Let the Fun Begin

August 29, 2022 to August 30, 2022

We’re packed and ready to begin the journey to our ride start in Saint Malo.

Our bags are packed and we’re ready to go!

Instead of taking the train to Toulouse, we hitched a ride with our cycling buddy, Keith, who was going to the airport in Toulouse to pick up his son and family. You see, we’re easing our way into this trip.

In front of our first hotel that’s across the street from the train station in Toulouse.

Since our train leaves at 8:28 am, we decided to overnight in Toulouse. Don’t want to miss the TGV. The train took us from Toulouse west to Bordeaux before heading north to Paris.

We were happy that we had an hour layover in Paris because our train ended up being 35 minutes late due to a faulty level crossing along the way. We walked off one train and right onto the other one. That was easy! And then a pleasant surprise: Since our train was over 30 minutes late, SNCF gave us vouchers for 25% of our original fare. Nice deal and completely unexpected.

Upon arrival in Saint Malo, we had a 15 minute walk to our Chambre d’hôtes (BnB), Le Nid (translates to The Nest).

Our boxed tandem had arrived the day before and our hostess was anxious to see it. So we promptly dug it out of all the packing materials and put it back together again. Then we stuffed our hostess’ car with the huge box and several bags of packing material so she could haul it to the déchèterie (dump) for us. Then Chuck did the final check on the bike to make sure all systems were a go. But wait … we’ve never heard that sound before! It was running perfectly before shipping … now what?!!

Tomorrow is another day so we decided it was best to go have dinner and mull this problem over. A short walk along the water took us past various restaurants and we chose to have dinner at La Corniche with its huge windows overlooking the English Channel.

Incredible beach! Kite surfers in the backgrounds.

Tomorrow we must walk in the water!

While we were eating, the beach disappeared - 12 meter high tide.

Beautiful walk back to our chambre d’hôte.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

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Comment on this entry	Comment	8

Steve Miller/GrampiesOh please-tell us what is with the noise on the bike. The suspense is killing us.
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2 years ago

Rich FrasierChuck will figure this one out, I’m sure.
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2 years ago

Eve KofskyGood luck, happy cycling…enjoy the adventure!
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2 years ago

Suzanne GibsonWelcome to the world of bicycle touring and blogging here on CycleBlaze! I am looking forward to your tandem adventures on what I am sure is going to be a fantastic route!
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2 years ago

Dave VowlesHi Sanna, You can guess who this is.... Tell Chuck he'll have to get used to that irritating whining noise, it will be about three feet behind him for the next month. :-) Have a great trip and we're very glad you made it safely to the start line, just don't look at the weather forecast. D&K
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2 years ago

kath vowlesGlad to see you got there safely. Hope all is well with the bike. Good luck with the start of your great adventure. Enjoy🙂
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2 years ago

Sanna PhinneyTo Suzanne GibsonThank you, Suzanne.
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2 years ago

rod dayGreat start Looking forward to the next month x
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2 years ago