Our journey today will take us to tiny Île de Ré, an island off the coast, which is a premier holiday destination for Parisians. It’s known for its sandy beaches, bicycling, salt mining, and oyster beds.

After breakfast, we leave our hotel and start out on a morning ride of 16 miles. The trail is again a combination of bike paths and narrow roads. And since it’s Sunday we see lots of bicycling groups out and about.

Today there was a crosswind and on sections of the road such as this, the wind always seemed to be in my face. This was a two-mile stretch and it was flat.

Our 16-mile morning leg ended in Chatelaillon-Plage but it was early for lunch and most of us decided to continue on to La Rochelle. It was another ten miles to the harbor there.

We parked our bikes and walked along the harbor to pick out a place for lunch.

After lunch, Ross takes off to ride the 14-mile third leg of the day into Saint-Martin-de-Ré, one of several villages on Île de Ré. He’s in the blue/green jersey riding along the harbor on his way out of La Rochelle. Four others in our group also rode that section and the remaining eight of us took the van to the hotel. I planned to ride this leg but changed my mind based on the temperature, which was in the upper 80s, and the big bridge we would have to ride across on what had become a windy day.

Before we left in the van, our guides Sophie and Jean Marc showed us how they could ride tandem-style.

Crossing the bridge to Île de Ré. The bridge was built in 1987 – previously ferries were in use – and is 1.8 miles long.

In the meantime, Ross rides his bike across the bridge and stops at the top for a photo.

A section of the bike path after he rides onto the island.

Looking back at the bridge.

On the way to the hotel, he rode through the Vauban Citadel and across its dry moat. This site is one of 12 fortifications in France designed by military architect Sébastien Vauban during the reign of King Louis XIV. This citadel was built in the early 1680s.

We arrive at our hotel, the La Baronnie which is a restored 18th century mansion. Built in the early 1700s, the mansion was acquired in 1785 by Louis XIV for Marie Antoinette. The current owners opened it as a guesthouse in 1996.

Upon arrival we get to meet the owner’s ultra-hairy dog.

Our room is not in the main part of the hotel but in an add-on that we “affectionately” refer to as the Hobbit House.

It’s all wood – walls, beams, floor – but the most unusual aspect might be the windows. There are no screens or locks and it’s warm at night. Easy for just anyone to wander in.

Dinner is on our own and we walk a short distance to the harbor to find a place to eat. In this photo, the tide is probably moving out but the boats are still floating. When it’s truly out, they are aground. The island has a year round population of slightly less than 18,000 but that number increases to 220,000 residents during the summer.

Ross, Tom, and Jerry at the harbor.

We head back along the street to our hotel; the entrance is just beyond the red hollyhocks on the left. Tomorrow we explore the island.

We start the morning in the very nice breakfast room.

We have many choices including scrambled eggs, breads, cheeses, fruit, and cereal.

This pain au chocolat was some of the most delicious ever, warm and so very flaky.

We walk out of the hotel to the bikes and I have a flat tire. Great way to start but the guides make short work of changing it. Once again, I am the last to start the ride.

We are riding mostly on bike paths today – there’s a 100 kilometer network of bike paths on the island – and see oyster beds fairly quickly. This fellow was either working the beds or collecting dinner. We saw several people with little baskets headed down to the water’s edge.

Further along, a little more heavy duty oyster farming.

We also get to ride along vineyards.

Part of the bike trail along a marshy area and low stone walls. This area is also a natural reserve for birds.

Another part of the path along the marsh.

Riding on a páve section.

I think we all stopped here to look at a hairy donkey.

Snack stop. My favorites are always bananas and chocolate.

Ross with our guides Jean Marc and Sophie.

There were several items of interest today and besides the oyster beds we see many sections of salt flats.

Fleur de sel being sold at an unmanned booth/honor system along the bike path. Salt flats in the background.

Looking ahead we see the Phare des Baleines Lighthouse, the highest point on the island.

After about 19 miles we reach the lighthouse. Built in 1854, it’s 59 meters tall with 257 steps to climb for a view of the island.

Some of our group made the climb but some of us were more interested in trying frozen macarons.

So many choices.

Interestingly we learn that the unique wave pattern shown below occurs most frequently in two places in the world. This photo is from the coast of Île de Ré and the other place is by the Cana Lighthouse in Door County, Wisconsin along Lake Michigan. The square waves or cross seas are caused by waves coming together from two different angles.

We leave the lighthouse and ride another 7 miles to have lunch in Ars-en-Ré at the Cafe du Commerce.

All I remember about that lunch was dessert – Profiteroles!

The rest of the ride was another 12 miles into St. Martin. I skipped that section but Ross took a photo along the vineyards.

And of this impressive church back in Saint-Martin-de-Ré.

After cleaning up from a very eventful day we have our final group dinner along the harbor.

Now the tide is out.

The next morning we say goodby to our guides and bicycles and take a motor coach to the train station in La Rochelle. From there we have about a 2 1/2 hour trip to Paris.