Sunday 13th June
Le Pellerin to Nort-sur-Erdre
We had agreed an 8.30 breakfast with madame this morning and we were in the dining room on the dot, to find no sign of our hostess and a very weird looking couple standing with their coats on obviously waiting for her as well. As there was a table laid up with some breakfast on it and as the weirdos obviously weren’t going to eat it, we decided to sit down and tuck in. We tried to engage them in conversation in both French and English but they were less than monosyllabic. Madame then re-appeared having been walking her enormous Irish Wolfhound. She looked a bit put out too that we had already started but obligingly gave us extra croissants as we then noticed that someone else had already demolished most of the food on our table. The other couple eventually sat down elsewhere, never took their coats off and only ate a couple of things and then left still in silence. Not like us at all!
The hotel is perfectly placed on the banks of the Loire about 100 yards from where the ferry comes into le Pellerin and you would think that it would be a popular place to visit. However it is in need of a massive makeover which the new owners are carrying out at the moment. We had a chat with the owner and she told us that they took it over last year and are really working hard but struggling to get enough people in as most people tend to disembark and head straight for the coast to the west or Nantes to the east. It is a shame as le Pellerin is a pretty little riverside port and everything in town was half the price of other places.
Anyway we left at about 9.45 - a really early start for us, caught the ferry across La Loire and began the eternal switchback of hills and valleys northwards.
On board
On the North side of la Loire we've passed this cafe twice now the smell of cooking coming from it is mouth watering. Sadly both times it has been the wrong time of day for anything more than a glass of wine.
Fisherdog and man.
The little river harbour at Nort-sur-Erdre
Our host met us at the door of a pretty French town house, but on entering it had an unexpected Arabic look to it. Our host had lived in Egypt for some time and had decorated the house beautifully with many Egyptian artefacts. It was very comfortable too, and we enjoyed several tisanes with him and learned a lot about his fascinating life! It was a lovely evening and we had supper in the open air in a brasserie close to the river.
Le Pellerin to Nort-sur-Erdre
We had agreed an 8.30 breakfast with madame this morning and we were in the dining room on the dot, to find no sign of our hostess and a very weird looking couple standing with their coats on obviously waiting for her as well. As there was a table laid up with some breakfast on it and as the weirdos obviously weren’t going to eat it, we decided to sit down and tuck in. We tried to engage them in conversation in both French and English but they were less than monosyllabic. Madame then re-appeared having been walking her enormous Irish Wolfhound. She looked a bit put out too that we had already started but obligingly gave us extra croissants as we then noticed that someone else had already demolished most of the food on our table. The other couple eventually sat down elsewhere, never took their coats off and only ate a couple of things and then left still in silence. Not like us at all!
The hotel is perfectly placed on the banks of the Loire about 100 yards from where the ferry comes into le Pellerin and you would think that it would be a popular place to visit. However it is in need of a massive makeover which the new owners are carrying out at the moment. We had a chat with the owner and she told us that they took it over last year and are really working hard but struggling to get enough people in as most people tend to disembark and head straight for the coast to the west or Nantes to the east. It is a shame as le Pellerin is a pretty little riverside port and everything in town was half the price of other places.
Anyway we left at about 9.45 - a really early start for us, caught the ferry across La Loire and began the eternal switchback of hills and valleys northwards.
On board
On the North side of la Loire we've passed this cafe twice now the smell of cooking coming from it is mouth watering. Sadly both times it has been the wrong time of day for anything more than a glass of wine.
We stopped to pump our tyres up in Coueron and were accosted by an old lady of 93 who told us she had a bicycle once but couldn’t remember where it was. She hadn’t seen it since 1952!
We stopped at the Sunday market in Sautron, but only for a look after our scare yesterday spending so much! Thereafter we just concentrated on the ride through Treilliers and Grandchamp until we came to the Nantes-Brest Canal cycle route at La Provostiere . We joined this for a couple of miles just so we could say we had been on it, very nice and flat it was too
We stopped at the Sunday market in Sautron, but only for a look after our scare yesterday spending so much! Thereafter we just concentrated on the ride through Treilliers and Grandchamp until we came to the Nantes-Brest Canal cycle route at La Provostiere . We joined this for a couple of miles just so we could say we had been on it, very nice and flat it was too
Fisherdog and man.
The world and their wives are all out on their bikes today and anyone who wasn’t was cooking a BBQ. We definitely hope that when we get home there will be some summer left for us to do the same thing.
We had booked into a Chambres D’hote in Nort-sur-Erdre, yet another picturesque town on a river.
We had booked into a Chambres D’hote in Nort-sur-Erdre, yet another picturesque town on a river.
The little river harbour at Nort-sur-Erdre
Our host met us at the door of a pretty French town house, but on entering it had an unexpected Arabic look to it. Our host had lived in Egypt for some time and had decorated the house beautifully with many Egyptian artefacts. It was very comfortable too, and we enjoyed several tisanes with him and learned a lot about his fascinating life! It was a lovely evening and we had supper in the open air in a brasserie close to the river.
If anyone is driving south and in need of a stop Nort-sur-Erdre this is a very worthwhile place to stay and - Bernard Fourage lemarais44@yahoo.fr an extremely fine host!
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