I left Oradour and made my way to the Atlantic coast and to La Rochelle arriving late at night and helped by the Vicarious books All the Aires France i found the Aire at Esplanades des Parks which stated was within walking distance of the town centre.The Aire was just a car park but with water and waste facilities (although the waste facility was not one i would use as it must have been the most unhygienic i had seen it looked as though a motorhome with a large black waste tank had not bothered to open the waste cover and had just dropped it on top) but there were about 50 vans parked here so it seemed very safe.I parked for the night had a brew and then as it was ten o'clock ish decided to have a wander and explore the route to the centre.I strolled through the park that the car park backed onto and was surprised to find many people out jogging and walking at this time of night even though it was a summer evening,because of the location i was half expecting it to be a hangout for local dropouts but i was so wrong and it just confirmed to me why i prefer to be in France than in my home country.As the book said the centre was a 10 minute stroll thro the park and the harbour maybe another 10 minutes.
The following morning i had decided that i would spend 2-3 days here and maybe take the bike to the Ile-de-Re' i did not fancy three days on the car park so found a nice little campsite at Marina des Minimes which was one of the 10,12,15 euro sites in the Camping Card book, very cheap and 2 minutes to the beach,there is also a Motorhome service point across the road for anyone in the area that needs these facilities.La Rochelle was a wonderful place and i enjoyed the three days i spent there and would it recommend it to all.