La Possonniere - Angers: Watch where you step - Brittany - Loire Valley - Burgundy 2010

June 21, 2010

La Possonniere - Angers: Watch where you step

We're all packed up and hope to find a cafe and bakery on our route but it's more likely that we'll have to ride up the hill to town for the luxury of breakfast. Then I hear the beeping of the baker van. On its morning run, the driver rides a loop through the campground just in case there might be a few hungry campers. We still don't have coffee, but we have our croissants. To make it a proper breakfast, I boil some water for our tea bags.

By the way, it was again very cold during the night. Pas de problème - I have a super sleeping bag.

My favorite campground was the Camping Municipal du Port here in La Possonnière. The picture was taken in the morning and the fly of our tent is sagging because it's wet. We had set it up properly, mind you.

It's a very pretty ride from La Possonières through vineyards. Our route then takes us to the bank of the Loire and then it's a short and very steep climb up to Epiré. The kind of steep I can't ride and can barely push.

No pictures show how steep the roads really are. Here I tried to create a feeling for the real situation.

Approaching Angers we leave the Loire and follow the Maine River through a pretty park. We pass the campground located on the lake thinking it is too far out of town and hoping Angers has another campground. It doesn't.

The first vineyards we see along the Loire.

We work our way through town to the tourist office. Now realizing we would have to backtrack to camp, we settle for a hotel in town. The room the tourist office books for us is a little far out and we have a fair amount of city streets and traffic to cope with before we get there.

French ethics regarding cleaning up after one's dog aren't the best. Busy watching street signs, my gps and traffic, I happened to plant my Keen sandal firmly in the middle of a giant piece of - and no euphemism will do - dog shit. There's a German saying - Scheisse bringt Glück - but I wasn't too happy. The profile of the shoe sole is clogged with it and both sides of my pedal are covered. Off to our hotel.

The entrance to the hotel is at the top of a long flight of stairs, at the moment occupied by a group of homeless Angevins. But before I worry about the stairs and getting the bikes up, I must get my shoe clean enough for me to enter a hotel lobby. Paper tissues and water will have to suffice. Later in the hotel I use the toilet brush. I am relieved that we can park our bikes in the garage, accessible by a ramp from the road.

This is the entrance to the hotel we booked at the tourist office. The picture was taken the next morning and the steps were no longer occupied.

Today we only rode 20 km but I have muscle pains and feel exhausted and I have no explanation for it. The rest of the afternoon is spent at the laundramat, reading and catching up on mail. Tomorrow we will look around Angers.

Today's ride: 21 km (13 miles)
Total: 699 km (434 miles)

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