August 19, 2013
15km north of Nantes to near St Nazaire: Route finding is hard out of Nantes
Our meal last night was one of the most delicious I have ever tasted. We had a little shrimp appertiser, chilled and with some sort of cucumber puree to start with. The main course was perfectly cooked chicken served on a creamy risotto, garnished with glazed vegetables and with an orange sauce. I wished I could have photographed it but it felt inappropriate. A wonderful sleep in the most comfortable bed I have slept in then after a sumptuous breakfast of strawberries as sweet as honey we were ready to leave our haven.
Westotel is about 15km north of Nantes and right on the bike track, though I don’t think many cyclists stay there as the management was rather unsure how to deal with bikes. The bike track takes you almost to the centre of town and is for the first part, when you are riding beside a busy roads, completely separate from them. As we neared Nantes we of naturally lost all the signs and just followed road signs to Centre Ville. The beautiful city was waking up as we arrived in the centre at about 9.30am. There were a few early bird tourists around and the barristers were putting out their chairs and tables to lure in today’s haul of coffee and more serious drinkers. It is difficult to sightsee much with two heavily laden bikes but we pushed through pedestrian areas and took turns visiting the cathedral. We are loath to leave our bikes unguarded particularly after Collette and David’s experience.
Going out of Nantes was frankly awful. The signage was spasmodic and often misleading, at one stage we went under the same motorway/bridge 3 times and then nearly got on it. Two other touring cyclists were also searching the route but we lost them, probably because I ride so slowly. We were largely travelling amongst and through Port areas and industry, it didn’t feel at all unsafe because as usual the traffic was very courteous and aware. Eventually after what seemed an age we came down to the Loire and had a coffee. Then I learnt a new French word and a very important one, Bac, it means ferry. We saw a sign across the road pointing to it, this must be where we cross, the man in the PMU assured us that yes we were right. Out we came from the bar and there was a police man. Ken asked him and he said ‘non,non,non follow me’ . Off we set with our police escort at a great rate (he was on a bike) and he put us on to the correct route that took us to the bac that was on the cycle route. A free ride, once more united with the couple we had seen much earlier, and we were on the other side of the Loire heading off towards St Naizaire.
Not long before St Nazaire we were looking for accommodation and when I called in at the Information de Tourisme at Paemboeuff the lady said that there were no hotels but there was a Chamber d’Hote just a little further along. At first Ken took a distinct dislike to this charming place, he felt trapped. Then he found the donkey and the ram and made friends with the lop eared dog. Marie cooked us an absolutely delicious meal which included rabbit, we drank wine and calvados and had the most amusing company of Claus and Iris from Germany who are travelling up the Loire.
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Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 1,259 km (782 miles)
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