Perfect weather, except for the wind

September 24, 2023

Pornic to La Barre-de-Monts

I Finally back to the Vélodyssée, for the first half of the day anyway, as we ambled our way down the coast with the occasional short cut from the excessively wiggly route. No mechanicals today, but it still took a while to cover our 51km route, what with detours to a stone circle and an impromptu organ recital at our the church where we stopped for lunch. The sun was shining from a clear blue sky, but the wind was not our friend - flat countryside and a stiff breeze from the south east, which was exactly where we were heading. Even the motor didn't seem to help that much.

But it was also very beautiful. Pastures, salt marshes, and oyster beds, and fishing boats and huts, plus restaurants offering seafood fresh off the boat. Mostly trails or quiet, well-paved roads, with two exceptions.

First Google took us onto the busy D22 on the final leg to our day's destination of La Barre-de-Monts and it then bounced us off into farmland for rough gravel roads and a bit of single track. I definitely preferred it to the road, a busy two-laner where cars waited patiently for a chance to pass, but Arlene says she would take traffic over ruts and mud. Luckily things were dry, but it could have been terrifying in the rain.

Accommodation: Hotel Cap d'Ambre. Just by the little pedestrian street, which included perhaps the longest ice cream line I've ever seen. Small but perfectly adequate rooms. Plenty of covered bike parking behind a locked gate.

We, of course, we're heading left to right. The wind was not.

Today's ride: 51 km (32 miles)
Total: 177 km (110 miles)

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