Today is Sunday, so yesterday we stocked up on food as the shops are shut here on Sundays.
Where in New Zealand can you get all of the following for only NZD $10?
12 cans of beer
bacon
10 eggs
bag of pasta
large bar of chocolate
We made use of our day off to do some washing. Do you like our clothesline?
Day 25 – Notre Dame de Monts to Givrand click link for route
Saturday May 28, 2011
Today was mostly flat riding along the beach. We cycled passed a few hideous Surfers Paradise style towns with semi-high rises right on the beach. We are very glad to be here in the off-season – these places would be heaving in the summer time.
There also seems to be a sudden saturation of camping grounds – a lot of them with English pubs advertising Stella on tap!
“That’s probably the only way the woman can get her bloke out here is if there is an English pub selling stella!” I commented to mike while sipping on my stella in a pub in the camping ground. Well, we didn’t have much choice, and the camping is only 10 euros. Seriously though – we wouldn’t be drinking Stella at the bar, that would be way too expensive for us. We much prefer drinking our 22c lidl beer around our campsite.
Our camping site is a nice grassy pitch rather than the sandy ones we have had recently. The sand campsites seem to be full of little red spiders which were starting to creep me out.
Day 23 – Le Frandiere to Noirmoutier le L’ile (click link for route)
Thursday May 26, 2011
We packed up our stuff and headed further up the island to look around. It was cold, windy and threatened to rain all day. I didn’t think too much of the island – but I guess the weather had a bit to do with that.
Around 4.30pm a big black cloud came across, it got really cold and it started to spit with rain. We headed for the first hotel we could find.It was a very basic hotel and the room was a bit grotty – but it passed the sniff test. I don’t mind roughing it a bit if I have to – but draw the line at a smelly hotel.
We checked in, and when I opened the door to the toilet – it had a strong smell of man wee. You know that disgusting smell you get in toilets that men use? Not that I make a habit of using mens toilets – but the occasional time you have to use the mens loos at a night club ‘cos the queues are too long for the ladies. Service station toilets also have that smell. Also if you stand too close to any wall in France you will also get that smell as french guys will wee anywhere. I can always tell when men are sharing the campground toilets.
Anyway – I just pretended I was backpacking, put up with the smell and we headed out for dinner. We had a wonderful dinner in a cosy restaurant. It is common to have a fixed price menu here so we went for that. We both had smoked salmon for starters. Mike had steak and I had risotto for main. For desert we got a selection of mini deserts. It cost more than our hotel room but we didn’t care – it was delicious.
Day 22 – Pornic to Le Frandiere
Wednesday May 25, 2011
Yet another stunning day. We continued to head south down the coast towards an island which can be reach via a submerged road only when the tide is out.
We arrived at the submerged road with no idea when time the low tide was. There was a sign with a digital display of 18:15 (6.30pm) . We took this to be the low tide. Darn – it’s only 16:30 (4.30pm) now.
We managed to decipher the small print which said you can cross 1.5 hours before low tide and 1.5 hours after high tide. Perfect! We couldn’t have timed it better. We had 15 minutes to wait but we decided to start cycling across anyway to beat all the motorhomes.
If you look really hard you can see Mike ahead, desperate to get across the road before the tide comes in!
We stopped at the first campground we came to and spent an hour trying to decide where to put our tent.
Day 21 – Pornic
Tuesday May 24, 2011
After yesterdays struggle to get here we couldn’t face the idea of packing up and getting on the bikes again – so we checked in to the campground for another night.
We cycled into Pornic for a look around. It’s a picturesque town with many cafes overlooking an estuary and chateau. We refrained from having our lunch in one of the cafes. Instead we bought a fresh baguette which we filled with salami and sat on the edge of the estuary.
We then cycled back to camp via the beaches. We stopped and read our kindles for a bit – but despite the hot weather we weren’t tempted into the cold atlantic water.
Day 20 – carquefou to Pornic
Monday May 23, 2011
We didn’t leave our comfy hotel until midday (check out time). It was another glorious day of sunshine. We cycled into Nantes and had a look around. Just another European city – seen one, seen them all.
It was a bland and industrial ride out of Nantes. I had been hoping for a scenic river cycle but this was not to be.
It was at 7pm we spotted the first camping ground for the day. It was a free campsite at the edge of a village. No showers but a toilet. We knew there was another campground in 20 kms so we decided to push on. It was a very hilly 20 kms and it was hard work pushing to make it to camp before the daylight ended. We made it to the camp by 8.30pm. We were so tired we didnt even bother cooking – just put up the tent and crawled inside.
Day 19 – Blain to Carquefou
Sunday May 22, 2011, 56 km (35 miles) – Total so far: 664 km (413 miles)
We continued along the unpaved path along the canal. We were both starting to get a bit bored with it now. The gravelled path is pretty hard on the bum, and the scenery doesnt change very much.
A couple of times the track ended and we had to backtrack and cross over the to the track on the other side of the canal. The French don’t signpost things very well.
There were no campgrounds on the path so we checked into a nice hotel beside a lake just outside Nantes. It was such a beautiful day and it seemed such a waste checking into a hotel. We much prefer sitting outside cooking our meal in the evenings. But – we took advantage of the free internet, the bath, and the half price Sunday rate!
Day 17 – Rieux to Blain(click to open route in new window)
Friday May 20, 2011, 45 km (28 miles) – Total so far: 608 km (378 miles)
Today seemed a difficult ride despite there being no hills. The heavy gravel path made it hard going and although we only did 45km – it was all gravel.
We saw a creepy frog.
We were knackered at the end of the day we were glad to find a campground at Blain, strong cowshit smell and all!
We camped next the the chateux.
We were so tired and our muscles so sore – we decided to stay here for two days.
Day 16 – Malestroit to Rieux (click to view link in new page)
Thursday May 19, 2011, 45 km (28 miles) – Total so far: 563 km (350 miles)
Today we plodded along the canal cycle path, just taking our time and enjoying the scenery.
There is no hope for me losing weight on this trip with this diet of bread, cheese and pastries. Here is a pastry that looks like a foot.
Mike got a flat tyre today which he repaired beside the canal.
Even though we only did 45 kms, it seemed a long day on the gravel roads of the cycle path. We finally found a basic campground beside the canal. Only 4 euros for us both to camp.
Day 15 – Josselin to Malestroit (click link to open route in new page)
Wednesday May 18, 2011, 26 km (16 miles) – Total so far: 517 km (321 miles)
Today was another fine day of cycling on nice quiet roads until we turned onto what seemed like a minor road. It was narrow and there were no road markings at all, but cars and trucks were flying by at horrendous speeds.
Mike stopped at a bridge crossing a canal. There was a path alongside it. Then two touring cyclists came riding along the path on the edge of the canal.
I said to Mike we should get off this horrible road and follow that path along the canal. Our conversation went something like this:
Mike: But it’s not the way we are going
Jo: Who cares, we don’t have a route anyway and it looks like a nice ride.
Mike: But the GPS doesn’t see it as a road.
Jo: Those touring cyclists just came along there – it must go somewhere
Mike: But what if it turns into a dirt track like the english canals
Jo repeats: Those touring cyclists came along there – it must be ok.
At that moment three buses go flying past at horrendous speeds.
Jo: I don’t care – I’m getting off this shitty main road – let’s follow it and see where it leads us.
Mike: ok
This is the beauty of not have a set route or a set destination – we can go wherever our mood wants us to go.
Turns out the path is a popular cycle way which follows the canal for over 300km from Brest to Nantes. What a bit of luck to have stumbled onto it.
It was wonderful flat cycling, not having to worry about cars, trucks and buses.
We cycled through the narrow streets of the Medeival town of Malestroit.
We stopped at an amazing campsite right beside the canal just walking distance from the village. This was another fine example of the better the campsite the cheaper it is. It only cost 4.85 euros, it had toilet seats, and even a table for us to use!
We wandered into Malestroit and picked up supplies for dinner – sausages, potatoes and mixed veg, beer, and a chocolate desert.