Le papillion de La Rochelle

Yesterday I spent the day at the beach, but I hesitate to call it as such. The coastal town closest to Poitiers is La Rochelle. Downtown by the harbor is a pleasant place to sit and drink un café while, of course, people watching. The sand is a short distance from this area of shops and restaurants, and the walk takes you through some sandcastle-esque arcs and wooden foot bridges, almost as if your childhood beach architecture came to life. The beach itself is not so impressive. In the morning there were not many people there for a cloudless 80°F / 27°C Saturday, and we soon understood why. After soaking in the rays for a mere 45 minutes, I tilted my head up and found that the water had disappeared. Honestly, had you wanted to subject your feet to a few hundred yards of stones and rock shards, you could have reached the little red lighthouse without touching a single drop of water. These conditions persisted all afternoon, and I returned from a refreshing nap in the nearby park around 5 pm to find the water back in its proper place, and many more sunbathers out enjoying la plage.

Despite this unimpressive fist-time beach experience in France, I still had a good time. First of all, groups of five traveling within the Poitou-Charentes region are able to purchase two day train passes for 35 €. At 7 € per person, you can’t go wrong. We had three groups going - the more the merrier! We had intended to venture past La Rochelle to Île de Ré, the beautiful island just a bus ride from the train station, but the bus departures didn’t line up well with our train arrival, and we didn’t want to risk missing the bus back and getting stranded in La Rochelle (which happened to group a few weekends ago).

Apparently, Johnny Depp has been spotted on Île de Ré, so you know I’ll be back. 

this butterfly was tenaciously pursuing me in the park, landing on or around me at least a dozen times.someone’s got the right idea.detox day 5 : refreshing bubbles and broc salad for dinner.