La Flotte Aire, Ile de Re

At lunchtime we left the campsite and drove back up to the aire a minute away. Making sure before leaving this morning we each had another shower. 'Get your monies worth', Angela could hear her father say. At the Aire the Brompton bicycles were brought down from Marge's roof box and unpacked. This would be our first time cycling since we returned from France last autumn. Oh dear, it looked like cycling today would be cancelled. We'd not checked inside the bags the bikes were stored in, and had forgotten we'd taken the saddles off to put onto two of our other bikes at home.

So we spent quite a while down in the town trying to buy saddles from one of the many bike shops. Only one sold saddles. The problem here is everyone wants a 'big bum' saddle for comfort. Comfortable that is, until the chaffing begins on the inner thighs. Us professional cyclists, we prefer something a little more 'sporty'. Whilst in town we visited the post office to purchase stamps for postcards. 'Stamps for Great Britain for two postcards'. Angela launched straight into her best holiday French and was congratulated by the lady behind the counter for her effort. In fact she said it was 'perfect'.

Cycling off the agenda we decided to walk out along the coast path to Fort La Pree, which dates back 400 years.

Along the way, we stopped to look across at the ruins of the Abbaye des Chateliers.

 Angela had told John there might be a coffee shop along the way. There was not. So we trekked back to La Flotte, a brisk onshore breeze pushing us back as we walked, and treated ourselves to coffee and hot chocolate sat outside one of the many restaurants that overlooked the harbour.

People watching is fun, and we wondered what comments were made about us when we walked by yesterday. As always, the Aire is full tonight, as is the campsite next door. Angela has found she still has the controller in her pocket for the campsite barrier. Well, well. What use could it possibly be?

Breakfast omelette this morning included sliced up Chicken of the Woods mushroom (Laetiporus sulphureus), much tastier than it looks!