Incredible Ile de Re
It was love at first sight. There’s something about both Ile de Re and La Rochelle that bowled me over from the minute we got there. It didn’t hurt that the weather was picture perfect the day we arrived, but even later on, in the rain and the cold, I was still just as much in love, if not more so.
It’s hard to explain Ile de Re, so I’m going to do a bad job. But to me it feels French with a little Hawaii mixed in. It’s beautiful French villages with a laid back beach vibe, seemingly blending the best of both worlds. In summer, the population is upwards of 220,000 but in winter, it drops to about 20,000. Where they all are is beyond me, I’d guess it was more like 200 as we practically had the whole island to ourselves.
When we checked in to our Airbnb, our lovely host Stephane was there to meet us and we got chatting. Turns out he and his family just came back from doing the same thing that we are, only around South East Asia. By the end of the check in, Stephane had invited us over to his house the next night to taste some wines that are made right there on the island.
I knew immediately that one of my big regrets so far would be only allocating two days to Ile de Re and La Rochelle combined. I would have loved to spend at least two days in La Rochelle and at least three on Ile de Re. There’s so much to see and do, and it’s the kind of place you need to absorb and take your time rather than dash about seeing sight after sight. Next time we’ll stay longer, and there will definitely be a next time. We did our best to try and cram in as much as possible, but we were also slightly hampered by our need to complete a couple of important chores.
Chore one was getting the car cleaned. The thing about living out of a car, in the dead of winter, with a dog, is that things get messy very quickly. As we were meeting guests the next day in Bordeaux and would need to stuff four people and bags plus the WonderDog in the car, we thought it was about time to spruce it up a bit. Mr T found The American Car Wash in La Rochelle (of course he did) so we decided to divide and conquer. I’d choof around La Rochelle for a half hour taking a few pics while he dashed off to get the car cleaned and would be back in time for coffee and poke about. Nice idea, didn’t quite work out that way. While Mr T waited two and a half hours for a simple clean and vacuum (apparently just because it’s called American, doesn’t make it quick and easy), the WonderDog and I had a merry old time seeing the sights and enjoying the sunshine.
La Rochelle is so steeped in history, I’d need a few hours just to tell you the highlights, but here’s a few. The Knights Templar totally loved the place if you like all that Holy Grail stuff. The city played an important part in the Hundred Years War and the World War II if you’re more of a military history buff. If religion is your thing, there is much to see and read about the Siege of La Rochelle during the French Wars of Religion. And if you love wandering around in the sunshine, looking at beautiful old buildings, people watching in cafes, eating incredible seafood and drinking great wine, this is also the place for you. No guesses which category we fall into!
So as Mr T sat there watching our car progress at glacial speed through an empty car wash, I got to enjoy the very best of La Rochelle. High five me. But I wasn’t without my chores. My job was to locate the post office, try and ask them in French how we can ship wine to Calais, get shipping materials and a price as well as buy lunch (at a cafe, not the post office). Because, you see, we have managed to acquire more than two cases of wine in the past two weeks. It’s a problem. We will show more restraint moving forward but we got silly in the Loire Valley, and now we have to try and off load some wine otherwise we’ll not be able to actually get in the car. Mr T has found a guy on the internet who will hold our wine in Calais (what could possibly go wrong there?!) so this was our plan.
But it’s rather more difficult than you’d think. There doesn’t seem to be DHL, FedEx or UPS stores. The post office made it sound like no one does this ever and looked at me like I was insane for wanting to ship more than one bottle. Eventually they quoted me a price but sent me off to somehow hunt down boxes, tape and bubble wrap from elsewhere because the post office doesn’t do that (thanks to the lovely Emilien Durand who pointed us in the right direction, as well as a wonderful lunch. Without him, we would have been so lost!)
So this is how we spend a good chunk of time in La Rochelle, on the side of the road, taping boxes and wrapping bottles, using only a pair of safety scissors from the first aid kit. We worked wonders, only to go back to the post office and find it shut until 2:30pm because why not close for lunch. Seems reasonable. Once it opened, I was very glad we don’t speak French so I couldn’t understand what the people behind us in the line were saying as we tried to muddle through the process. But we got there in the end.
Despite all of that, La Rochelle and Ile de Re have been my favourite places so far. Once we got back to Ile de Re we had a lovely time driving around the island, visiting a very impressive lighthouse at the northern tip that dates back to 1682, enjoying walks on the beaches and stopping for crepes and some cider along the way.
Then we headed over to our Airbnb host Stephane's house, who lives next door. They were the most fantastic hosts, letting us try a lovely range of wonderful local wines and chatting about all of their adventures. We were also invited to a home cooked, organic dinner that was an absolute feast. I can't describe how wonderful an experience this was, to be enjoying lovely local hospitality with such a terrific family. It really was one of these “only on Airbnb” moments and it made our stay so special. We feel like we now have great friends in Ile de Re.
I cannot wait to come back in spring or early autumn and eat my body weight in seafood, enjoy the sunshine, drink wine and relax. But for now, off we go to Bordeaux where we’ll be joined by the our first of our special guests who will be parachuting in and joining different legs of the journey. See you in St Emilion where we will be joined by Iain and Emma, direct from Hong Kong!
