How did Descartes view himself?

In Descartes 2nd and 6th meditations he gives two accounts of the self - 1. that he is a "thinking thing" and 2. that he is a union of the mind and body. My question is, of the two which did Descartes believe to be the real Descartes.

I believe Descartes saw himself as a thinking thing. However, I can't quite see what the purpose of the 6th meditation was apart from Descartes attempt to distinguish the mind from the body and vise versa.

Any help is welcome and if you have some good sources on this topic I would appreciate it. Cheers.