21 - 28 June
A lovely sunny day sailing to l'Herbaudiere on the Isle de Noirmoutiere. Mainly single-storey whitewashed buildings with red clay tiled roofs and painted shutters (predominantly blue) - definitely a change to a southern feel. The island is pretty flat so we went for a cycle ride to the main town, Noirmoutiere, where the Sunday market was on. Then cycled back along the coat - saw the salt pans, lots of lovely beaches and woods.
Sailed to Port Joinville on the Isle d'Yeu - cold initially, followed by a short shower, but the sun came out as we arrived and it was beautifully warm. We cycled around - again a very attractive island, mainly scrub with small villages, lots of rough footpaths and cycle paths. Prehistoric dolmen and standing stones dotted around, although many hidden in the vegetation.
After a couple of days we continued down to Les Sables d'Olonnes, home of the Vendee Globe round the world single-handed race - a very large marina with good facilities. The old part of the town is made up of narrow, winding roads and alleys. The long sandy beach is backed by a mixture of old villas and apartment blocks built at various periods. The other side of the river, La Chaume, seems mainly residential, but in the evening we went to the chapel on the point at La Chaume and enjoyed listening to a concert by a vocal harmony group - held as part of the Simenon Festival.
A long motor to La Rochelle as there was very little wind and we wanted to get here at a reasonable time to arrange a berth for two weeks to get a couple of problems sorted out.
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