T de T: the river of life

Day one of our little bike tour seems to have involved quite a lot of riding. Starting at Nick's place at St Brevins Les Pins at St Nazaire we headed directly south and followed the coast down the coast to La Rochelle, where we stopped for some much-needed liquid before completing the last 80km or so to our pre booked hotel at Rochefort, on the mouth of the Charente. I think this was only about 230km, though it felt longer.

On the way we passed through an area called the Vendée, which reminded me of the Fens on a good day. We also crossed a river called 'La Vie', so we can claim to have crossed the river of life. 

And who, I hear you ask, is the 'we' of this little group? Answers to follow. For now, here's a few snaps taken in La Rochelle, including a picture of Liberty blindfolded by the Tricolour flag. Must symbolise something...

The French are amazingly unfailingly polite and friendly - especially when handled by an expert native speaker. We have christened Karine our 'eclaireuse' since she scouts out the best deals/where to eat as soon as we arrive, leaving Stefane to charm the très polit French with his endless stream of qwitticisms. They seem to like nothing more than to laugh and all conversations are directed towards quips. Of course we Brits are the butt of many of the jokes . But it's nothing unpleasant and nothing we don't encourage.