Day 104
The long unwinding road
I had completely forgotten we had a ferry to catch at Royan, so by the time I was ready to hit the road we knew we would have a 90-minute wait. A whole 90 minutes to pretty much do nothing! Well not really, first we had to find a cash point, only to discover that we still had quite a bit of cash, then a closer look at the Notre-Dame de Royan. Royan was bombed heavily on 5 January 1945 and the original Church dating from 1874, along with most of Royan was destroyed. The human toll was horrific, 442 men, women and children died that night.
The present church was commissioned in 1958 and took three years to complete. It is considered a modern masterpiece, constructed in concrete. Our second concrete Church of the tour, the previous one was in Anglesey. It is certainly striking and totally dominates the skyline. A virtual phoenix rising from the ashes. In front of the church is a giant aerial photograph of the site just after the bombing, the whole city appears destroyed.
By now my relaxing 90 minutes were ticking away, but we had time for a coffee sat outside in a cafe. This was a treat I been promising myself since we came to France, and this was only the second time we had managed it. 10 minutes of people watching then I joined the queue at the boulangerie.
The ferry was straightforward, we met the lady cyclist with the dog, not sure who is stalking who! From the ferry we re-joined EV1, the route took us straight onto a disused railway line for what seemed like forever. We rode for hours, deep in the forest. When we passed a road, it was clear our smooth tarmac was in way better condition than the road network in this area. Go EV1! Occasionally we passed a small town. Cyclists were few and far between. None were inclined to stop until we met Friedrich. He was cycling towards the ferry and we were able to reassure him it was still running and suggest good camping spots. We then stood and chatted about our trips. Friedrich was touring to see how he coped on his own, with the idea of then doing a bigger tour similar to ours if he enjoyed himself. It was clear he enjoyed our company, but finding a cycling partner to share a big trip with is no small undertaking. Tom and I are so blessed to have found each other, and both have the same desire to ride around the world. I think using the Warmshowers network is extra useful for lone travellers, a friendly face at the end of the day is as essential if not more so than a shower and a bed.
We said our goodbyes and headed off in opposite directions. The EV1 was straight, the forest deep. The rain stopped being a drizzle and we decided to stop and don our jackets. We had been cycling besides a fenced off area for a while, I thought it was some sort of weird holiday camp but the guard dogs and signs told a different story. It was, we think, a nuclear missile launch site. Stopping outside the gate suddenly seemed a bad idea, a car slowly driving by us and the giving us a look over made me feel somewhat nervous about our plans to wild camp. About an hour later we stopped to consider our options and realised we were stood in front of a board advertising a campsite. Clearly this was a sign we couldn’t ignore and off we went. It was almost perfect, except for the rain becoming a massive downpour as Tom cooked tea. I beat a hasty retreat into the tent. No point in both of us getting drenched!
