A Tale of Two Islands

Ile de Re is a popular touristic island near La Rochelle. We arrived in the rain to an expensive yet tiny campsite. The weather forecast was for rain all week.

This little harbor for yachts is a very fancy and crowded place. Lots and lots of tourists, bars, and restaurants. It’s the biggest town on Ile de Rey.

The weather was perfect after all. We saw the three major towns and beaches, including the beach which substituted for Omaha Beach. It was Monday just before the tourist season really starts, and there were people everywhere. The island is large and you have to see it from a car.

Today we went to Ile d’Aix. You must take a ferry there, and you can see Ile de Re.

The ferry also took a couple of delivery vans aboard, although there appears to be no cars whatsoever on the island.

It is a very quaint place with only 500 or 1000 tourists today and not completely made of bars and restaurants

We ate at a restaurant, a 1 km walk from the ferry in the country, which was very good. We each had seafood, ended up costing about $35 each including a $9 craft beer. These places approach Fredericksburg prices.

We walked around the entire island, including through a fort from the 1800s. The island was heavily fortified before World War I. This small beach is only reachable by foot or bicycle.

With everyone except construction workers on foot or bicycle, it’s a calm and peaceful place. I think I’d be happy to spend a few weeks there accomplishing nothing of importance.

After two days of perfect weather, we got rained on boarding the boat. Now we are back at the campsite from last night, our favorite on the entire trip. It’s called camping in the Orchard. The owner has created small gardens all over the place, and it is wonderful.

Tomorrow: the chateau on the Loire.