Tuesday 15th June
Chateaubriant to Vitré
Writing this two days later I can say with some accuracy that today was a very long day. Firstly it did a lot of raining, secondly the countryside just went up and down with absolutely no flat bits at all and thirdly there was nowhere to stay until Vitré which was 43 miles – quite a long way on a bike carrying 40lbs of luggage and that same awful headwind – yeah yeah, don’t whinge we know if you can’t take a joke etc. But still, best foot forward and all that and eventually after a rather long delay with the unhelpful lady librarian regarding the internet, and an exceedingly good lunch in Guerche de Bretagne
Ch Vitré
Wednesday 16th June
Vitré - Fougères – Landean.Today was a complete repeat of the journey we had made back in September last year, only now we are traveling in the opposite direction. It’s amazing the different things that you notice when you are facing the other way but the peaks and troughs still keep coming whichever way you are going!
St Christophe, a village we remembered having a little shop which sold poulet roti and BBQ’d sausages from it’s car park was needless to say closed on a Wednesday so we had to make do with a baguette on the immaculately mown lawn of the church. Sheltered from the ferocious North wind and in the blazing sunshine this was very agreeable.
On entering Fougères, Alec even remembered the cunning short cut we had taken through the back streets which took us off the rather busy ring road. Once again we were struck by what a fantastic place this is, and well worth a visit for a weekend together with Vitré.
Chateaubriant to Vitré
Writing this two days later I can say with some accuracy that today was a very long day. Firstly it did a lot of raining, secondly the countryside just went up and down with absolutely no flat bits at all and thirdly there was nowhere to stay until Vitré which was 43 miles – quite a long way on a bike carrying 40lbs of luggage and that same awful headwind – yeah yeah, don’t whinge we know if you can’t take a joke etc. But still, best foot forward and all that and eventually after a rather long delay with the unhelpful lady librarian regarding the internet, and an exceedingly good lunch in Guerche de Bretagne
Lunch - a lifesaver!
we made it to the Chateau Hotel in Vitré. Actually the afternoon was a little better than the morning as from Guerche onwards there is a cycle route all the way to Vitré and the one good thing about disused railways is that the hills have been rubbed down and the dips have been filled in!
This may look dull but a welcome relief after the morning's roads.
We had forgotten just how picturesque Vitré is and it was a joy to freewheel down the hill into the centre of town with it’s imposing chateau overlooking the surrounding countryside. We stayed in the very comfortable Logis at the foot of the ramparts.
On the whole the farming is arable or dairy however the farmers seem to have found a niche market for Guinea Fowls and the number of farms with a couple of hundred of these noisy guards dogs amazed us.
Ch Vitré
Wednesday 16th June
Vitré - Fougères – Landean.Today was a complete repeat of the journey we had made back in September last year, only now we are traveling in the opposite direction. It’s amazing the different things that you notice when you are facing the other way but the peaks and troughs still keep coming whichever way you are going!
St Christophe, a village we remembered having a little shop which sold poulet roti and BBQ’d sausages from it’s car park was needless to say closed on a Wednesday so we had to make do with a baguette on the immaculately mown lawn of the church. Sheltered from the ferocious North wind and in the blazing sunshine this was very agreeable.
On entering Fougères, Alec even remembered the cunning short cut we had taken through the back streets which took us off the rather busy ring road. Once again we were struck by what a fantastic place this is, and well worth a visit for a weekend together with Vitré.
The only drawback is that like all medieval towns it is built into a hill so we had a long climb up to the top to continue on to our b and b. This was about 6 miles to the north east of the town through the ‘forêt domeniale’.
Huge forest of deciduous trees.
It was a lovely house with an immaculate garden all done by monsieur who is ‘retired’ – note for all men contemplating such a move in the near future!! As the house was so far from the nearest town our hosts very kindly provided us with some supper and a bottle of cider which to our surprise we finished rather quickly – but then hills and a headwind do work up an appetite and a thirst!!
One of the more memorable moments of the day was when waiting at a crossroads a Frenchman wound down his car window and asked (amongst other things) where we were from and then told us he knew the south of England well and that he used to import cars and many from Loders in Dorchester!
Huge forest of deciduous trees.
It was a lovely house with an immaculate garden all done by monsieur who is ‘retired’ – note for all men contemplating such a move in the near future!! As the house was so far from the nearest town our hosts very kindly provided us with some supper and a bottle of cider which to our surprise we finished rather quickly – but then hills and a headwind do work up an appetite and a thirst!!
One of the more memorable moments of the day was when waiting at a crossroads a Frenchman wound down his car window and asked (amongst other things) where we were from and then told us he knew the south of England well and that he used to import cars and many from Loders in Dorchester!
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