Isle d’Re is wonderful, but a bit busy. We arrived in the
port, St Martin after yet another lovely downwind sail from Les Sables. We
timed our arrival to suit the opening of the lock to the inner harbour but
still waited over an hour for the hardworking harbour master team to make space
for us to get in. The visitor area of the inner harbour is like a jigsaw puzzle
of boats by the time they have finished, every bit of space occupied. Their
task was made even more difficult by a film crew, who had booked one corner of
the harbour; (apparently they are on the island for 2 months making a drama
about a Parisian family rubbing up the locals the wrong way, half a day to film
a couple walking down onto the pontoon having an argument!). The downside of
the jigsaw puzzle is that everyone ends up moving their boats twice per day to
let other people out, nerve wracking when there is so little space before you
hit something.
It is however easy to
see why everyone comes here; St Martin harbour is stunningly pretty, packed
with tourists, not only boat people but the thousands who drive to the island
over the bridge. The bridge, something
akin to the Dartford Crossing on the M25 links the mainland near La Rochelle
with Isle d’Re, a holiday island barely 13 miles long. It would never happen in
the UK!
We hired bikes and like everyone else, cycled round the
island along the miles of dedicated cycle paths, which run though pretty villages,
vineyards and along the coast and beaches.
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| Vinyards, Ilse d're |
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| House in one of the villages |
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| St Martin Harbour, note local boats get a berth each, visitors have to be a bit more friendly. |
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