Wednesday 14th December 2016

This morning we drove up to the northwest extremity of the Ile de Re where there is a lighthouse. There are dozens of closed eateries here. It never ceases to amaze me how incredibly seasonal seaside places are.

Next to the modern lighthouse is the old lighthouse tower. I am quite surprised that there are still such things as lighthouses. Surely ships navigate by GPS these days.

Looking out from the lighthouse at low tide there are extensive oyster and mussels beds. The cultivation of these shellfish is the major industry on the Ile de Re at this time of year. In the summer this place is apparently flooded with rich Parisians probably making tourism the major earner.

There were people collecting shellfish.

Far out to sea there is another lighthouse. (This photo was taken with 40x magnification.)

We moved back over the bridge to the mainland and parked at the village of Aytre on the coast just south of the City of La Rochelle.

We took a walk on the beach - there are oyster shells everywhere.

Then we got our bikes out and had a good ride around the area.

We saw quite a traffic hold up where there was a burst water main and this posh A Class motorhome couldn't get through.

When we returned to our van we saw this bunch of junior equestrianists. 

Today we traveled 56 miles (90 kilometres) in our van. We are at N46.11294 W1.12309