On the road | ch3 - blog

Today I woke up late and decided to take the day off again even if I wasn’t really planning to. It was a sunny morning and a good opportunity for a general laundry. I had also run out of map, so needed to get a new one for ‘Pay de la Loire‘.

Marion, me and Aline

Last night I met two German girls that they were on a cycle tour as well. In the morning when I got out of the tent they kindly invited me to have breakfast with them. Aline and Marion started their tour about ten days ago from Orlean and did the whole cycle route that goes next to the Loire Canal. It’s the second time cyclists suggest me that I need do this route as it is very beautiful with very nice villages and many castles on the way. After a long discussion with them and seeing their photos, I started seriously thinking of making a long detour to my trip and cycle over that route, but in the end I decided against it. It would need at lest a full week and I would sacrifice other places I want to visit. Maybe that’s a good reason to come back one day.
After breakfast, I did my laundry and headed for the town to look for the map. I also looked for a gas burner as that’s something that I am still missing. But how stupid, the only supermarket in town that had them, didn’t have the correct type of gas canister to go with them. So I am still unable to cook my own meals and prepare a cup of tea in the mornings.
After a short visit to a cafe for some internet access, I spend the rest of the day in the beach. It was probable the first time that I actually relaxed so much. I even started reading that book that I’ve been carring all these days with me, which I already really enjoy.

The endless beach in front of the campsite

Kite surfers after a hard day at work

For the night, me and the two girls had reserved some peaella in the camp site’s animation evening. As far as I understood, they are calling animation all sorts of etertainment events for kids and famillies. I think it’s very common some French famillies will keep revisiting the same camping, where they know each other very well. The food and the wine were good but when the French people all started singing and dancing their own special music, we politely dissapeared.

Crazy local

(103km)
After bad times, some good ones usually follow and this was a very good day indeed.

My new best friend.

I woke up early, packed my wet tent and I was on the road before 10am. I stoped to the first shop, bought 3 bananas and 2 croisants to counter act the last day’s fasting.

A nice bridge along the way

My plan was to leave Britanny, by other going to Nantes or crossing the bridge at Saint Nazaire, but after my problems with the previous big city, I was more keep on the second option.
One way or another, I decided to go through the Cavre forest which was near by. That is a very dense forest, full of very tall trees that make the ground quite dark. The road within the forest was about 10km and I took the opportunity to eat my sandwich in its center.

Within the Cavre forest

In the center of the forest

Lunch area

Horse ridding

More of the forest

Crossing a canal

Watered and fed I started peddaling fast, to cover the distance I wanted. A couple of hours later, I had an hour break in Savenay for some tea and internet access. That’s where I decided to to go via the bridge after asking the local tourist office. There are always more campsites to chose from by the coast.
The road to the bridge goes through a very industrial area. There is a port, an airport, a huge refinery plant and various other factories and on top, a solid overvast to complete the image. I didn’t mind the vue, but I did mind all these massive trucks overtaking me.

My next campsite!

The refinery

The more I was getting closer to the bridge, the more I was realising how big it is. I was a little worried about the amount of cars on it, but there was such a heavy traffic, that I was going faster than anybody else. The view from the top of the bridge was amazing, but unfortunately I couldn’t stop much to enjoy it. From the Atlantic side you can see the port and the open sea, from the other side you could see the airport and all the factories.

The Saint Nazaire bridge

On the bridge

The view from the bridge

After the descent

It felt like an achievement going up and down the bridge and I was very happy to turn on the first right to a small empty local road for once again a peaceful ride.
Saint Brevil, which is just by the south side of the bridge, is a tourist resort and it had a couple of camp sites to choose from. I picked the cheapest one, where I enjoyed a nice warm meal and a beer.

Stake, a baked potato, salad, chips and a beer

ch3 – blog

Cycling Adventures

Category Archives: On the road

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