We've parked in an aire, more basic than a campsite so no toilets / washing facilities but better than a car park as you can put out your chairs and it feels safe as you're surrounded by other campers. Where we've had a few late nights and long days and another late night tonight we let the kids just put out the picnic rug and do some drawing, reading, general playing.

After a picnic lunch we hop on a bus to take us into the town centre of La Rochelle, the only activity I had planned today was a visit to the aquarium so rather than change buses and get dropped off right at the door we ambled through the cute streets and got to see the beautiful harbour.

The aquarium was a lot of fun and we all had a great time, it always surprises me how much Robert remembers about sea creatures from watching octonauts, a kids TV show set under water.

Today is also mine and Al's wedding anniversary so I had booked us into a Michelin listed restaurant, I actually thought it was Michelin starred but must have read the French incorrectly, oh well we're still very much looking forward to our 6 course tasting menu (and still need at some point to try a starred restaurant!)

The place itself was back near the bus station which did seem like a shame as we walked past all the places with picturesque views of the harbour then found our place in a dinghy back street but once inside the decor was simple yet beautiful.

We had no idea what we would be served, only choosing between 5 or 6 courses and the optional cheese plate which we declined. The kids were offered pasta with chargrilled veggies which they were very pleased with even if they didn't appreciate the veggies (they were delicious so Al and I made sure they didn't go to waste).

Robert did enquire as to why he didn't get to have 6 courses but we let him try all of ours and he did really well eating new things and enjoying them.

The kids were even given the cucumber palette cleanser beforehand. Robert couldn't get enough of it and had Liliya's and half of mine as I wasn't a huge fan.

Each dish was usually a trio of different small bites with the server giving a recommendation for the order in which we should eat them. Out of all the courses there was only a couple that weren't vegetarian and it's impressive what you can do. At the very end we were given a copy of the menu in French of course so as she described each dish we did try making a note of what it was we were about to eat so here goes:

Cucumber palette cleanser drink

Fennel and almond

Tomato, water and olive oil ice cream

Jelly leaf

Courgette flower with fig oil

Carrot with sorrel

Kale tempura

Rustic bread with home made butter

Red tuna with caramelised tomato

Cockles

Fish n chip taco

Artichoke with kumquat

Aubergine with sage and anchovies

Cucumber ice cream palette cleanser

Panna cotta with rhubarb

Rhubarb tart with pickled tomato

Tomato ice cream

Strawberry ice cream

Pastry jam boat

Peach jelly cubes

I also tried the three cocktails they had as why not:

Gin and tonic

Gin apple and sorrel

Rum basil strawberry

I think they kids did really well as it was a good two hours we were eating for and they enjoyed their chocolate brownie and strawberry ice cream for dessert although Robert couldn't finish his, most likely as he'd been enjoying trying all our food as well as his own.

Due to another late night and the fact we didn't need to be off the aire by a specific time it was another slow start. It's going to be tricky to get back onto early starts and when we need to be in Paris for 9am that's going to be a really hard day!

Today we're not going too far and we're visiting Ile de Re, a little island connected to La Rochelle by a 3km bridge (apparently I was here 30 years ago although have no memories of this! Hopefully these blogs will help my kids remember some of their childhood adventures).

The main town is St Martin and it was lunchtime before we got onto the island so we decided to venture right to the other end instead hoping it would be a bit quieter and we'd find somewhere to park the moho. It was actually a bit of a faff as there were some roads we were too large to go down and many one way streets.

On the map I had seen a lighthouse we could go visit, it ended up being a 2.5km walk but the kids did really well and the were rewarded with ice cream once we arrived.

The lighthouse was a climb of 257 steps and offered lovely views out across the sea in one direction and the island in the other.

After all the walking we'd promised the kids some chill time on the beach.

We decided to take the coast route back which did end up with us on the wrong side of a fence and having to walk across some dunes, when we eventually got back to the main road that's when we saw the sign saying it was forbidden to walk along the dunes, oops!

After the long trek the kids were so ready for the beach and sea and spent the next couple of hours entertaining themselves with either digging holes or cooling off in the sea.

I still really wanted to check out St Martin and we hoped it might have cleared out a bit, we were potentially going to stay overnight if we could get a place in the local aire. Unfortunately turning up just before 7pm all the spots were gone so we 'illegally' parked next door in the spaces for cars only so we could at least give the kids a shower and cook food. Half way through the meal the police did pull up and tell us we couldn't stay here which we knew but they were very fair about it. Luckily we eventually found a parking spot within a 10-15 min walk of the harbour side so decided to go check out St Martin and enjoy an evening drink.

The place was very quaint and still very busy. The kids spotted a candy floss stall so I let them share one, they've certainly earned it with all the walking.

We then came across a very random shop, it claimed to be the only shop in France exclusively selling Tintin merchandise. We had watched the Tintin movie coming on the boat to Spain just over two weeks ago and the kids loved it so we bought them an overpriced English copy of one of the books.

Afterwards I got my cocktail, Al his beer and we watched the sun set over the harbour.

It was pitch black by the time we'd finished and got back to the van and we decided to leave the island and found ourselves a quiet park and night spot to sleep for the night.