Moëlan-sur-Mer to Erdeven

June 20, 2019

It must be getting toward the end of the tour because I've let myself get way behind on the journal--and not just because of poor wifi or cell reception!

Today I purposely deviated from my planned route. I hadn't paid a lot of attention to this part so when I looked at the map and the weather, I though I'd rather ride along the coast and take a ferry across to Port-Louis than skirt inland around Lorient. Garmin was indicating a bike route this way and the map shows a voie verte along the coast.

When I'd researched this a couple of days ago, I emailed the Lorient transit authority because it wasn't clear from their website whether you could take a bike on the "lignes maritimes". I got a long-winded formal reply but I think it said that, yes, you could, except on the boat to Île de Groix. Why the long-winded answer, I don't know but I hoped I'd interpreted it correctly.

It was straightforward getting to Guidel-Plages (I had to stay on the main road until it crossed a large waterway, the Isole River, I think, and then I turned toward the coast. The voie verte had a decent surface, but traffic wasn't bad on D152 so I switched to that and joined the roadies. When the voie verte ended, D152 moved away from the coast and the bike route was marked on quiet streets. Since we were now approaching Lorient, I chose to follow the bike route marking. Sure enough, I came to another dedicated cycle track.

Another surfing beach, with colourful surfers

While I was stopped at a fork deciding which way to go to get to the seabus terminal (the ferries in Lorient are part of the bus network), another cyclist pulled up beside me to offer assistance. He gave me good directions to the Port de Pêche, where I knew the ferry terminal was, and we chatted a bit about cycling and other topics. He had been at sea (a ship captain?) and was now retired, but he'd been to Canada when he worked in the Caribbean. A friendly and helpful fellow.

Getting to the Port de Pêche wasn't hard but finding the seabus terminal was. I saw no markings at all. But I did find it and waited for the boat to Port-Louis. Every half-hour so not a long wait.

Here comes the boat. It's even got an LED route indicator, just like a land bus. Note the ramp with no railing.

I bought my ticket on board (1.5€) and was told that it was good for 90 minutes and if I was continuing to Gâvres within that time, I would not have to pay again on that boat. I didn't know there was a boat to Gâvres; the crossing is so narrow it doesn't really show on my 1:200 000 map. That was a good enough reason to keep on going and get lunch later.

It was another challenge to find the terminal for the boat to Gâvres. No signage at all that I could see, but there was a group of people waiting in what I guessed was the place so I asked. They were all together and seemed to know the route, but weren't sure I could take my bike. However, the captain of the other seabus had not said I couldn't, just that I could do it on the same ticket...

What a surprise when the boat arrived. It was tiny! But it had a captain and two deckhands and they lifted my bike aboard with just the rear panniers off and we all squeezed on. A few more people showed up before we left, including another cyclist without panniers, and his bike went on the front deck. I'm glad the weather was calm; otherwise we'd all have gotten wet!

Me and my bike with the Breton group. This boat was much smaller than the other!

The crew. The guy sitting on the gunwhale is the captain.

Gâvres didn't have anyplace obvious to eat and there was a strong breeze from the west. I was going east! It was a beautiful six or so kilometres along the spit, then past the military zone to Plouhinec. I got there just before 2 so went into the first eating establishment I saw. Yes, I could still order food, I was told, after a look at the clock. It wasn't the best but definitely better than going hungry!

Looking east along the spit. I climbed up from the road to see over the dune to see this.

It was windy! I parked my bike by their car on the landward side of the spit. One fellow was getting his kiteboarding kite into the air...

And then he walked it across the road and over the dune.

Looking east along the road. I couldn't park my bike on the soft sand on the seaward side.

Caesar salad! There were 3 large pieces of fried chicken breast on top, thankfully boneless.

The friendly people on the second boat were Breton, not French, they told me. France was that country over there (pointing), this was Bretagne. When they asked where I was heading and I told them, they suggested a detour to St-Cado, showing me in my map. Erdeven was also nice. Since the man back in Lorient had said traffic could be nasty going into Carnac at rush hour, I decided to check out St-Cado and stop in Erdeven.

If you've ever wondered where all those moules come from, there are lots of these artificial mussel beds all around the coast. This one's at St-Cado. This fellow was turning over each "pillow" (for lack of a better word) and banging it with a mallet.

Image not found :( — Inside the church, St-Cado

Church window, St Cado blessing a farmer

Church window, St Cado blessing fishery workers

The girl at the Office de Tourisme in Erdeven was very helpful. She gave me a map of the local cycling routes (developed by the town, she said) and told me that the "Sentier à l'Océan" would take me past two campgrounds. The first one was quite large so it should be no problem to get a spot. Unfortunately, the Sentier took me to the back, but fortunately, there was an open gate. I found the proper entrance and booked in. This one says it's five-star but as far as I can tell, it's a five-star campsite if they make everyone wear a wristband. There was TP in the sanitaire, but in the "lobby", not in the individual cubicles. Why, I ask?

They also had a restaurant so I didn't need to go anywhere for dinner. I can't remember what I had, so it couldn't have been memorable. What was memorable were the other patrons. They were all together, a rather large group, celebrating something. Two older fellows were dressed up as Breton women in (paper mock-ups of) traditional costume. One was quite friendly and came over to me to tell me it was his eightieth birthday (I think). They were all having a grand time! I don't remember my dinner, but they were all having moules.

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Today's ride: 79 km (49 miles)
Total: 3,018 km (1,874 miles)

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