Well it had to end, see you later Spain.

After staying in the pool last night with far too much lager to drink I was a bit hungover this morning, slept in later than planned and still hadn't booked anywhere for tonight.

A quick look on the map and La Rochelle looked somewhere in the middle of where I was and my final stop outside the UK in Calais that I've already booked for Sunday night.

All the hotels in La Rochelle where booked though, I assumed it was just popular. I did find one several miles from the town, that said it had a pool and parking, so I booked that, programmed the address into the SatNav and set off.

I had to take the fastest route, I'd had my fun on the twisty roads for this adventure. Even the fastest route was a six hour ride and over 650km.

The motorways out of Santander were the most frustrating I'd ever been on, the speed limit changed every two minutes, 100kph, down to 80, then roadworks so it was 60 for miles. Back up to 120 for half a mile then 100. It was stupid and there were speed cameras.

And then there'd be a toll. I'd not got an electronic tag for the Spanish tolls so had to mess about with tickets, my debit card and coins at three different ones.

As before I'd stop every 130-140 miles for fuel and a quick rest and drink.

I didn't think I would be, but I was actually pleased to get back across the border into France, the speed limit went up to 130kph and it didn't change, and my toll tag still worked. So I could relax again and cruise the many miles to La Rochelle.

It was so hot though, hotter than it'd been in Alicante, I thought it had got cooler in Santander, maybe it was just because it was on the coast and I was now inland on the motorways. 

I made it to the hotel I'd booked, a French lady greeted me but we couldn't understand a word each other said, I got my phone and used google translate, she was nice though and didn't seem to mind my lack of French.

The hotel seemed a bit run down on the outside, but the room was nice and I could park my bike off the street, in the garden outside my room, I was happy with that.

So I changed into my casual clothes and rode into La Rochelle, parked in a secure below ground multi storey and went for a wander.

No wonder all the hotels were booked, there was some big sailing regatta departing from here. There were stalls and a live band playing around the harbour and all the sailing boats were moored up ready for the competition.

The place was buzzing, and very picturesque. I got a few cans of lager from a supermarket to have in the hotel pool. I found a little fish and chip shop just next door, got them to take out and sat on a bench next to the harbour watching the sun go down as the band played Bob Marley's 'Don’t Worry About a Thing'. Then an ice cream. I felt recharged from the 650km motorway endurance ride.

Time to check out the pool without getting as drunk as last night.