The Ile de Re

Another island? Yes, when the French celebrate their "Labor Day" the first weekend of May, we decided to take a road trip with friends Amy and Ken to the Ile de Re. Thinking that it would be warm (palm trees in the pictures) and sunny, we packed our bags into our rental car and headed southwest to the Atlantic coast, north of Bordeaux. Our first stop was in the town of Tours, where we observed one of thousands of "manifestations" going on throughout France(i.e. strikes) in the town square. Still, the fountain in front of the Hotel de Ville was beautiful....

We arrived to the island in the late afternoon, and looked for our hotel which looked so inviting in the brochures....pool, waterslides, woods, near the ocean..... Well, so much for dreaming. It was not 'QUITE' what we were expecting, and as Lyle said...a few steps above camping. Which is what it was, actually. It seems that this hotel is connected to a huge campground with "cabins"....

...I thought, oh no....we aren't going to stay in one of those are we? I was in charge of finding the hotel and I knew my expertise as a travel agent once again would be questioned! Luckily, we had rooms in the main hotel, but, well, they were a step above camping. Oh well...we weren't there for the luxurious rooms anyway.....nor for the pool.....

.....that did not have water in it yet. I guess we were a little ahead of the "season". Apparently, this island gets hopping in the summertime, crowded with French tourists who rent these "cabins", which are a far cry from what we Minnesotans are used to in the woods up north! Ah...but they come for the beaches....

....and the biking, which is what we decided to do the next day. The hotel conveniently did have bikes to rent so we headed out for our ride up the island! The day was perfect, the terrain flat, and we were determined.

The island is known for their bike trails and there were, yes, HUNDREDS, of people from ages 4 to 80 biking the trails through pine forests,

.....vineyards......

....beaches......

......saltmarshes where they harvest sea salt in the summer.....

.....and quaint harbors .....


After biking for a few hours, we decided to stop for lunch at a cute outdoor place and rested weary legs. I thought we had biked quite enough and was looking forward to the ride back....

But, I underestimated our dear friends. Now, Amy, may be small and petite, but she runs every day and has very strong legs....and determination. We were not going to turn around...we had a goal....the end of the island. We had already gone at least 10 miles.....ok...I can make it......


Well, we did make it to the lighthouse at the end, but then it hit me that we would have to bike back! My legs were already ready to fall off! We had put in 15 miles......and had to get back somehow. "Somehow" was a bike.


Ken and Amy went ahead, and my dear husband stayed with me, biking ahead once in awhile and stopping to wait for me, checking his iphone for email. The only way I could make it was to pedal for a few minutes and then coast...and repeat...and repeat. I kept telling him we had to stop at the next village and have something to drink for a break...but somehow we kept missing the villages. I finally had to opt for a picnic table in the middle of nowhere....

But we made it! All 30 miles of it, nearly the length of the island! It just took 7 hours!

That evening we treated ourselves to a dinner in the town on the other side of the island, and it reminded me of perhaps New England, except everyone still spoke French! Well, maybe there are not turrets in New England!

A beautiful evening ending a very fun weekend get-away. We were worn out, well, I was anyway, but invigorated with the exercise and country air. Tomorrow....a change of scenery visiting the Chenonceau chateau in the Loire Valley on the way home.