Marais Poitevin

We are camped at the edge of the village of Arcais outside of Niort, close to the Atlantic coast in France. The municipal campground is so cool we signed up for four nights ($15 per night). This is in the Regional National Park of the Poitevin Marshes.

https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marais_poitevin

The weather is beautiful again today, but rain is coming Sunday. We took a guided boat trip this morning, two hours, $50. Our guide was a well informed young man from the area named Louis. A notable fact about his family is that his grandmother had 22 children, all of whom lived. He explained the origins and history of the marsh. We saw blue and orange kingfishers, a wild native goat (perhaps that isn’t the correct classification but that is as close as I could figure) with a kid, a nutria (invasive species), and a duck.

He stirred up the bottom and ignited the methane created in the mud by decomposing leaves.

A fellow camper comes twice yearly to catch and eat American crawfish (invasive species here).

We may rent a boat without a guide; Luis promised we could navigate with these posts, but without we would never find our way home. Next: cycling. We are eating well, of courses. This morning I introduced Josette to Texas Trash Tacos: an egg, asparagus, Emmental cheese, macaroni, bacon, and chives. Tomorrow there is a market in the village and we will resupply.