Wine country

It was already rather late when we arrived in La Rochelle, so besides looking for a good spot and then having dinner, not much else happened that evening. The first spot we checked out felt kinda dodgy. You know the feeling when you get somewhere and it just doesn’t feel right for no particular reason? Exactly. So we moved on to another place, just a parking lot in front of a school. But this felt better and there were some other campers around as well. 

After a quiet night it was time to run the bike again, it will need new tires soon! From the mainland, a bit outside of La Rochelle, you can cross a 3km long bridge onto the island Ile de Rè. This bridge looks very daunting, driving towards it. It is high! But once you are at it, the inclination is not so bad and it’s perfectly doable, with a drop of sweat or two.

It’s very nice riding on the island, but very busy, too. Seemed like everyone was out that day, just to be in the way. But you can drive all along the coast, pretty much all around the island, which is about 30km long. They visited a couple of very picturesque towns, bought some lunch at a cool market and enjoyed it sitting in the busy harbor, watching the comings and goings of thousands of people. 

After a shower at the parking spot, always a bit of a mission (find as secluded a place as possible, fill the bucket, get the shower out, hang up towels and other stuff so no one can look in, shower, put everything away again), but so good, they walked back into town to have a look around. Ferris Wheels seem to be the big thing, every city has to have one. 

But also fortifications. And La Rochelle is no exception, they must have had a lot of stuff to protect! The esplanade is a wonderful place to bike, run, walk and people watch and there is a walk here as well, past all the sights. Not painted on the street, like in Nantes, but on a map, good enough. The inner city is relatively small and the main streets are super busy. As can be expected, it’s finally summer! Did I mention? The sun is shining again, 30 degrees, no clouds!

And since today we have been on the road for two month exactly, my human celebrated with a three course meal at an Italian restaurant, a charcuterie board, Beef tartar and, obviously, Tiramisu. All accompanied by a Strawberry Mojito. Things could be worse. I got a full tank of fuel a couple of days ago, so I’m still good for now, thanks for asking. And to round of the day, the Bundesliga has started again and we watched the opening game before going to bed.

The next morning we were off to our next big city, Bordeaux. But before getting into the city itself, we decided to spend a night at a vineyard, some 15km outside Bordeaux. When we rocked up, there was only one other camper there and the people left after an hour or so. Not sure where to, because on foot, there is not much to reach in the area. And they weren't dressed for hiking.

Fine by us, it meant that it was all the more quiet. The area here is completely flat, so the wine doesn't grow on these hills one always sees on TV. Easier to work the vines this way! 

In the afternoon the daughter of the owners came to say hello and offered us a private wine tasting, since there was no one else around. And taste we did. Bordeaux, at least in Germany, is only known for it's red wines, but they do produce some whites around here, too.

The family owned vineyard has 40 hectares and produces around 150.000 liters of wine a year. They are on their way to 100% biologically produces wines, which is a process of 8 years, until you can sell it like that. 

Mary was super nice and knowledgeable and is very excited to take over from her parents one day. We tried 10 wines and a sparkling. Not all our taste, especially the dry red ones, but nevertheless interesting to taste the differences between the grapes and techniques. Not sure where she is going to put the cartons now, but she'll find a spot somewhere!

 

Not sure where the time has gone, over two month now, but what I know is that we are having an absolute ball. It took a little time for things to find their right place and routines to develop, but by now we are a great team and I can’t imagine doing anything else but being on this trip with Carmelo and my human, it’s just awesome. Oh, talking about my human. You might be curious about her. So I convinced her to take a photo of herself so I could show it to you. This is what she gave me: