St Martin - Ile de Re & Les Minimes

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With some sun finally breaking through I took a trip out to the Ile de Re. As the bus curves over the bridge to the island the whole of the bay is laid out below, big ships at anchor, the Lavardin Tower light seemingly directly below and 5 or 6 miles to the south the big square block of Fort Boyard (unfortunately no sign of Melinda Messenger or Lesley Grantham...) between the flat, tree-lined Iles d'Aix and d'Oleron. A small tour of the island follows giving if othing else an appreciation of how much prettier St Martin (my destination) is compared to the rest of the rather functional holiday-home-esque villages on Re.

LR3

March 4th 2006
La Rochelle

It seems the past inhabitants of St Martin didn't get on with outside world too well. The town is surrounded by huge defensive walls on all sides and plenty of places to stick some suitably unfriendly cannons... However the town within is very pretty, the walls providing a great walking route to take in both the quaintness inside and the gentle landscape and huge skies on the other. The surrounding coast is a mix of mudflats and sandy beaches extending for over half a mile at low water. Normally such coastlines are deserted in winter apart from migrating birds, but here the whole place was covered with people and cars, vans and even the odd lorry. The reason for this minor riot: Shellfish, primarily oysters, grown in the extensive networks of oyster cages that line the islands protected north coast. Two hours later (after some nice galettes for luch) they're all gone and the water has crept right back up to the town walls.

LR4

March 4th 2006
La Rochelle

Back in La Rochelle I head out to (another) salsa class, this time actually able to speak more than 10 words of the language it all proves a very nice evening. I meet Anne-Sophie and friend Sophie who take me along to another bar where the salsa goes on later and they also do the French-Carribean dance Zuki (sp??), a very nice evening and a nice change to have some company.

The following day sees a bit more exploring on foot. I head over to the maritime museum but decide against going in; there's such a range of boats just sitting around in the various harbours and yards I can come up with my own tour. In one corner sits Bernard Moitessier's boat, the Joshua, a little red yacht built of steel. Moitessier led the 1960s Golden Globe race by miles in the Joshua until - perhaps with a nod to national stereotypes here - he gave up the race to continue on a second lap of the southern ocean and 'find himself' in the pacific islands where he spent the rest of his life. Meanwhile the practical, tortoiselike Suhaili of Robin Knox-Johnstone battled on to be the only finisher of the race and the first person to sail around the planet non-stop.

Across the harbour from the Joshua is a mighty IOR Maxi, an 80ft, 25 ton monster from the mid '80s - now little more than a museum piece. Around a couple more corners and I find (virtually in the centre of the uni campus) the two recent Vendee Globe boats Pro-Form and Temenos of the Rochelais skippers Marc Thiercelin and Dominic Wavre being readied for another hard season of racing. All this time from between long stands of more staid cruisers and in quiet corners of all the marinas brightly coloured little Mini 6.50s peek out: At 21ft these 'dinghies with a lid' are pretty crazy boats to go crossing the Atlantic in - no wonder that the Mini-Transatlantic has such a high rate of fatalities...

Anyway, this is the end of the road (or track if you like) of this particular journey. It ends as it started - with the drumming of rain on the roof and against the window pane. And I've got a pretty Francaise to go meet....

Tim 😉

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