Day 18 - La Rochelle 70 kms - "And Then There Were 4"!

In terms of epic rides this one quite sadly didn't measure up all the more disappointing given that it was our last day with our riding buddies and good friends Viv and Linton.

We'd survived the night (just) in our pretty basic accommodation where walking sideways was a constant requirement to avoiding colliding with some part of our poorly designed apartments - even toilet habits required a side on approach to avoid the plumbing and wall design ... the less i talk about that the better ! 

The day started with a little excitement with a couple of wrong calls from our Navigator "Columbus Coxhill" resulting in an urgent call for "Wrong Way" Wolstencroft to stretch the "hammies" and go to standby mode for possible substitution (mistakes are not tolerated lightly in this group !) 

Our maps showed little terrain features for our 70 km ride which was soon confirmed as we rode inland past great expanses of agricultural land turning eventually towards La Rochelle where we picked up a number of locks and canals as well as our usual serve of pretty varied riding surfaces.

Lunch was at Marana a lively town just off a bumpy 5 km canal path. Marana has taken alfresco dining to a new level where you can eat and be in danger of becoming a road victim all in one go ! Still it was nice to be waited on and to relax in the balmy sunny conditions before we jumped back on our bikes before Noel threatened to fall asleep !

Arriving Marana

Leaving

While the days temperature improved the lack lustre terrain didn't. Even Noel only rated it as "awright" !

We didn't need much of an excuse to have a final coffee stop at Dompiere sur Mer just Viv to say that she needed a fix and our treasurer to agree to use more of our "appropriated" money !

Finally we enterted La Rochelle by way of a lovely canal riding into the city where the days real fun started !

Approaching La Rochelle ! 

Navigation by Rick in City confines is tricky at the best of times with him trying to read his device, look out for traffic and signal his intentions to us following behind. Sometimes one of the 3 go amiss causing interesting outcomes - in Ricks case in La Rochelle a bus that he saw only at the last minute !
Harro also got in on the act when a turning car driver almost ended up in his lap !

Somehow (meaning by the grace of Rick) we arrived at our hotel in downtown La Rochelle abuz with activity because of some significant yacht race !

Though grateful to have arrived our problems soon started just at the point where we wanted to help Viv and Linton get their bike boxes for their trip home to OZ

Our small problem was that our hotel only had a record of 1 twin room in adittion to Viv and Lintons booking ! With the city and surrounds absolutely full for the next 6 days we desperately put in place plan B i.e. waving our bookings in front of the Mgr and when that didn't work getting Henley down on to his knees to plead !

Our Hotel Mgr moved by Henley's tears rang Booking.Com and found the source of our problem. Apparently Booking.com had advised the hotel of our booking with my name both in English and in French (????)

Way too much stress !!!

With the accommodation issue resolved we jumped into action helping carry 2 "ginormous" bike boxes back from the quay area for Harro to break down for travel on French rail. Failing that the boxes were big enough for Viv and Linton to jump in with the bikes and simply post themselves back to Australia.

After a tiring day it was time for a final meal together as a 6 and reminisce on the many wonderful memories we have shared over the past 2+ weeks !

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Day 17 - Le Trancbe sur Mer - 100 kms - "Budgie Smugglers the Rage"!

It might still be another day till Viv and Linton leave us but the cracks are already showing in our close knit group , "How am I going to ask for beetroot on my baguette when Viv is gone" said Henley!  " Who's going to look after me when I make a navigation error" said Rick and even Noel was in on the act when he asked "Can I have Linton's daily Flan (cake) allocation when he's gone" !

With our good friends imminent departure on our minds and a 100km day ahead, we were in a sombre mood when we departed our "niceish" Le Atlantique Hotel even if gave the misleading impression it was on the beach when the beach was in fact 5 kms away !

With Henley just about recovered from the shock of removing his eye shades in the morning to see me standing over him with lips pouted (how else was I going to get him out of his comatose sleep !) we worked our way out of St Jean du Mont after first finding the seafront part of the town.

When we did it reminded us somewhat of the Gold Coast with its high rise holiday apartments and its large beachfront - the only difference here being was that there was barely a person to be seen !This theme stayed with us for the 40 kms it took to get us to Bretignioiles sur Mer for our morning coffee.One could only imagine that this area would be an incredibly crowded place in season with camping grounds,  hotels, amusement  activities and restaurants littering our morning path along the Atlantic coast !

Harro on a mission !~

Having refreshed, we took the circuitous signposted Eurovelo 1 route that saw us cycle on just about every known surface to mankind, bitumen, sand, rocks, forest trails and occasionally even a small section of smooth road. On one section they had even started unsigned repair work forcing us to stand in the brambles to avoid oncoming Bob Cats and trucks !

For all the faith I have in Ricks navigational ability I was a little non plussed when we entered Les Sables D'One. Our route was clearly taking us down the wrong one side of the towns Harbour. With no bridge imminent I asked Rick if we were going the right way. "Yes he replied, the map clearly shows a road crossing the water"! Mystified and expecting Henley to soon hand out snorkels and floaties, our problem was soon solved when we spied another cyclist descending a ramp to await a solar powered electric Ferry ! Relieved we quickly descended the ramp following the cyclist horrifying the ferry operator who wondered how 6 fully laden bikes were going to fit on his tiny ferry.!

Somehow we all did Chinese puzzle style and undertook our shortest ferry ride on tour covering about 100 metres over to the other side of the harbour entrance.

Our tiny Ferry !

With so much stress on this beautiful day we decided to call lunch finding another of our favourite boulangeries. We sat out on the main street watching the world go by until Noel yelling his customary " come on " reminded us that we still had over 45 kms to go !

Leaving Les Sables was a delight riding along the towns expansive waterfront ( the town is apparently a stage in next years TDF) passing a section where even the French "boardies" were giving it a go in the good surf conditions.

Les Sables

The route took us out along the rocky coast before cutting inland across numerous salt marshes where the brine colour of the water was clearly evident (.. no H had not polluted it !)

At St Vincent sur Jard we pulled in for our 2nd coffee of the day with just 15 kms to go partly because of the frustration of the local cycle signs which one moment said one distance to La Trenche and then a few hundred metres on mysteriously added another 3-4 kms !

H causing his usual on road havoc ! 

Rick guided us in to La Trenche and to our not so great and tiny apartments adding another one way "the wrong way" street to his impressive tally on tour 

Sadly for Noel we were too late to take advantage of the apartments swimming pool where "budgie smugglers" were amazingly the swimming costume of choice !

Our apartments !

Budgies rule !

Tomorrow takes us into La Rochelle to sadly say goodbye to our dear friends !

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Day 16 - St Jean de Monts 66 kms - "Dead fish sighted at Passage du Gois"!

There's been some suggestions that our cycle tour of France has been pretty cruzy and is all about baguettes and cakes as most photos seem to include one or the other !

While I 'm eating a baguette let me categorically refute that ! In fact cycling at close quarters day after day is pretty damned difficult. A case in point was this mornings tiff between our main navigator Rick and our deputy back up navigator Noel, within a few hundred metres of leaving our hotel. I the tiff might have been over something serious like who didn't get the fluffy pillow the night before but the boys were actually arguing (Noel says debating) about which way we should be heading .. this could be serious indeed !

We'd left our pretty nice two star hotel late saying goodbye to our receptionist (remember the one who was not interested in turning our double beds into singles) who feigned interest in our journey with as much sincerity as Henley does when he praises non Bulldogs football players.

We were aiming to achieve a cruzy 60 km (With baguettes and cakes of course) cycling to St Jean du Monts by way of the famous Gois causeway at low tide !

What a delight our early morning ride was. The sun was out, our navigators had kissed and made up and our cross country riding on road and trails was just pure bliss ! Heading towards Beauvoir sur Mer for lunch and to kill some time to allow for low tide at Gois, we passed a series of wind turbines.  Noel was quick to retort on how quiet they were (unlike Australian ones) and how unlikely they would be to interfere with any bird species ... the fact they weren't even turning because of no wind may have influenced his opinion !

Henley trying to explain where we are !  

Despite yesterdays boulangerie success we actually had to ask for directions to Beauvoir's equivalent.  Here we stocked up on the usual then helped ourselves (read Henley and Harro) to numerous hanging pears while sitting out the back of the shop in what was ostensibly someones private garden !

While Harro was circumspect Henley walked away with a barrow full of fruit ! I reminded H of the outcome following the last time that he picked and ate fruit (Apples in Germany) where he didn't appear from the toilet for 3 days but he didn't seem too concerned !

Rick in medieval Beauvoir Church

From Beauvoir it was only 5 kms to the causeway which quickly turned into 10 when we went round the roundabout numerous times waiting for Rick to get his bearings back !

The Passage du Gois is an amazingly unique location and considered a national monument in France. Its 4km long causeway in use since the 18th century, is submerged under 13 feet of water for most of the day and is only open for 2 x 3 hour periods at low tide. It has been used in 2 TDF's and is also the venue of a yearly foot race that incredibly starts at the onset of high tide !

The PDG is potentially a very dangerous road and has a number of towers placed across the causeway to allow pedestrians or car drivers trapped to take refuge - small comfort if your nice new car floats out to sea !

We'd got to the causeway expecting to wait for the nominated low tide period but it was clear on our arrival that the road was passable. We'd jokingly discussed  plans in the event of a puncture and how we'd get up a tower with our bike ! If all else failed and it looked like we were going to be stuck up the tower all night we reckoned we'd just ring Dominos pizzas coz if you don't get it in 30 minutes you get it free !

We cycled on the partly cobbled and slippery surface stopping at one of the towers to take photos when our own very real emergency occurred. Henley having jarred his undercarriage cycling on the causeway desperately needed to pee, the only problem being was that the causeway tower we were standing on was prominent to all and sundry and many feet away from the receding water. That didn't stop H though  ("when you got to go you've got to go") although we do suspect that tomorrows newspaper headlines might have as a lead story "The mystery of dead fish found floating in the sea near the Gois causeway !)

The amazing Gois causeway !

Exiting the causeway we cycled briefly towards the Fromentine bridge (links the island back to the mainland) before debating whether to ride the main dual carriage road or an off road trail.The fact that we allowed poor Rick to cart his bike over a 6 foot ditch on to the road while we debated the merits of such riding and then decided against it causing Rick to clamber back over the same ditch should not be read as us having anything against him !

Our ride  over the bridge provided for great views before we reached our last section of the day a  beautiful meandering forest trail ride over 20kms directly into St Jean de Monts. What a great way to finish.

The Fromentine Bridge !

Magical forest Trail to St Jean

With our accommodation again not open till 6p.m. we overdosed on coffee before finally entering our rooms and then going out for a meal in the centre of town to an Irish pub where the owner much to Harros disgust had stopped selling Guiness because of poor sales (go figure !). The food though was good !

An Irish pub with no Guiness ! 

Tomorrow is a full 100 kms on the beautiful Atlantic coast as we move ever closer to the end of part 1 of our journey at La Rochelle where we bid adieu to our dear friends Viv & Linton !

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Just in case someone at home was wondering , NO ,  I haven't been shoved off a 1000mt mountain in Albania by Litchfield or " accidentally " nudged into a silent flowing canal in France , I'm still above ground and rotating my bike pedals .

Albania seems like months ago , cruising up gently rolling undulations/mountains of between 10 and 20% in balmy temperatures around 35-39deg with humidity of 90% , I can't ever remember having so much fun .

After infecting half of Albania and the majority of the riding party with a bug picked up from my flight over  our tour leader was  forced to put out an emergency call to Medicins San Frontierre , to no avail .  The diagnosis fell just short of the Ebola Virus category so suck it up was their response .

Albania will quickly become a cycling hot spot in the next 10 years with it's spectacular mountainous country and friendly people , one problem is most of them smoke . At A$2.00 per packet it's a very cheap way of killing yourself .

One fabulous side of Albania is their coffee , the best that I've ever tasted , all over the country They could teach the Italian and Aussie baristas a thing or two .

France could not be more different , the land of the teeth shattering baguette , affectionately known as a sandwich , and the 2kg slab of custard flan / tart , yummmmmy .

It must be a French National tradition that come 12 Noon everyone is compelled to walk around with a baguette in their mitt .

The language problem in France has drawn some most unusual looks from hotel and restaurant staff in response to our attempts at ordering in French .As French speakers we'd make good fairy farmers but we've managed to get by each time , just . Viv , who's the only one in our group who can pronounce more than Bonjour , ordered what she thought was a hot chocolate but on arrival turned out to be a huge chocolate sundae filled with whipped cream , so how are the rest of us hobos supposed to get by .

The riding in France has so far been more conducive to a Senior person of my standing who tends to become altitudinally challenged once we leave the flat stuff but in a couple of weeks I will assume my very important role as Lantern Rouge ( the red light ) once in the mountains .

In two days time our dear friends Viv and Linton leave us to return to Australia and work , I was totally confused by that word , I had heard of it but had to Google the exact meaning , I was not impressed by their explaination .

It has been brilliant having them both for company and providing constant humour and discussion and also for Viv's incredible ability to end up with chain grease tattoos from her ankles to just under her left ear , and on the opposite leg to her chain , even after spending hours wiping her chain of grease , go figure .

Harro's constant singing and whistling brings a jovial light hearted feeling to the group but he has to sharpen up on his ability to stay upright on his new treadly . His ungainly dismount total of 3 has attracted poor marks from the Russian judge who criticised the landing , something to be worked on .

With just over 4 weeks left it will soon be down to 4 warriors to tackle the hills on the way to Nice .

Litchfield has never had it so easy with CCC Christopher Columbus Coxhill and his faithful backup Vascoe De Gama Noel Wolstencroft taking care of all the navigation duties , we've just sat back and enjoyed the scenery .

Hope everyone is enjoying Mike's blog posts and daily Facebook and we'd love to receive your comments .

Melbourne's Spring should be in full swing so get pedalling 

Cheers 

Kev 

Day 15 - Le Berniere en Retz 54 kms - "Someone forgot to turn the lights off " !

Turn left, turn right, go straight ahead .. "Hey I can still see the town" said someone behind ... another right, a few more lefts ... "Hey how come that bridge we passed still looks close to us over there" !

The least favourite part of cycle touring is trying to get your way out of a big city with cycle routes often taking you every which way but straight in an attempt to avoid busy traffic areas !

We started off after Hotel throw out time allowing Viv and Linton to explore the lovely historical gardens of Nantes, self and Kev to work on my bike after discovering a missing pannier rack bolt and Noel and Rick to go city exploring. 

Main square in Nantes

With our expedition party reassembled we journied out of Nantes with showers now falling, relying on Rick to extricate us from a complex mix of roadways and bridges. At least Nantes cycle friendly lane markings helped to separate us from the midday traffic and with some sharp cycle sign spotting and Ricks guidance, we eventually cleared this lovely  80, 000 + city !

After 15 km we pulled off for our daily bouangerie fix where the highlight was the amazing size of the slices of cake. Harro's huge slab of flan seemed to have a life of its own as it wobbled and bobbled in his hands as he internally debated whether be should marry or eat it !

Is that enormous or what ! 

Back on road again Rick expertly guided us across country setting a TDF pace that had the rest of the gang struggling to keep up. When queried about what drugs he was on Rick replied "I feel good I'm just having one of those days"! H's comment that someone should shoot out his tyres was lost to the wind ! 

Afternoon coffee came and went with tales of flan size,  vanilla slices and Viv's penchant for face planting (don't ask !) dominating before we made easy work of the remaining 10 kms this time with Noel stuck like a limpet mine to Rick ..."why should i work hard if i dont have to" said Noel !

There was a dodgy crossing of a pretty quick main road before we arrived in St Bernene er Retz on the Atlantic coast and our seafront accommodation where the first fireworks of our trip started !

H in checking in asked for our 1 x double and 2  x twin rooms to be told I'm sorry sir but your booking is for 3 double beds! Noel and Rick might be used to this form of accommodation but both Henley and I would prefer sleeping in the bathroom or a closet or even a bathroom closet than sharing the same bed. The receptionist though was not going to budge suggesting that it was too difficult to separate and put sheets on the various beds. 

"This is not very funny" she said as she eventually relented  (Most likely because of Henley's death stare !)  and went off to make the 4 extra beds while we waited in the hotels foyer. Even when I produced the internet booking that stated the 2 x twin bedded rooms she still made some statement about the problem not being theirs !

Finally all checked in we went out and checked out the town with a collective agreement that it felt like we were about 3 weeks late for the seasons closure !

All was not lost though as we found a local pizzeria for dinner and had one of our best meals on tour! 

Our Hotel

Tomorrow we head further down the Atlantic coast aiming to challenge the famous Gois causeway !

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Day 14 - Nantes 100 kms - "Relishing our feminine sides"!

It might have been a moment of pure ethereal beauty. A morning mist hanging over the Brest - Nantes canal, the nearby spire of Guenrouet poking through the trees with bells tolling and a heavy spiritual feel hanging in the air - so moving in fact that i could have been forgiven for thinking that  the lady of lake was about to emerge from the canal holding the sword of excalibur !

Then the voice of Kevin T Henley boomed across the water from 3 river bends back ... "This is the worst f.cking path I've ever f.cking cycled on" !  My moment was clearly lost !

Henley & the f .&^%g canal !!

Both H and I had woken thinking that we'd somehow found our very own localised area of global warming until we both realised that we'd left our heater on full overnight ! 

With our stupidity forgotten the morning started with a degree of apprehension knowing that this was our first crack at a 100km day, not big in itself but worrying when you are dragging along the equivalent of a lounge room suite on your bike !.

Despite H's protestations the first 10kms on the canal paths unmade service weren't that bad, roughish yes, littered with acorns yes, ruts in part yes, uneven yes but still a very rideable surface as proved by our powerful 20 + km /hr average !.

The canal we were riding alongside was the Brest - Nantes canal, over 360 kms in length built originally with over 200+ locks in the early 19th Century by prison inmates.  The canals early aims were to allow for the movement of military persons /equipment and trade / food and commissioned by one Napoleon Bonaparte or "my mate Bony" as H would say !

This was the sort of trail riding that was even safe for "Wrong Way Wolstencroft" and "Columbus Coxhill" who finally had a chance to appreciate the French countryside without worrying about navigating and traffic !

Beautiful scenery !

En route, Viv our minister for Womans affairs, Health and well being and "llloooovvve", called a meeting at a bridge overpass stating that she had an important announcement. We'd 2nd guessed her by betting on a marriage announcement or even an immaculate conception with Linton's non plussed look not giving way much to the punters ! 

No one told me !!!

As it was Viv's announcement was to emplore us (as part of her ministerial duties) to spend the day getting back in touch with our "feminine" sides ! Most of us were a little non plussed but H reckoned he could pull out something in pink while Noel said he was on board having left his "man bits" back on the trail when he plowed into a pothole which not only made him an instant enuch (sorry Jenny) but also required him to stop to replace his slow leaking tube !

Rick the Photo bomber ! 

Spreading the love !

While the rest of us contemplated our ministers request we sailed into quiet Blain at the 45km mark. Here our only problems were which of the 3 boulangeries to eat from and whether or not we should venture into a cafe with the classy name of "Le Spitton" to have coffee !

Fired up  and back on track the weather improved (as did our surface much to H's delight) as the lovely canal went on and on and on !

Finally at the 70 km mark we left our canal surrounds to journey the remainder of our distance (25 (kms to Nantes) with a compulsory milk shake stop (called by our minister of health) at the lovely water front town of Suce sur Erdre.

Milkshake time !

Our route in was not without its dramas as we soon found ourselves on a major road being blasted by passing motorists ! The message was loud and clear get on to the adjacent bike path ! 

Refreshed we  made our way into the big city of Nantes. Having reinstated Rick as Navigator we rode though the bike friendly outskirts of the city to our central based accommodation.

Finally we reached the Grand Hotel just after 4p.m. right on the 100 km mark and staggered inside pretty exhausted by a hard but good days work

With a few things to see in this lovely city the plan made over dinner was to shorten tomorrow's ride to allow a little sleep in, the ability to refresh our feminine sides and the opportunity to visit the city's main attractions.

As for our minsters request for the day - Harro passed by taking photos of flowers, Henley by replicating the pain of child birth riding the canal and Rick by giving Noel an extra cuddle and Noel by ... well you know the story !

Tomorrow is another day ! 

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Day 13 - Redon 76 kms - "23 C and cold" !

We make for an interesting collection of cycling tour buddies - good friends off the road, enjoying each others company but certainly a group of mixed notoriety !

First we have the comeback King Noel, who after a pretty full on shoulder op not that long ago is giving this a real shake ! Noel is our senior spokesperson and esteemed treasurer doing a fantastic job on tour particularly with putting up with Henley. We've affectionately nicknamed Noel "Wrong Way Wolstencroft" (later Vasco for his back up navigation skills) for his penchant for wanting to ride on the wrong side of the road - don't worry Jenny we've caught him before he's done too much damage !

Next comes our first class navigator Rick who at times looks like he's riding with an IBM computer strapped on his handlebars as he guides us through thousands of French country roads & lanes. We've taken heaps of video for the sole purpose of showing Rick later what he's missed out on as he focuses on his critical role. Despite the occasional U turn we are exceptionally grateful for Ricks navigation work !

Our glue, if one could be described as such, is the big fella Harro our very own Jamie Oliver, Barry Manilow and Comedian all rolled into one. In short a general all round good guy who pedals like he's trying to launch the NASA space shuttle with his own pedal power !

The damsel of our group Vivienne provides the often lacking "substance" when you stick a bunch of men together. She makes sure the group looks after itself and that relevant ministers keep to their
relevant portfolio. She also conducts our morning stretching routine something between a Hare Krishna ceremony and a session on the rack ! For someone wary of on road riding and keeping up with the boys, she has done exceptionally well as a touring newbie no doubt aided by her Dr Who Tardis like panniers which seem to stay the same size no matter what she puts in them !

Finally there's Henley ! He of course needs little introduction and is without doubt the larrikin of the group often demonstrating why schools for etiquette and social standing are such a waste of time ! With some leftover Albanian firepower in his legs Kev is going great guns no doubt fueled by an internal system that currently has every germ and anti body known to mankind flourishing !

Its hard to understand how a day forecast to be 23c could start off like it was made for brass monkeys!  After our breakfast of supermarket left overs and early morning stretching routine, we said goodbye to our friendly hosts and headed to Gael before working our way on to Paimpont the centre of the Arthurian legend at the Forest of Brocelaide. While Linton might have been disappointed not to find an orc or two we were glad to take a coffee after first taking an earlier high altitude path to the mapped entrance of the forest only to find it closed to all traffic except walkers !

I'm a little teapot ! 

Coffee in Paimpont 

The Warby Twins !

Leaving Paimpont we got a roadside view of how beautiful the forest in this area is. For the next 20 kms following we cycled on numerous types of roads and lanes all with one thing in common, coming with short steep climbs that would have us by days end pretty damned tired !

Still happy !

We made sure we didn't pass an open boulangerie so stopped for lunch in Guer at the 40 km mark to take in the sun giving Rick, Noel and self an opportunity to have another delectable Chocolate éclair !

Lunch in Guer !

The O'Reilly Brothers - Chimney Builders !

The remaining 35 kms passed pretty quickly under Ricks guidance and we soon found ourselves entering Redon just before 4p.m. not long after "Wrong Way Wolstebcroft" decided it was safer to ride head on into incoming traffic than ride with us on the right side of the road in a cycle lane.

In need of a fix we had a coffee upon entering the town centre of Redon basking in the late afternoon sunshine. 

Coffee at days end in Redon ! 

Cycling to our accommodation we needed to while away some time at the massive supermarket / store on steroids right next to our hotel before finally being allowed to crash in our rooms !

We wandered back into town at night doing about 18 laps (I only succeeded in doing 16 before succumbing to Pizza) before finally finding a reasonable restaurant !

We move on to the big city of Nantes tomorrow and connect with Eurovelo 1 which will takes us down the Atlantic coast to Bordeaux !

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Day 12 - Louscet ser Mer 51 kms - " And Then The Sun"!

There was a pretty good chance that Henley with his roof top alcove accommodation with steep spiral staircase accessory might have succeeded in breaking multiple bones with a midnight journey to the ground floor toilet unless he came up with an alternate plan. With this in mind he decided to make good use of a large Apple juice bottle by starting his own personal refinery !

Call it good timing, fate, serendipity or just plain luck, H had just walked down stairs to empty his overflowing Apple Juice bottle in the morning when there was a knock on the door. Opening it he found a girl from the nearby hotel with our breakfast hamper that included believe it or not a large bottle of Apple Juice.

How H would have explained to her what he was doing with his own bottle if he'd not just emptied it is beyond me - as it was when it came to breakfast Harro was still unconvinced that the bottle supplied for breakfast actually contained real Apple juice and not Henley's ...

With yesterdays washout and only 50kms to do for the day, we took the opportunity to take a morning walk through this lovely 15th C town (Dinan) with its cobble stoned roads and numerous half timbered houses highlighting its previous wealth.

There's no doubt though that any invaders would have given up thoughts of taking the town as the streets from the port to the towns centre are just too bloody steep !

Dinans Port

Magic Dinan ! 

As a result it was a late start near midday as we left Dinan almost straightaway floundering somewhere near the towns Abbey unable to work out where our towpath cycle route had got to.

Using some outstanding detective work (i.e. Looking around the corner) we found what we were after, described by our Warby Ghost Riding cycling friends recently as one of the loveliest trails they'd ever cycled on !

Leaving Dinan ,,, eventually! 

They were not wrong. The path took us right alongside the Rance River past numerous locks to the town of Evran a sleepy (what isn't in France) village with just enough life to attract a boulangerie and a cafe. Sitting out in the warm sun was delightful for everyone except poor Harro who's currently on baguette replacement therapy after complaining that he felt that he was turning into pastry himself !

The lovely Rance River Canal !

Finally our lead Navigator Rick cracked the whip, or his 7 day old socks (it was hard to tell the difference), and we were back on the trail after a short section on road.

All went well until we came off the rail trail on to the road again. Our rail train sign said Medreac 6kms left, Ricks map said Medreac 3 kms right, Noels Map said Medreac 35 kms with a U turn 10 kms back.

Asking for further opinions Viv stuck a wet finger in the air, Harro said just go North while H overwhelmed by all of this just simply shrugged his shoulders and said stuffed if I know !

Taking Ricks suggestion we powered into Medreac sadly not having enough time to visit their Velo (cycle) powered rail cars ! Our objectives were now clear, find the nearest supermarket to our accommodation, cycle with heavily overladen bikes then find our accommodation in Louscet sur Mer.

That's just what we did and what a delightful find our accommodation was with our lovely host taking us in like family and showing us our lovely 3 bedded house with great facilities and much to the annoyance of Henley, a spare double bed that was quickly snapped up by Noel according to H after he crossed ministerial lines !

What a beautiful days ride and what lovely scenery - this is cycling at its best !

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