DAY 2: RENNES - BLAIN: 101km
SUNDAY 31 MAY

Despite our late night we woke up before our 7am alarm and were keen to get up and get going. We had considered having the hotel's breakfast buffet but it looked very disappointing so we decided to get a coffee in a cafe on our way out of town instead.

We found a friendly bar in the sun

An elderly customer asked me to help him with his mobile phone as he was going to mass and wanted to turn it on to silent. After chatting to him it transpired he was an artist and he told us that his work, together with others, was being exhibited at a forthcoming exhibition in St. Malo. He did a sketch of me on the back of our bar bill and I asked him to sign it (just in case he did turn out to be famous).

Luckily the roads around Rennes were quiet as it was a Sunday as it took us a bit of time to find the start of the cycle path that followed the Vilaine as we were not sure what side of the river we should be on.

At last we found the cycle path




What a perfect picnic spot for breakfast

We didn't leave our breakfast stop until nearly 11am and we had only cycled 8km! We had had a very slow start to the morning what with the coffee stop and looking for the canal path and we really had to start making some progress.

The path suddenly became very narrow which slowed us up even more

The route was worth it for the view though

We met a cyclist coming the other way who advised us that the path ahead was very narrow and rough and he didn't think it would be suitable for the trailer. He very kindly took us on a road route which would avoid the worst of it and we rode together to Pont-Rean where we could re-join the river path. As we rode we chatted about cycling and it transpired that he too had a tandem and trailer.

We would have to visit Pont Rean on another occasion - at midday we still hadn't reached our half way point

The river path was beautiful




The weather was perfect




However, the path surface was variable




In places it was too bad to cycle on

It was a beautiful route but because of the surface our speed was greatly reduced. At one point we hit deep fine gravel and came to an abrupt stop and somehow managed not to fall off. We also stopped a few times as we could hear a noise coming from the back wheel but couldn't work out what it was. After stopping for the third or fourth time we realised that the stand had come loose and was rubbing the wheel. We tried to tighten it the best we could but didn't have the right tool to get into such an awkward spot. We were ready for our lunch when we arrived at Port du Guipry at 2.30pm.

Luckily the Creperie du Port was still serving

It was nice to sit down and relax over our pancakes and look at the view of the river, but we didn't get going again until almost 4pm and we were only half way through our day's distance.

We continued to follow the Vilaine

It was such a scenic ride and we made better progress after lunch although it was very hot and my bum was beginning to feel a bit numb. We passed a group of walkers who wished us "bon courage" and clapped and commented on Rob's "maillot jaune". I was looking forward to camping that evening as it was such a beautiful day.

It was nice to get back on to the tarmac

We had a bar stop at Besle where there was a campsite right by the river which was very tempting. It was 6pm by this time and still very hot - and we still had 30km to do. However, we decided that we should stick to our original route as it would put more pressure on us the next day and the only place to eat in Besle was the bar we had stopped at and the menu didn't look very good. Although it was the right decision to continue I was beginning to struggle as my bum was feeling increasingly uncomfortable and I came to the conclusion that 80km is my comfortable limit for a day's cycling. This was unfortunate as most days would be longer than that!

We had a long, albeit gentle, climb

We passed through Guemene Penfao which had some nice looking bars with inviting terraces but didn't stop as it was getting late and we needed to get to our campsite and, more importantly, out to eat before the restaurant stopped serving.

We arrived at Camping du Chateau, Blain at 7.45pm

During the planning stages I had researched restaurants at each of our destinations and had found a restaurant within walking (not cycling!) distance of the campsite and on our arrival gave them a ring to book a table and enquire what time they stopped serving to be told 8.45pm sharp. That really did not give us much time which was a shame as it would've been nice to sit for 5 minutes and enjoy the evening sun. Instead we had a frantic rush to pitch the tent, shower, do our washing and get ourselves ready to go out.

We didn't have far to walk




The Auberge du Canal was in a lovely riverside position

I upset the waiter by asking to move from inside to a table on the terrace when it became free

It was lovely looking at the boats moored along the river bank

We ate quite a nice meal of kangaroo, which made a change from the usual steak and felt satisfied as we walked back to our tent. It was a lovely warm evening and perfect for camping.

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.

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.