People are lovely!

It turns out it's worryingly hard to camp in france... Worryingly hard considering soon we're going to try camping in Mauritania...

Day 5 was going so well, we had arranged to meet Andy and Lynne in La Rochelle for supper, and we had a campsite all lined up very near to where they were staying on Île de Ré. We arrived at the campsite and it turns out they didn't take tents after "summer"!  What kind of a campsite doesn't take tents? Their sign even had a tent on... Outrageous. BUT it all went well because Andy spotted a couple of camper vans parked near a parky sort of area and we decided we'd camp there. After a lovely meal - such luxury not to eat food that doesn't taste of meths (thanks Andy and Lynne) we pitched our tent in the dark and slept there. In the morning we were all set to make an early start before the couples in the camper van invited us for coffee and breakfast! We spent a long time talking to them - and eating before we left for Royan.

Day 6 was lovely as we enjoyed a bit of easy livin' and went nice and slowly. We made friends with a group of Belgian women and joined on to their peloton for a while. We arrived at a really lovely looking campsite - there was nobody on reception but we spotted a nice space and pitched our tent. We went for a swim and a shower and then tried to find somebody to pay. We spotted an official looking woman wearing a t-shirt that said "security" and mum went up to her and asked if we could pay for the night. She asked us if we'd just arrived and mum replied "yes and we've pitched our tent and had a shower". It turns out honesty was NOT the best policy in this case.. She was incredibly angry and repeatedly told us we'd broken the law and it was forbidden to camp without a reservation. She said in England we'd be punished. This was even scarier because she had a gun in her pocket. She told us we had to leave at once, and kept pointing to the "security" written on her back. There was no way we were leaving and we sort of solved this by asking some people if we could pitch our tent on the edge of their plot. After they said yes we carried the tent (pitched) across the campsite. Ridiculous. In the morning they also invited us for breakfast and coffee - fried eggs! This evening we're staying in a gorgeous campsite in Paulliac - on the banks of the Gironde after a lovely day cycling through vineyards.

I am entirely made of insect bite.