(South of) Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef to Kercabellec

May 31, 2019

Once again I woke to everything outside soaked with dew and the inside of my tent fly too. I packed up and got on the road fairly early and rode past kilometres of beachside development. Every now and again there would be a glimpse of the Pont Saint-Nazaire, the big scary highway bridge across the Loire.

In my research for this trip, I'd learned that it's 3 km long, with a climb involved, and that I'd be taking my life into my hands or that it was a piece of cake. Weather aside, the two camps were about equal. I decided to see how it looked on the day, since weather would play a part (wind or heavy rain = no go) and today was the day.

Then, in Saint-Brevin, I came across this, which I didn't learn about online:

No trouble finding Place Bougainville (and the public WC there) but where was the shuttle stop? I circled the Place and saw this

And I'd already seen this for northbound cyclists

But no indication of a navette (shuttle) of any kind. I circled the public-looking building on the water side of the Place and in the back room, with lovely windows overlooking the river and an open door, were several women at tables working on little mosaics. I asked them about the navette and one mentioned I wasn't the first who'd asked them (though I think I was the first today). One lady pulled out her phone and made some calls. The next shuttle was at 12:30 (it was then just after 10) or there was a bus every hour on the half hour. I didn't want to wait over 2 hours (and how were cyclists supposed to find out the schedule anyway?) and I thought I'd seen something about having to reserve a place for your bike on the bus, so I decided to just ride it. As I was about to set off, one of the ladies came out to show me the sign. I guess she'd called someone to ask about it for future enquires.

This is what it looks like if you're travelling on La Vélodyssée or Vélocéan from south to north.

If you happen to be coming from the direction of the bridge...

As it turned out, the Pont Saint-Nazaire was no problem for me. There was no wind and traffic wasn't very heavy at all, plus the centre changeable lane was set to northbound. I saw 3 cyclists crossing southbound on the other side. There actually are bike lanes, just under a metre wide, and really no different to me than riding in the Vancouver area on an arterial street with a painted bike lane. The posted speed limit was 70 km/h and it seemed to be obeyed. Traffic on Vancouver-area arterials moves just as fast.

I picked up Vélocéan on the north side without too much difficulty. It led through the ship-building area. They build and retrofit cruise ships here.

This is a very big crane. Whichever shipbuilding company this is, their logo is red and white stripes.

The nice new cycling and walking path had red and white stripes too.

And they are very proud of their recent projects. There were 3 or 4 of these, each for a different ship with dates between 2016 and 2021. The launch date is in the middle of the driving lanes.

Leaving the shipbuilding area was the next challenge and I wasn't the only one having difficulties. I saw other cyclists and a couple of camping cars making the same error. We all missed a turn; I think there was something obscuring the sign for a while.

I finally made it into the centre of Saint-Nazaire and since my route took me within a block of the market, I detoured to see about lunch supplies. The market wasn't nearly as nice as the one in La Rochelle. In fact, it looked a bit seedy. There weren't many food vendors outside and I didn't want to lock up my loaded bike in the area. I moved on to a nearby shop for bread, cheese, and a basket of raspberries.

The Vélocéan route passed through a large park near a small lake which provided a convenient shady bench. Vélocéan was decently well marked until it got close to La Boule, an urban conglomeration that joins with Saint-Nazaire. My plan was to follow it to Guérande, seemingly straightforward and not that far. But the signs saying Guérande petered out and I was left with other signs to places whose names I didn't recognize--not good when you know there's another Vélocéan route that leads to a dead end in a different direction. I finally asked a man out cycling with his children and he sent me in the correct direction.

There's a beautiful mediæval city in Guérande, complete with walls and a castle. And a Fête Médiévale this weekend. When I stopped at the Office de Tourisme to ask for a city map and about campsites, they told me all would be full due to the fête and the long weekend.

Preparing for the Fête Médiévale, Guérande

I decided to carry on in the direction I was planning for tomorrow. I had wanted to see Guérande, but that obviously wasn't going to work out. At La Turballe, it was crazy with tourists and I expected Piriac-sur-Mer would be just as bad. This is the first long weekend since Easter and I heard later that that had been cold and wet. The other two (!) national holidays in May were on Wednesdays so much harder to stretch to a weekend. Assumption Day was yesterday, Thursday, and fabulous weather to boot.

I tried calling one campground but just got a recorded message I couldn't follow, so I asked the girl at the Office de Tourisme if she'd make some calls for me. It took her a few tries but she found me a campsite in Kercabellec. Off I went. So much for a shorter day!

The campground is basic, small, no swimming pool and mostly pitches instead of cottages or caravans, with a very friendly and helpful operator. Perfect for me.

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Today's ride: 83 km (52 miles)
Total: 1,803 km (1,120 miles)

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