Pointe de L'Aiguillon (nr: La Rochelle)

 

Despite the aire being full last night with most vans the size of studio flats, the night passed quietly. Opposite us was a huge German registered Cathargo van. This morning John discussed the wheels and tyres on it with its owner as he'd like Marge to be fitted with slightly larger tyres. Size matters!  

Before we left this morning John decided to strip Marge of her screen wash bottle. Steady! For some time now it appears to have been leaking. Meanwhile Angela tidied Marge while one of the neighbours watched with a critical eye. Marge loved the attention. Angela did not. Marge spick and span the critical neighbour opened the door on her van and began to pack up. What a mess. It looked like a travelling skip!

Before leaving Barbatre we needed to find the service point. Finding ourselves up against no entry signs at every turn made the chore quiet frustrating. Marge seemed a little off colour. Her brakes didn't seem right and she felt lethargic.

As we left the Ile de Noirmoutier over the bridge Marge wheezed and her engine went in to safe mode. Oh no, not again Marge! We thought we'd cured you of this problem. Slowly we eased Marge up and over the bridge much to the frustration and annoyance of a group of motorcyclists who were hoping to power over it. Pulling over to the side of the road we tried to remedy the problem with a spray of WD40 and a wriggle round of the turbo charger operating rod which normally works. Not this time. After some thought John realised that the vacuum pipe from the vacuum reservoir had come loose whilst investigating the screen wash problem. That would also explain the braking problem as the braking system also requires a vacuum to power the brakes. Thank God. It was starting to look as if our trip was about to become a bit of a nightmare. 

Marge well again we travelled on to Les Sables-d'Olonne. The van stop wasn't up too much so we stayed just long enough to have our lunch and then continued on towards La Rochelle. It was late afternoon before we arrived so most of the weekend visitors had already left.

Marge is settled in a pleasant spot behind the sand dunes with views across open marshland.

After spending much time in the van we were keen to stretch our legs and walked through the dunes and along the beach towards the point.

The sand was covered in oyster shells interspaced with small pretty shells and skeletons of crabs. We know a little boy who would have loved spending time on this beach throwing the shells back in to the sea. In the distance, across the bay of       

L' Aiguillon we could see the bridge that connected the Ile de Re to the mainland. The Ile de Re is where we're headed having not been there before. But we may leave it a day and stay here another night. Marge has a nice spot on the grass and we have nice views. The other vans are a little further up. The call of the skylarks pierces the air and rabbits run through the grass. It's a peaceful place. There's no rush is their Marge? After the day you've had today you could probably do with a rest.