Back on the road south today this time to Royan. It’s a couple of hours journey and we are staying in a camping car-park site. These small sites are usually located in a town, are secure, usually have some shade from trees and greenery, plus water, black and grey waste disposal but no showers or toilets. There’s an app you use which tells you how many spots are free. At one point there’s 5 out of 41 pitches available but happily the number increases as we get closer.
We find a pitch with a tree for shade and enjoy a drink and some lunch. It’s incredibly hot now, around 30c so not looking forward to the thirty minute walk into centre.
Royan is a seaside resort town on France’s Atlantic coast, at the mouth of the Gironde estuary. We have come to see the Notre Dame de Royan church. After a hot sweaty walk we arrive and wonder if it closed as there is no-one about.
It’s an imposing soaring concrete structure and happily for us it is open.
The original church and lots of the town were decimated by allied bombing in 1945. This much bigger church was built over three years and completed by 1958. It’s amazing inside, the architects taking inspiration from gothic cathedrals. Gorgeous stained glass and a huge soaring elliptical nave. T hunts for and finds St. Anthony of course.
We wander back to the sea front and find a lovely cool spot for a cold beer. It’s very busy with holiday makers enjoying the end of the bank holiday weekend.
Along the promenade we buy a fridge magnet and enjoy another cold one before the hot trudge back to the van.
Spring rolls and samosas followed by microwave paella for dinner. All surprisingly tasty.
Entertained by Speedo man giving his motorhome garage a thorough clean plus a bit of quizzing before bed to end another good but scorching day.
A top church kind of day!
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