We decided to explore Château d’Oleron before driving down to Royan for our next stop along the route ‘Cachalot’ took in 1955.
After having a hot shower in the rather dilapidated but very clean facilities block at Château d’Oleron we went to the market to do some weekend shopping, had crepes at a local bar and wandered round the very interesting, colourful oyster-fishing harbour. Meeting a local fisherman we gleaned how the large cages are taken out into the tidal mud for the oysters to grow to full maturity before being collected, ready for market. Many of the old fishermen’s huts have now been renovated as brightly coloured homes for local artists and other tourism-related businesses. We met a sculptor with some lovely work including polar bears and whales – sadly a bit out of our price range though.
After Friday’s failed visit to the lighthouse we found another of the many along the Atlantic coast and climbed 300 steps to the top of Phare la Coubre. An impressive interior of beautiful glazed tiles, panelled stairways at the top and a metal spiral staircase from the foot we stepped out to a wonderful view along the sandy shoreline. We spent the night at a municipal site in Royan, close to the ferry after a successful trip to a local IT specialist shop to purchase a new cable for the laptop which had finally shredded itself after many years of use.
Several years ago we discovered an article in ‘Yachting Monthly’ written by the then owner of ‘Cachalot’, Edward Elwyn Nott-Bower. He described his last voyage in her, departing Crosshaven near Cork Harbour, Ireland on 9 June, 1955 with his wife, Angela and daughter Jill. Their passage took them down the coast of France to les Sables d’Olonne, into the Gironde Estuary and on to Bordeaux then through the French canals to Sète, crossing to the Balearics and finally leaving her, laid up afloat, in Andraitx, Majorca. Our interest in this article led us to visit Sète in February 2023 and this year found us at Sables d’Olonne and Port Bloc.
We set the alarm for 0730 to catch the ferry to Verdon-sur-Mer but sadly, the ferry crossing today was in thick fog with fog horns sounding in the eerie light as we crossed the Estuary. This meant we missed seeing the iconic Corduan Lighthouse. The loading/unloading of the ferry was very slick with a friendly barman serving coffee on board and it only cost €22 with the van. We drove round to find Port Bloc, where ‘Cachalot’ had anchored in 1955 at Pointe du Grave as the sky cleared and the sun shone. We explored the small port which has not changed very much based on some old photographs on boards around the docks and a History of Port Bloc with archive photographs by the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel [in French].
At 1330 we departed for the scenic drive south through marshy scrubland with horses grazing and a long straight flat road across the Parc naturel régional Médoc. Buzzards were swooping high above us as we drove along the D6 coast road stopping for tea and cake at Plage Carcans on the Côte d’Argent, miles of sandy beaches in lovely sunshine. Heading south on the A63 and needing water we made a fairly early stop at Castets, camping in a woodland with only three other vans. After a chat with a friendly Dutchman we retired for the night with the heating on as it was certainly going to be below zero overnight with clear skies.
