We started our day at Île d’Oléron, waking up late due to a dinner with my exchange parents’ friends ending close to 1 in the morning. We walked through the main road of the small town on the island to gather some groceries that we hadn’t brought with us. Afterwards, we started a bike ride to the lighthouse at the northernmost point of the island near noon, and 21 km/13 miles later, we arrived and had a late seafood lunch at a local restaurant. I tried langoustine, or a lobster/shrimp of a size in between the two. We then made the long and arduous climb to the top of the lighthouse, which is around 300 steps. From the top you could see nearly a third of island, which was already the second largest in France. Following this, we strolled along the rocky beaches during a surprisingly low tide peering into tidal pools and watching the crabs and shrimp scuttle out of sight. After we got some crêpes at the aforementioned restaurant, we began our return to where we were staying, this time an alternate route down the other side of the island. Although we may have gotten lost on the way, listening to the family’s arguments about which way to go helped me to solidify my understanding of which French word is “right” or “left”. We passed by the grass airfield on the island and many cows. The bike ride left me quite tired, and excited to bike to the other end of the island to see the castle.
