening there were spectacular sunsets from the clifftops and further on the typical structures that allow the people who own them  to scoop up a netfull of whatever is swimming below at the time. It  was hard to get motivated to leave but we had a train to catch on the 11^th July and by now it was the 7^th.  For our last night, we ate out at a restaurant overlooking the ocean, just down the road. A glorious evening.