Velodyssey, Instalment 2

The next stage was to follow the track northwards through the forest to eventually cross the Gironde river to reach Royan, the next major centre on our route. Of course things are made easier with a frequent ferry boat across the river so we wouldn't need to get our cycles wet! We did this with overnight stops at campsites near Parentis, Audenge and Houtin and a final campsite at Pontaillac just west of the centre of Royan. The route bypasses Parentis-en-Born and we went off-route a few kilometers to a site near a lake, Etang de Biscarrosse (Camping la Foret Lahitte).

Cycleway (velo1) which is typical of the easy ride through the forest and dunes, very pleasant cycling with shelter from the westerly wind.

The next few days were hot with temperatures above 25 C, so pleasant cycling past the high dunes near la Salie, Dune du Pilat near where we stopped for a picnic lunch near the beach at Pointe d'Arachon. As we'd left early, our tent was wet from the dew so we stopped for a break to dry our gear on the edge of Etang de Cazaux et de Sanguinet. Further on ,the route more or less bypasses Arachon on cycleways at the side of the road or through woodlands in urban areas. The campsite at Audenge was at the edge of town so we unloaded our gear and cycled for dinner at the Port, eventually returning to town to find a reasonable restaurant. 

Looking north from our lunch stop near La Salie; one of the warmest days on our route.

From Audenge, the route goes through an urban area on a disused rail track to Ares, skirting the east side of the Bassin d'Arachon before heading over dunes through the forest back to the coast to reach a cycle track to Carcans Plage stopping at Lacanau for lunch. We hoped to use the campsite further on at Houtin-Plage but this wasn't open so the only alternative was to go on 11 kilometres by road to the west side of the Lac d'Hourtin-Carcans to Houtin itself. In the evening we walked to the Port in Houtin and wandered around the town before sunset.

Our picnic lunch spot at L'Amelie sur Mer south of Soulac sur Mer. Still warm and a chance to dry our tent  from the nights dew.

The next day was to be relatively short, 66 km, along the coast to the ferry over the Gironde and to Royan. The town of Soulac sur mer is very much a holiday centre and developed. We passed through into the last forest before the Pointe de Grave, getting straight onto a waiting ferry. Helen noticed a puncture in her rear tyre at this point. This was a surprise as I'd renewed all tyres, tubes and chains before leaving. Anyway, it was losing air faster than I could inflate it so we had to wheel it off the ferry and repair at some nearby seats. I just changed the tube after locating the piece of grit that had embedded in the centre of the tyre and repaired the tube later at the campsite. The campsite (Camping Clairefontaine) was easy to locate and the cycleway well signed as we left the centre for Pontaillac, still bright in the afternoon sunshine. Unfortunately, we arrived at the camping when lots of others did and waited half an hour whilst all the campground details were explained to the new campers. There were also a few other touring cyclist sharing the "tent" corner. I did manage a cold shower before realising there were hot showers over the other side of the campground, refreshing!

After the ferry crossing and quick repair, we had the afternoon and evening to enjoy scenes of Royan.

We still had some further forests to go through on our way to Rochefort to reach La Rochelle and onwards to the Loire estuary at Nantes, the next installment...to come soon!!