DAY 3: BLAIN - APREMONT: 103km
MONDAY 1 JUNE

We woke up at 6am to an amazing dawn chorus and were on the road by just gone 8am. There wasn't anyone else on the road as it was a public holiday.

It was going to be another beautiful day




We stopped in Fay de Bretagne to eat a bowl of cereal

As we sat and ate we watched as numerous youngsters in their old Peugeots with music blaring screeched to a halt in the village outside the shut bakery, sit in their cars talking loudly and generally causing more noise pollution, before roaring off again. We were amused when they asked us where the nearest baker's was, they did so most politely and then wished us a good day before noisily going back to their friends. I was intrigued as to what was going on and thought that maybe a night club was kicking out nearby. When the next person approached us I asked what was going on and was told that there was a local football tournament that day and they were all looking for breakfast. We were pleased to know that the unpredictable bakery opening times catch the French out and frustrate them too.

After breakfast we continued on D roads with views of open countryside and then turned down a pleasant lane.

It was in this lane that we had a near miss as a car pulled out into our path

We had a nice stop in St. Etienne du Montluc

We had a little look around the town and, as the supermarket was shut, ended up going to a very expensive deli to buy our picnic lunch and dinner as we weren't sure if any restaurants would be open on our route and we knew our campsite that evening did not have a restaurant.

Before we left we had a nice sit down in a sunny bar. I went inside to ask the barman if he knew if the Coueron-Le Pellerin ferry would be running throughout the lunch hour and he confirmed that it would be. I said that was good, we didn't have to go so fast then. Some local piped up and made some crack about "Why don't you buy a car?". He shut up when I said where we had cycled from and where we were going.

We followed some lovely lanes out of St. Etienne and got into our stride.

We had to wait for a herd of cows - luckily they ignored us




Although it was windy it was a wonderful lane to cycle on




The road was bordered each side by beautiful water courses

We headed towards Coueron where the ferry would take us across the Loire to Le Pellerin. As we approached the ferry was just leaving and we watched as the metal ramp was pulling away from the road. We were preparing to stop and wait for the next one when the ferry operator called us to board. We had no choice - he was waiting for us. We were still clipped in and pushed as hard as we could on the pedals and just hoped that the metal plate wasn't wet and that it wouldn't part company from the road before the trailer had made it on board with us. We somehow managed to stay upright.

None of Britanny Ferries' health and safety regulations here

When we got to Le Pellerin we looked for a restaurant (or even a bar serving food) as we would've preferred a cooked meal for lunch as we knew that we were going to be having a picnic for dinner but everything was shut. We sat outside the appropriately named Bar du Bac and watched the ferry and, having established that nowhere in the town was serving food, asked if we could eat our picnic at their table. They readily agreed to this and we viewed this as a result and made a mental note to try this again. It was a cheap way of having lunch and we made up our meat baguettes and enjoyed the comfort of a table and chairs and a cold drink!

After lunch we followed some lovely leafy lanes




A bridge gave us a great view of the river




It had turned into a hot day




There were panoramic views from the lanes

We stopped for a snack in the Marais Breton - those stools were so useful

The Marais had the advantage of being flat - and there was a lot of bird life to watch

We had a quick bar stop in Challans

I struggled the last 20km - a combination of saddlesoreness and straight roads

It was about 7pm by the time we reached Camping les Charmes. It was an immaculate site of mainly static caravans and chalets set in the middle of nowhere. There was a swimming pool but unfortunately by the time we had set up camp, had a shower and done our washing it was closed.

Our little tent looked lost on such a big pitch




The owner kindly let us use the terrace of a chalet for our picnic

As we started to prepare our tea I suddenly didn't feel well and as we sat and ate I began to feel worse and worse. I fell into bed shivering and was concerned that I would not be able to cycle the next day.