Chateau du Coing

I have not been feeling well for several days now. A bad case of IBS, which gets worse when I don’t follow my usual schedule. And who does when on vacation? Drinking wine every evening certainly doesn’t help, but I’m not about to forego that!

After Vibraye, we went all the way to the coast, out to the small island of Noirmoutier. We stayed at a small “Stellplatz” all the way out the first night, but then moved to the camping site, Camping de la Pointe where we stayed two nights in the hope that I would get better. I did, but I’m certainly not well.

A lovely camping site, big trees with long shadows – a must when this far south – and the Atlantic just a 5-minute walk away. Jens went swimming several times, I was happy to watch. I need WARM water. We did not really do much sight seeing, I’ve been too sick for that, but this camping can certainly be recommended. The small village is just a few minutes away, there is a fairly big yacht port, many restaurants and several small shops.

Today we decided enough is enough and headed east. We first landed at a big supermarket, Super U, where they certainly had a big selection, but no lactose free dairy products, and very few vegetarian alternatives. It took me about an hour to find what I needed – this is in a way almost as tricky as grocery shopping in Japan!

After that, on to our first wine tasting! We are members of France Passion – a really good set up where you buy a book with participating (wine) farmers, get a sticker for your wind screen and off you go. You can stay the night for free at participating farmers’, you don’t have to buy anything but of course it’s appreciated if you do. We decided on Chateau du Coing, which proved to be a winner. They even spoke English! We can almost get by in French – providing they speak really slowly, which they usually don’t, so we appreciate being able to speak English. We really enjoyed their wines, so we bought a box of 6 to take home, and 2 for the road.

And now we are basically right in their vine fields. We have just finished dinner, with one of their wines of course, and are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. I am still not feeling well, but as long as I don’t move around too much, I’m OK.