Rochefort to Royan is only 19 miles by road. There is a bridge between the mainland and the île d’Oléron, but it is too low for LJ’s mast to pass under, so we had to take the long way round and circumnavigate the island which clocked up 70 miles instead! The ridiculousness of this 8 hour trip is that we could have walked from Rochefort quicker!
Having exited Rochefort by mid-morning we were once more, looking at the Lighthouse of Phare de Cassiron, off the north side of île d’Oléron. And for once the wind turned, so we were actually able to sail south towards Royan.
As we entered the Gironde River, the tide picked us up and shot us in at speeds of 8 – 10 knots – this was only half tide – a welcome change to get some good speed over ground for once. After a 14 hour trip we were exhausted; we tied up. Tomorrow would be another day!
As you exit the marina on foot, the first thing you are informed of is that you are merely 575 kms from Gosport, Hampshire, which was a memory best forgotten (Gosport)
If this didn’t cheer you up sufficiently, the next thing you are informed of as you enter the Royan Tourist Information Office was that the city was flattened in 1945 by the allies (us!). In fact, everywhere you go, you are constantly reminded of this fact, but equally there are memorials and reminders of the bravery of British Commandos of Operation Frankton, famously known as the Cockleshell Heroes.
In brief, during the winter of 1942, a team of Commandos, led by Herbert ‘Blondie’ Haslar, were despatched from a submarine in canoes and travelled the length of the Gironde in order to attach mines to German submarines in Bordeaux. Over a period of five days, they travelled under the cover of darkness in extreme wintery conditions, camping en-route by the water’s edge. The tactical side of the operation was a success but the cost was huge; of the 12 men that set off, only 4 returned. Of the eight missing men, six were executed under Hitler’s ‘Commando order’ that all British Commandos were to be executed without trial, the final two are presumed lost at sea.
For more information on the Cockleshell Heroes – click here
In the centre of town, and dominated by the skyline, is the church of Église Notre-dame de Royan,
To be honest, I don’t often bang on about churches, but this building is astounding. It was built in 1953 on the site of the Old Notre-Dame church, which, yes you guessed it – the allies bombed flat. Guillaume Gillet was the architect, and it is considered to be his masterpiece. Inside and out, it is made of rough cast concrete, which on the face of it doesn’t sound particularly exciting
The people of Royan needed a place of worship and this fits the bill without all the standard gargoyle’s, pillars and fancy bits. This is raw, angular basic concrete structure but equally utterly beautiful. There is a chosen angle which is replicated throughout the entire building even to the door handles, it is nothing less than OCD on steroids and a masterclass of design.
With our new-found taste for electric bikes, we hired a pair and circumnavigated the northern peninsular clocking up some 70 km (we were both exhausted!) in 30 plus degrees of heat. We travelled to the Phare de la Coubre lighthouse in the north to quintessential village of Talmont sur Gironde in the south. We explored forests, costal paths and fields of brilliant sunflowers, and boy did our backsides know it
10th June 2025
Trip Mileage 70 miles
Mileage Completed 2269 miles