I think Robert's parting words are on the lines of "it's all downhill from here!". At least that what I think he says as we wave goodbye and career down the hill. He's directed us along pretty quiet lanes and tree-lined roads that take us through some pretty towns and deposit us on one of France's great cycle routes. This one links the Mediterranean with the Atlantic and runs predominantly along canal banks. Except when it doesn't. After some steep climbs up and down slopes that are covered in vineyards it brings us into Bordeaux which looks rather glorious on a hot sunny day.
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| camping in the first bit of hidden field we can find |
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| pleasantly cool cycling |
We continue directly westwards over a flat landscape directly out towards the Atlantic coast to join the Eurovelo coastal bike route. It helps when you don't have to concentrate too much on navigation and worry about where to cross rivers. We cross the large estuary by ferry and then continue northwards up to La Rochelle. We pass through large summer campgrounds teeming with French families. The cycle paths are hugely popular with holidaymakers. Happily the cycle paths provide us with access to easy wild camping spots.
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| gps? pah! |
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| a three metre drop-off on the right....... |
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| a tap + picnic bench = laundry + dinner |
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| in the middle of a huge pine forest plantation close to the Atlantic |
We thought that getting to France would have brought us cooler weather but instead we ride into a heatwave that lasts a week. We start rising earlier and taking longer siestas. Some days the village pharmacy clocks display the temperatures over 40C. It's enough to make your fromage melt. As the days are long we also begin our summer tactic of cooking our dinner in one place and then moving on to camp somewhere else as the light begins to fail. We have to do this because there are so many other people out and about in the evenings making the most of the cooler part of the day.
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| easy cycling approaching Rochefort |
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| crossing the Charente by ferry |
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| he can't have been that bad if they named the street after him |
At La Rochelle the marinas are so crammed with yachts, like sardines in a tin, that you could probably walk across them. We turn inland here, away from the coastal bike route and weave a way up towards Rennes avoiding the bigger cities like Nantes. Crossing the Loire, another cycling bottleneck, we begin a real roller-coaster section through very peaceful and lovely farmland. One afternoon we approach a family walking towards us on a country lane. They step aside for us and as we approach start cheering "Allez! Allez! Allez!" in mock-encouragement, as if we're doing the Tour.
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| siesta |
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| late afternoon 'ice-cream break' |
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| "try and look like you're enjoying it" |
We stop in Rennes for a well-deserved rest day and then continue up to St Malo along a winding canal-side bike path that we can ease along without breaking sweat. And most importantly, without having to navigate and negotiate any tricky route-finding. We stop to take a look around Dinan at the head of the estuary - this country's full of delightful towns. The place is crawling with tourists, even though there's rain. Ahh, rain. No we're not complaining after all the heat we've had. Clearly we're getting closer to England.....
