June 10 - Day 6 - Tour de Bretagne

If we had windshield wipers, we would have used "intermittent" all day. No rain when we woke up, but as soon as we had our breakfast made, we sat in a light drizzle eating it. On and off, on and off, all day. Just enough to get you damp, get everything damp. 

But the rain doesn't change the beauty of the countryside and there were moments when we could stop and snap a shot (before the phone returned to the ziplock bag).

Look at this beautiful "garage" and it was right in our route. 

But then when we stopped to take another photo, Marc offered to take one of me. 

And just as he took it, a gust of wind tipped over his bike 😳. He was not on it (obviously). It sustained some damage...

The mirror we just got, snapped off, and his front fender too (seen below strapped to the back so we can repair it).

Ouch. But never fear, we are never that far from a Decathlon! Marc rerouted us and we made the "deviation".

On our route to the store we went down (down down) to a port and found some really big sailboats. 

And we crossed a few lovely old bridges, happily when it was not raining. 

Not many more photos today, as the phone was tucked away and we wore rain gear all day. 

We did find the hills, doing 600 meters over 60k. You know you are on a tough hill when TWO cars going by open their windows and yell "Bon Courage!" 

The final bridge of the day was a climb, a very high bridge and super windy at the top.  Windy like Cape Breton, ie walk the bikes, take no chances.  Tried to take a few photos but my white knuckles grip on my bike and my phone made for not great photos. 

I found a google image of the bridge for perspective. Pont de Cornouaille:

We arrived at a very quiet and quaint campground with a lovely lady here to greet us and chat.  She gave us a map and we heard about her son and new grandchild! How sweet is this reception office? 

And her beautiful roses. 

And we are alone (with the birds!) for a peaceful evening.  We even scored a real table and chairs from one of her rental cabins. Life is good. 

Strava stats for the day. We have to admit, it felt longer and tougher than the numbers state. Some days are just like that. 

June 9 - Day 5 - Tour de Bretagne

Last night we could hear a techno-beat. The thud thud thud of the beat, and some twangy techno instrumentation, making us feel like we were missing a good dance party. Of course we were much happier to stay in our tent, prone, and dance in our heads.  At midnight, the music stopped.  

And then the Church bells chimed. They chimed 5 times. That's too early so I closed my eyes and next I heard 6... And then 7... And then, ok, it was a reasonable hour to get up. Now we were ready to dance, or cycle. 😉

Last night a cyclist arrived set up camp beside us, we made a new friend, Hugo. He lives outside Paris and is originally from China, and loves french history (journalism is his day job, for a Chinese - European newspaper).  We shared some food (he offered some local cider) and we compared routes and notes. He had seen the Carnac Stones, and that encouraged us to swing by them before we left the area this morning. 

Another blue sky. Beautiful day.

There are thousands of these rocks and they are very very old. Older than Stonehenge, apparently. And there are many theories about them - sun and moon predictors, celebrating Gods, earthquake indicator... Many ideas, but no one is sure (they do not mark graves as no bones have been found). 

Alignements de Carnac

They cover a lot of groud and we could ride along and see them, and our route even took us through them. Very cool.

We did a good long ride today, with some hills and some wind. Quite a variety of roads and paths and at least four bridges. 

Le Pont de Bonne Homme (above) ❤️

Even though it is Sunday we found many places open, so we didn't have to give up our bread and pastry addiction!  Gotta love the French Boulangerie - checkout the size of the bread behind me!

I am faithful to my pain au chocolat, Marc is adventurous trying a smaller pastry "crochettes". 

I won. 

Some bigger hills today, and more wind, but we made it safely to our little campsite in Kergroes. 

Enjoying the evening sun, and replenishing after a big day. 

(I didn't enhance this photo, the colours are real!)

Strava stats for the day.

Thanks for following along. 

Any questions? 

June 8 - Day 4 - Tour de Bretagne

The bike trails from Saint Jacques up to Port Navalo were as sheltered and car free as yesterday, however, they were busier, being Saturday. Our great new fronts lights were very helpful. 

The highlight of the day was a little ferry ride from Port Navalo, across the opening of the Golfe du Morbihan, and across to Pointe de Kerpenhir. It seemed straight forward on the map. 

but in reality our Captain explained that the currents are some of the strongest in Europe (following from internet):

The gulf is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the peninsula of Rhuys, but a 1 km long gap between Port-Navalo (in the commune of Arzon) and Kerpenhir (commune of Locmariaquer) lets the water in and out. Because this gap is narrow, the tidal currents are strong and water speeds can reach up to 9.4 knots.

When we arrived at the Port a ferry came in, which we thought was ours. 

But actually ours was a little smaller (photo from Google images below) 

It was standing room only, and getting in was rather hectic at low tide. We had to manage bikes and panniers onto this little craft, much like loading into a train, and then she had to take on the currents! 

Our captain was very attentive, and as soon as we were clear of the current, she lit up a cigarette.  I think it was harder than we realized, and it was busy. 

As we approached the other side we came across some seafood farming. The birds were very happy. 

A few more kilometers of riding to Carnac in perfect weather (sunny, breezy and 20).

This last shot is at our campground. Camp is set up for the night, and dinner is being served, in the shade. 

Strava stats for today, we only did 40 k (including the ferry!), but that's ok, that puts us over 220 in the first 4 days.  

Thanks for reading along. 

Please leave a comment, we love comments. 

June 7 - Day 3 - Tour de Bretagne

Velo route 45, an inland route for us today, with quiet roads, gravel paths, and even some single track dirt portions, which made for some adventurous moments. 

(Sometimes the signs are not that helpful 🤣)

Our morning started with beautiful bird songs. (I think she was saying we had slept long enough 😉, after all it was 8am.)

And then some pretty countryside, again we could feel the British influence in the architecture and the gardens. 

France has such amazing cycling infrastructure we continue to be amazed how far we can go on bike paths, many fully paved, often paralleling the busier roads. It is such a joy to cycle here. 

We found this sign on our route:

And then at the next turn, we came up on a cat 🤣 (who clearly ignored the sign). 

We cycled through a small town (ok we cycle through several small towns..) with a cute store and bakery and so we had our favorites for "second breakfast".

And I got to share my pain au chocolat with this cute visitor.

The paths and trails were mostly shaded and flat, quiet and calm to ride. And we went through a marsh along a gravel path and some boardwalk. 

We are now camping near the Atlantic coast, near Saint Jacques. The sun sets so late here (western most part of the time zone), our 8:30 pm post-dinner walk to the beach was not to enjoy the sunset, but rather to enjoy the ocean as the tide is going out, and the sun is still high in the sky. 

The beach is peaceful and pretty, with very little commerce, no hotels, just a few people enjoying the end of the day, and one fisherman. 

Dinner tonight (for Nadia, since you asked yesterday), was another wonderful touring chopped salad and baguette by Chef Marc. Delicious. 

We are ready for bed, even if the sun is not.  

The Strava stats for the day show another 65 km and a slower pace of trails and trail gates.