Travelogue#
Today was an absolute dream day on the bike! I set off early to catch the first ferry from Royan across the Gironde Estuary. The crossing took about half an hour.
In the beautiful seaside town of Soulac-sur-Mer, Daniel suddenly rolled up again. I had briefly met him yesterday on the transporter bridge. He’s from Bonn and has already been on the road a few days longer than I have. We ended up riding about 70 km together today, and I really enjoyed our conversations along the way.
Shortly after Soulac-sur-Mer, we entered the Médoc forest. What followed was pure bliss: 120 km through a stunning pine forest, almost entirely on paved roads. Most of the time there was hardly anyone around, with only the almost deafening chorus of cicadas accompanying us. There are just two small villages along this stretch and a handful of campsites. In return, you get endless nature and seemingly never-ending beaches.
We stopped for an early lunch in the surf town of Hourtin-Plage.
I rode the final 40 km through the forest on my own again, as Daniel decided to take a half rest day and stay at one of the campsites. Even though I was feeling pretty tired towards the end of the ride, I honestly didn’t want this journey through such a magnificent forest to come to an end.
I had already booked an Airbnb in Lège-Cap-Ferret beforehand, as I wasn’t keen on camping in the sand—which would have been the case at all of the available campsites.
Pictures#
