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Date Filed |
7/07/2011 |
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Lat/Long |
47º 53’93 N |
3º 58’53 W |
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Content complete to – (Date |
Place) |
3/07/2011 |
River Vilaine, Loire |
Tuesday 28th June. After a leisurely stroll round
the town of
The reception pontoon was several deep along its length & we rafted to a large motorboat. I made a foray to the office (quite a hike) & arrived as they opened for the afternoon. A very helpful receptionist allocated us a berth for 2 nights only – the owner was coming back – so after some nifty unparking by Doug we moved there. Much more relaxing, thanks lady.
Wednesday 29th June. On the bikes again. South down the centre of the island through salt pans
& past mills to the Passage de Gois, the ancient & still usable causeway linking island to mainland (there is now a bridge as well, further south). We were aiming to be there before the midday high tide. We were & it was worth the hurry as we were in time to watch as the sea engulfed miles of sand & shellfish beds, & as a few daring souls played chicken driving their cars across the rapidly flooding road. It didn’t take long for the water to take over!
Then a return along the coast, lunch at a seafood snack bar, more salinas, a circuit of Noirmoutier town with its dominating castle, & another stretch of coast, this time of wooded rocky coves & little sandy bays. 47 km.
Thursday 30th June. An 8 am departure from
L’Herbaudiere, & once out of the entrance we were sailing. As we passed the
entrance to the
We had been to Piriac in Doug’s previous boat & a stroll around showed it to be as pretty as we remembered. We had supper out & were taken aback when the proprietor ( presumably Celtic) started playing the bagpipes.
Friday 1st July. Bikes again. This time to the
inland town of
Guerande was lovely. A tiny walled town, totally encompassed by its ramparts, & with the moat still filled for half of that. We found our way in through one of the 4 main gateways & strolled the narrow streets & little squares. You can only walk a small length of the ramparts & when we arrived for this they were closing for lunch, so we found lunch ourselves & then returned to the walls.
Back on the bikes we cut south to the coast road & returned to Piriac that way. It was a busier route than our outward one, but totally different as it skirted the vast area of salt pans & marais, before coming to coast proper at La Turballe.
One nasty shock - marina prices jump 50% on 1st July for the high season!
Saturday 2nd July. An 8 am departure from Piriac
to get over the sill before we are trapped by the tide. Then unfurl the genny
for a lazy sail the 5 nm to an anchorage at Ile Dumet. This little island is a
nature reserve & on previous visits we have nicknamed it “Bird island”. We
were one of the first boats there, but the anchorage soon got quite busy &
there were lots of comings & goings. We had a lazy morning bird &
people watching then early afternoon, when the tide had risen again (& the
wind died) we motored into the very shallow estuary of the Vilaine river. By
3.30 pm we were waiting for the 4 pm lock at Arzal & duly went through into
the freshwater river beyond. We continued up past the popular & scenic town
of
There were wooded outcrops rising from the fields & a little village (Beganne) on a hill on the opposite bank. Raptors circled overhead, & there were a few fishermen along the banks.
On Sunday (3rd July) we spent a leisurely day at our anchorage avoiding ‘le weekend’ & doing some jobs. We decided the raptors were probably Black Kites – smaller & darker than their ‘red’ cousins &, according to the book, in terrain that they would like & a place they were likely to be. We certainly had some good views as they soared overhead.