La Rochelle - lay over Day 2
Day 14
Chloe’s train was leaving around 11:30. We were going to have to walk there in these days of COVID. Her suitcase was about the size and weight of her! It had been repacked a couple of times and she was ready to go. We set off , suitcase in tow. On the way we saw what a massive marina La Rochelle is, thousands and thousands of boats.
We walked past the brightly coloured maritime museum which had cardinal bouys outside. They are quite huge when you see them out of the water.
Onto the station, which is a beautiful building. They got Chloe’s ticket (half the price of what the internet app said it was) and then Marco helped Chloe lug it to the platform.
He did however, get her to drag it up a few of the steps to see if she could manage it. She would have to change stations before she got to her final destination. (She successfully managed it all on her own when she had to change near Bordeaux.)
After hugs and an emotional goodbye from her dad we left.
And then there were two.
We walked back via the Carrefour corner shop, stocked up on a few things and then back to the boat.
To break the day up we set off for the old town, walking this time rather than catching the ferry. Being a Saturday it was rammed. So we headed for the less popular back streets and found a craft ale bar, where we had some pretty good beers. A chilled barmaid , with great English, and indie type clientele made it a very restful hour or so. However her card machine broke so I had to go round the corner to get some cash. We got a bit of discount as she didn’t have much change, so all was good!
During the day there had been lots of messages and photos from “Catfest” (it’s not a festival and there are no cats!) where old uni mates gather once a year. I was missing it for the first time this year. Sue was cooking the traditional paella for them. It was strange to be in France mid-pandemic seeing pictures of people having a socially distanced get together. It would have lovely to be transported back there for an afternoon but then get back to this leg of the adventure.
We got back to the boat and cooked dinner, sausages, mushrooms and rice, washed down with a bottle of Fitou. A short phone call to Sue, a couple of games of backgammon ( one all) and then a good nights rest before crossing THE BAY.
Is the boat big enough ?
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