Why this ride
346 km from Saint-Martin-de-Ré to Saint-Martin-de-Ré, about 5 h 09 of riding. It goes by way of La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B and La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin and La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 346 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 09
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin
Saint-Martin-de-Ré is the fortress-town of the Île de Ré, a flat, sunny island off La Rochelle that you reach by a long bridge, built in 1988, for which a toll is charged. The harbour at Saint-Martin is a classic: stone quays, small boats, cafés and shuttered houses facing the water. Behind it rise the walls and bastions designed by Vauban for Louis XIV, which form part of the UNESCO listing of his fortifications, with a citadel that held prisoners awaiting transport to the penal colonies of Guiana.
Read the complete La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin is where the day begins. Next is Cordouan Lighthouse.
2. La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B
The Gironde estuary is wide enough here to feel like an inland sea, and Vauban saw it as the gateway to Bordeaux that needed a lock. His answer, at the end of the seventeenth century, was a triangle of fortifications: the citadel at Blaye on the right bank, Fort Médoc on the left bank at Cussac, and between them Fort Paté, a squat stone tower built on an island in the middle of the river. Together they could cross their fire over the shipping channel, and today they share a place on the UNESCO list of Vauban's works. The citadel of Blaye is the most impressive of the three, a fortified town in its own right, with ramparts, gates and old barracks set high on a bluff above the water.
Read the complete La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 169 km into the recorded legs you reach La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B. Next is back through Cordouan Lighthouse.
3. Back to La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cordouan Lighthouse, late in the day. Next is La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin.
4. La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin to La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B
La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin → La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B is 169 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B to Back to La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin
La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de B → Back to La citadelle el l’enceinte de Saint-Martin is 177 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.