Day 31 La Rochelle to Fouras les Bains Click to view route in new page

Friday June 3, 2011, 41 km (25 miles) – Total so far: 1,087 km (675 miles)

We cycled from La Rochelle to Fouras-Les-bians. Seriously – this is what it is called!

As we were cycling along swarms of sandflies attacked us. They stuck to our suncreen and got into any open orafice. It was disgusting. Our arms and legs were black with bugs!

We stopped at the supermarket to get some supplies (beer) and were relieved to be inside away from the little beasties. We finished our shopping, starting packing our supplies onto our bikes when a huge swarm attacked us! It was like a sand storm of sand flies. I covered my entire face with my neckerchief and shouted to Mike to “run for cover”. Mike ran for the safety of the supermarket while I quickly locked the bikes and ran for cover also. We were both black with sandflies.

We were too scared to leave the airconditioned comfort of the supermarket. The little brats seem to be attracted to our bright yellow shirts. We sat for a little while, gathering the courage to make a run for it. Once on the bikes and cycling it wasnt too bad. We both had our neckerchiefs covering our faces to minimise swallowage. I didn’t want to camp with these bugs so we tried to find a hotel but they were all full.

As the weather got cooler, they seemed to disappear a little so we ended up camping. We couldn’t handle cooking amongst the swarms so we had a feed of sausages and frites at the campground restaurant.

Kids covered in mud – obviously to stop the sandfly attack.