DAY 4: APREMONT - CHATEAU GUIBERT: 62km
TUESDAY 2 JUNE

I woke up feeling a lot better - I was just left with a bit of a sniff but not a full-blown cold as I had been expecting. However, I was glad we only had a short day ahead of us as I was finding the 100km days quite hard.

We stopped at Mache for breakfast - Rob got the drinks in




while I went to get the croissants




We passed through wonderful countryside

As we cycled along I commented on how much I liked the round bales of hay compared to the old square ones. I meant it - but Rob thought it was a very strange comment to make. He was even more concerned about my sanity when I started talking about the lovely smell of the silage and how it smelt good enough to eat. That's the trouble with cycling it does make you hungry!

We had a quick stop in Aizenay




We picked up a pleasant cycle route




which took us all the way to La Roche sur Yon

When planning the ride I had seen a review of La Roche sur Yon and decided it was somewhere that would be worth a visit. We therefore tailored the first half of the trip around a visit there at lunchtime so we could have a long lunch and a look round. Unfortunately it was a case of the internet site being better than the reality and although it was a nice town it was by no means amazing. It certainly wasn't very pleasant cycling into the centre in the lunchtime rush hour either.

We found a restaurant in the main square




It was good to have a long lunch

After a very satisfying lunch of omelette and chips we cycled out of town to find a supermarket as we needed to buy a picnic for our dinner and fill up with water. We seemed to spend much too long in there and didn't get back on the road until later than we had hoped.

We took the opportunity to fill up our bidons

The afternoon's ride was quite hard work as it was through rolling countryside and we really appreciated, and were touched by, the encouragement that total strangers gave us. As we passed a group playing boules an old man looked up and started clapping, a car passed us and wound down the window and gave us the thumbs up and a cyclist wished us "bon voyage". We weren't quite so pleased by the large alsatian that chased us - Rob was ok as he was on the front and it would've reached me first had we not been able to out-pedal it.

We had to take a photo of this

We were still laughing about it when we got back on the bike and could hardly cycle in a straight line for laughing - we kept giggling about it all afternoon.

The laughter helped us up the hills




We stopped in Thorigne for ice cream and beer

During the planning stages I had come across some aerial photos of France and had seen a photo of Chateau Guibert which looked absolutely stunning as it was a little village with a river flowing each side of it. Unfortunately, as we cycled through the town we couldn't see either of the rivers and it was a bit of a disappointment (although we had guessed it would be).

One last hill before the camp site




I stupidly said "there's a beautiful view behind"

As Rob turned round to have a look we got into the most awful wobble and it was lucky there wasn't any traffic on the road while Rob wrestled with the snaking tandem and trailer trying to get it back under control. Amazingly, although the chain fell off we didn't!

Piscine - what a welcome word

The entrance to the camp-site was down a rough farm track and we therefore decided to push the bike down. When we arrived at the house at the end of the drive we were given a warm welcome by the Dutch owners.

What a stunning place to camp

The site was very small and there was only one other tent there. It was in a beautiful setting overlooking the valley and best of all it had a swimming pool. We put the tent up as quickly as we could and then spent an hour by the pool writing up our journals. It was absolutely perfect and I was really glad we weren't staying in a dark hotel room and was enjoying camping. However, the fact that it was a lovely day had a lot to do with it - it would've been dire in the rain as it was absolutely in the middle of nowhere.

The tandem made a good clothes horse




We ate our picnic while watching the sun set

I think we would both have preferred a cooked meal in a restaurant had there been one nearby rather than perching on our little stools eating bread, tinned meat and cous cous. Unfortunately because of the lack of shops on our route we had had to buy our picnic at lunchtime and after a day in our pannier it all tasted a bit old and warm. However, it was a very beautiful setting and we sat overlooking the valley until it got dark and too cold to sit out.