by Philip

Miles : 44. Ascent : 1,201’

Our AirBnB was delightful – recently completely renovated and beautifully done. The house has a literary theme and is sensitively created. The house rates right at the top of the AirBnB leader board for us – everything provided and thought of – even with a posh bean to cup coffee machine. We mentioned to Frédèrique, our host, that in five stays only one so far has provided decent coffee – her reply was “but it’s important”. Too true. 

We allowed ourselves a lie in until 7 am as we have a lower mileage day today. Even taking our time over breakfast we still managed to get out by 9:20. We rode  for 4 miles along the towpath, seeing a heron, a brown wading bird (possibly a juvenile heron) and one kingfisher before turning off into the town of Blain where we wound our way through the town to find a bakery to buy our lunch and breakfast.

Today will be our last day on the Nantes-Brest canal and we don’t know if we have any other canals during this trip so we will enjoy any kingfishers we see in particular today. I’m writing this standing in the lee of the church in the centre of the town the man next to me having strapped his baguette to the back of his bike. Liz emerged from the bakery triumphant – not only with lunch and breakfast but also with a cotton baguette bag which she has wanted since we arrived – the French would not consider putting bread in a plastic bag – and which will now serve both as bread container and tablecloth. 

Coming out of Blain we returned to the canal and enjoyed a mile of smooth tarmac path before it became gravel again. The gravel surface is fine but noisy and dusty. After a couple of miles we found a lock which unusually had a toilet for us called a “WC écologique ICube” which had a very unusual mechanism to dispose of waste.

Riding on a bit we found a bench for breakfast/elevenses and enjoyed delicious pain au raisin and almond crossaint, opposite a noisy herd of cows, one of which seemed to enjoy pushing a small branch rhythmically against a tree trunk – a budding percussionist?

A little further on we came across the most amazing contraption in the middle of the canal – a boat with a paddle steamer type mechanism which was collecting weed from the canal, feeding it up a conveyor belt at the back and then there was a dumper truck on the towpath which took the weed off the boat – amazing piece of machinery and nice to see the canal being managed so actively. 

A brief interlude to (re) introduce Owl – we each have one on our handlebars … Liz had hers all along the PCH; mine was initially Cathy’s in the US and she re-gifted it back to me when she left. Here you can see my owl and a view from my driving seat – what a lot of tech!

We are now in the Pays de la Loire region, having ridden through Britanny. The canal has a different feel, with many of the old lock keepers’ cottages converted to cafés and bike repair shops. We watched as a fellow cyclist pulled into one of these, the mechanic rushing out with a pump – almost like an F1 pit stop! Lunch followed, at a bench under a new-looking roof, perfectly timed as a rain shower passed over. The baguette bag made its first appearance, and after a while a French couple joined us, carefully laying a tablecloth for their picnic. A boat went past, seemingly limping at <1mph, with a man in a dingy on one side with an outboard motor running hard – it looked like the main boat had engine/propeller/rudder problems and the dingy was helping keep it straight. After our multi-seed baguette, brie, tomatoes, nuts and raisins given to us as part of a welfare package from Claire and John, we had nectarine and apple with local natural yogurt and then M&S chocolate which we shared with the French couple. All very yummy. 

After 24 miles, we turned away from the canal and started to meander through farmland and occasionally seemingly through peoples back gardens. Komoot insisted on taking us away from La Vélodyssée but we stuck with the signed route and enjoyed the different environment, all the while hoping to rejoin the canal before we get to Nantes. 

The route was very windy, occasional stretches of road both made and unmade, other places with thick gravel paths barely wide enough for one bike. We noticed a glade in front of a large house which was carpeted with cyclamen and very pretty. As this is a recognised cycle route, even the narrowest roads seemed to have cycle lanes painted each side. We meandered through Sucé-sur-Erdre, on the river Erdre, but we were directed away from the river and out of the town. Writing this paragraph, sheltering in a bus stop from a passing shower, we noticed an ambulance crew loading their stretcher onto their ambulance – the first one we’ve seen in a week!

From Sucé we had about 13 miles to go as we found our way round the NW corner of Nantes. All of a sudden we were on cycle paths next to busy roads – often dual carriageways, and had to negotiate more roundabouts than I can remember. At the majority of these bikes had priority, but at some not – so wit preservation was key. The city has obviously invested heavily in their bike infrastructure and most of the route had cycle lanes segregated from the road. I did find it hard going though  – the contrast to the towpath we’ve enjoyed for days was very stark. Sadly we never did regain the canal. 

We found our AirBnB – this time a garage conversion called “La Petite Maison” – again beautifully done and with everything we need … a plate full of pastries for the morning, and a local artisan beer in the fridge. Oh yes – and coffee. 

After a quick shower (we were very dusty after today’s ride) we walked to the nearby supermarket for provisions – which seemed like a good idea but our legs thought otherwise! Now for dinner.