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.
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| 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 !
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| 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!
All was not lost though as we found a local pizzeria for dinner and had one of our best meals on tour!
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| Our Hotel |
Tomorrow we head further down the Atlantic coast aiming to challenge the famous Gois causeway !
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