So goes the song, and yes, I do like to be beside the seaside. I have to say that it has been a long time since I was at the coast and smelling the salty air. With my new pod and a few days of predicted good weather it was a great opportunity to get away and to have my first ‘podventure’. I found a site that was open all year at Fouras-les-Bains, just 100kms from home. Perfect for a trial run!

Sadly the site was not that great and in any other situation I would have turned around and come home, but I wasn’t to be daunted and I really did want to see how I got on, along with Maggie. The problem with the site is that for the winter, most pitches are closed due to the weather, and it runs at a very limited state. Campervans seem to be OK but caravans are not well catered for out of season, and I was directed to park up on a small gravel road nestled between closed-up mobile homes!!! It was like being hemmed in on a run-down housing estate.

The only really good thing was that I was 50m from the sea, and when the tide was in I could hear the lovely sound of the waves lapping and breaking on the beach. Anyway, at only 16 euros a night all inclusive of power, dog charge and modern heated toilet and shower facilities, I couldn’t go far wrong. And it was only for 2 nights.

As I said, the beach was only 50m from the site and there are some really lovely walks along the sea front and around the headland. I was on the North Port side and just a 20 min walk away were the larger beaches of the South Port.

As you can see the tide was out and I have to say that I haven’t seen such an enormous expanse of mud for ages…it seemed strange that the beach was so sandy and yet just a few metres away was treacherous mud!

One of the characteristics and part of the heritage of the coast of the Charente-Maritime are the traditional carrelets or fishing huts. The huts, perched upon wooden pylons driven deep into the sea-bed, take their name from the carrelets (large square fishing nets) which are balanced in a rather precarious fashion. They are simply lowered into the low water to catch whatever my swim past – mullet, sole, crab, prawns, or eels.

Hot-footing it in the shallows for a tasty snack!

Unfortunately my battery gave out on me, so no pictures of the town or the imposing mediaeval Fort Vauban. Perhaps next time 🙂 So, it turned out to be a good podding lesson and even though it was just 2 days away, it felt like a good change of scenery.

A Bientot!