Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Travellings: France! La la La Rochelle

Initially we had planned to sleep rough in La Rochelle (because we couldn't find a room there anywhere online)but after the hellish night out with the rats in Toulouse i begged T to find us a place to stay. We managed to get a room at the auberge which was a hike and a half from town and the train station. The room was small and smelled weird, but it was a bed and a shower. We rented bikes that afternoon and headed out to the beach (again!) where i managed to break my bike (don't ask) but the bike shop sent a replacement (hurrah!). Managed to work on the tan a bit and swam a lot (the atlantic this time,and there were weird cold and warm currents- the water wasn't that nice though, its a port town after all).

Got dressed up for dinner then me and my rising hemline had to bike it all the way into town. Found a restaurant that was still serving dinner at 10, and we sat down for the most expensive seafood dinner ever. I had an aperitif and we started off with a massive seafood platter. Oysters, mussels, small lobsters....the works. Came with yummy sauces and dips- seafoods is so much fun, especially when we left the massive crab for last. I made an absolute mess! We shared the main- butterry bass seasoned with fennel and ratatouile. We had a half bottle of chablis too, and finished off the meal with some sorbet.

We then went to tour the city on bike- The main part of town in pretty small, and we found this lovely park by the sea. The sky was cloudless and the stars were shining down- i was lying there in the grass staring into the sky for ages. We spotted a shooting star- which i though my vision was blurring. It was warm and there was a pleasant sea breeze- a lovely night. We cycled past some of sights before crashing for the night.

We got up pretty late the next day- made in just in time for breakkie! Right after, we went out-took the scenic seaside offroad route across the town (basically from one end of town to the other). I could barely keep up- huffing and puffing all the way. We went through a beautiful park in the middle of town (complete with its own stream) and then cycled along the sea.....The path wound through some woods and fields, even a tree tunnel.

Returned the bikes that afternoon and hung about town a bit. Picked up our stuff from the auberge and dragged it all the way across town to the lovely park by the sea. See, we had a 5 oclock-in -the-morning train, so we thought it was better to sleep rough. Except that this night it was cold and there was lightning. I passed out, cold and exhausted on the bench and was woken up at 2 am: 'hey, wake up, its raining....' Good thing i had spotted a gazebo- we dashed there with all our baggage. I climbed back into my sleeping bag and went straight back to sleep- i love sleeping to the sound of rain pattering on the roof (even if it is in a park!). I felt pretty safe with T there and he is nice to snuggle with :P

At about 4 we dragged our dazed selves to the train station- its off to Paris then!!!

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