by Philip

Miles : 49. Ascent : 436’

I’m writing this first instalment today sitting on a bench in the watery sun, looking out over the Nantes-Brest canal which is perfectly still, with the most delicious pain au raisin and a cup of coffee after the first hour of riding – delightful!

The AirBnB was quite spectacular – a flat off a courtyard garden which had been remodelled last year, and was comfortable and well equipped. We didn’t manage to use the balnotherapy suite though – too tired and not enough time yesterday. 

We were up early with a long day ahead. A stop at a bakery for breakfast (OK, second breakfast after fruit and toast in the flat) and then straight onto the canal. It’s a cold morning, and there was steam rising from the water, sun streaming through the trees, and a good number of cyclists in both directions. The engineering on the canal is amazing – we’ve ridden about 9 miles and have already passed 2 staircases of locks – the first about 15 locks rising 180’, each with large side pond (“etang” in French and “stank” in Breton) to ensure enough water for the flight. One kingfisher seen so far, but the day is young. Now to concentrate on pastry. 

A mile or so further on we came across a space for wild camping, which had a convenient WC and also some sheds for campers to leave their bikes and then lock the door – very useful! It’s interesting that we have come across a good number of public loos so far – in a country renowned for its lack thereof!  A second point of note is that our AirBnB last night was the first to provide coffee … again a surprise in France. 

Moving on we came across another flight of locks – going down this time – and then realised we were on a navigable section of the canal, seeing boats for the first time. We’ve come across workmen whose trucks show they work on the canal – interesting to learn that there is some maintenance. We have commented a few times on the flowers planted at each lock which are very pretty. 

As we stopped to take a photo, a pair of kingfishers flew up the canal, calling to each other – the first time we’ve seen a pair and heard their call. Other wildlife today has included green woodpecker, sparrowhawk and buzzard (heard), great spotted woodpecker, herons, swallows, moorhens, coots, butterflies with deep yellow ochre wings and dragonflies (seen). We also saw a man foraging so stopped and asked what he was looking for and he proudly fished a large mushroom out of his bag and said “ceps”, saying that the type he showed us was “the best”. 

We saw some not so wild life at one lock where people have made the keeper’s cottage their home – and where they have geese, goats, chickens and a pair of free roaming peacocks – not a common sight! The flowers decorating the lock were amazing! 

The canal continued to be delightful, a lovely tarmac surface all the way so far today, a tailwind and spells of sunshine. Lunch (bread, smelly Chausée aux Moines cheese, tomatoes, nuts) was at a picnic table looking over a lake with the canal to one side, sitting under a large oak. We’ve noticed that there are often oak trees planted alongside the canal and wonder when and why they were put there – it does make long stretches really pretty. I’m really enjoying the ride in general and today in particular and commented to Liz that there is nowhere I’d rather be than here, with her, on this ride – it’s a wonderful time. 

The afternoon continued in much the same vein, all along the canal. We stopped at a lock with a water mill on the other side of the canal, and spotted a kingfisher which flew along and then sat conveniently on a wall and waited for me to get the binoculars out – s/he was very beautiful. We passed a pasture with, rather than cows, six white egrets all standing to attention – slightly surreal. We passed through a pretty town called Josselin, with an imposing chateau next to the canal. Komoot tried to get us to do a loop around the town for no reason at all but we declined the offer. 

Today we have chosen to add four miles on to the ride in order to go to a supermarket – the alternative would have been to carry everything from the shop in Pontivy – which we decided against. 

Instead of turning left to La Née, we carried on along the canal into St Marcel to go to Carrefour. Somewhat unexpectedly we found a tiny yacht mounted in a car park – made by a local man who sailed it round the world in the 1960s, taking 18 months to complete the voyage. Photo with Liz for scale shows just how small it is! 

Having obtained provisions we retraced our steps and found our accommodation – a rather large farmhouse tonight, but no balnotherapy.