Ride to Rochefort

Last Sunday about 35 people joined in the motorbike rally. This year Robina and Ian ( An English couple ) bravely joined in the 100% French group. So As early as 9.00am we gathered in the old "Halles" in Cozes and left at 9.30 am. The weather was not promising at all , it was very cloudy and we all expected some showers during the ride to Rochefort. We were wrong !!!We were very lucky it didn't rain (just a few little drops of rain) in the morning. At the beginning we rode along the Gironde to Royan passed the lovely sandy beaches and headed for Ronce Les Bains. We went past Bonne Ance bay which is a lovely place. This part of the road is really pleasant. After riding about 35 kms we stopped at Brouage which is a lovely place in history. Established in 1555 the harbour of Brouage was the first European place for trading in salt. It is also famous for the French navigator Samuel Champlain who was the co-founder of French settlement in Acadia and Quebec. He established a trading post in Quebec and since then the relationship between Brouage and Quebec hasn't stopped.

But gradually the harbour silted up leaving the town stranded and useless as a port. Therefore it fell into ruin.Today it is a place for visitors and the walls of the remparts of the citadel are in good condition, it also offers visitors a fantastic view of both the village and the surrounding area. There are various shops selling clothes, traditional wooden toys, home-made confectionnery, baskets, cloths, hats , soaps and regional products.After visiting Brouage we headed for Fouras where we had our picnic. We all sat on benches in front of the tiny harbour and the beach and enjoyed an "ap�ritif" brought by Phil who likes having fun and joking, we enjoyed a nice olive cake made by Grazi�la. It was very friendly and we had a good time all together. Then after lunch we headed for Rochefort and stopped to visit the "Hermione" some chose to visit Pierre Loti's house and others went to the "applied crafts museum" We chose to visit the "Hermione" which is the name of a frigate on which embarked La Fayette for America to join Washington and the American settlers rebelling against British tyranny. A team of passionated people have undertaken the reconstruction of the "Hermione"

The reconstruction started in 1997, once the "Hermione" fully completed it is planned to sail it again on La Fayette's path from Rochefort to Boston.

Reconstructing the frigate La Fayette took to go to America is a way of paying homage to the great man and keep the memory of a great adventure of solidarity between people.

Rochefort is also a lovely town, it's a new town of the 17th century as they say. It has changed a lot We went to Rochefort when we were young ( personally with my grandmother when I was 12 and my husband was in the army in Rochefort)and it was a dull garrison town. Today Rochefort is nothing like Rochefort in the 1970's . There are lots of shops and caf�s with terrasse, restaurants, interesting places to visit...

Then after visiting "the Hermione" we all met in a caf� with terrasse and had a drink. The weather was gorgeous quite warm at that time. We left Rochefort and headed back to Royan.

We stopped at a former bridge called " Le pont tranbordeur" ( transporter bridge ) It was built between 1898 and 1900 and abandoned in 1967 in favour of a vertical lift bridge which was replaced by the high bridge you can see today. We waited to be embarked on the cabin to cross the river Charente. We all enjoyed this part of the ride and didn't mind waiting for a while before being embarked. The crossing was smooth and quick.

Then on our way back we stopped at Jany and his wife's house and had a drink sitting comfortably around their swimming pool. They have a lovely house and they friendly invited the whole group for a drink. Most of us hadn't met before.

The group began to split up after Jany's and we rode back to Cozes. The way back was great. The temperature was similar to temperature in July, August. We kissed goodbye in Cozes wishing to get together another time for another rewarding motorbike day out.