Day 68: Nantes to Ste. Luce

April 14, 2024

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The Appart'hotel room was as good as most, but it had two glitches. One was that it must be in a sleazy part of town, because there were people close to under our window, talking loudly for much of the night. There was no restaurant or bar to attract them, so it must just be a known hangout.

The hotel main entrance - not too fancy!

The other glitch was that a 250 euro deposit was demanded on check in, and it had to be through a credit card, and not cash. This morning we asked about the status of our 250 euros and were told yeah well in a couple of weeks the bank will release it. But as to acting on the purpose of a damage deposit, I asked them to visit the room with me and sign off on no damage. But they refused. This is one Booking where we will take the trouble to post a review!

Our main objective for today was to go for a bike ride with Michel. South west of the city there is a very large lake called Lac de Grand-Lieu, and we had read about an ornithological observatory there. We talked Michel into going down there, even though we had passed through the area yesterday and Michel already had a plan to go there with some other friends in a week or so.

But first, we wanted to go to the train station, to find out more about bike carrying service on the trains along the Loire, to prepare for training up and down it with the grandkids, in our possible August cycle touring scheme with them. So we arranged to meet Michel at the station, and set off in that direction.

We were starting by the river, and have yet to go more deeply into Nantes, where more things that could intrigue tourists like us might lie. What we saw near the river was rather dour looking large buildings, apartments no doubt. They were not unattractive, with certainly a lot more going on architecturally than in North American cities, yet they seemed, as I say, dour.

This was this patch of colour, with the unique to here clovers, and the Bachelor's Buttons.

Along the rows of buildings, the chimney pots added interest.

And giving a hint of interesting things that might lie beyond, a peek at the Chateau of the Dukes of Bretonne.

Architecturally, the most interesting thing on our brief ride to the station would be what I think is the tower of a former LU cookie factory. It is currently some sort of cultural centre, called Le Lieu Unique.

In front of the train station, we found not Michel (who was not scheduled to arrive yet) but dozens of other cyclists. Their presence helps indicate the strength of cycling in this city. They were going on a group ride, to meet up with another group half way out.

They're off. I never did find out where their destination was.

Michel found us, with the help of the Google Maps facility where you can set up to get location updates on contacts. And in our own turn, we were off.

Dodie is shown here following Michel, but after a while we put her in front. Either way, three cyclists have proportionately a lot more authority on the street and in roundabouts than we normally have as just two.

Michel often stops to pass on to us bits of Nantes lore. Here below is a sad one. In 2019 police moved in for some reason to disperse a techno music festival. There was a melee, and during this about a dozen people fell into the Loire. Of these, Steve Maia Caniço drowned. His fate became a cause celebre, and official heads rolled. There also was spawned several pop art memorials to Steve. Below is one of them.

There is a strong fence now along the Loire, where Steve drowned.

Next up for us was what I saw as a rather artistic forest of cranes. In fact, it's the construction site of a new hospital.

Michel pulled up short, with a flat in his "unflattable" Schwalbe Marathn Plus tire. Luckily it was in the front, and no big deal as Michel carries a spare tube. We identified the culprit as a largish chunk of glass, that went right through the main and thickest part of the tread.

We have been seeing Nantes as a big city, and it is. Yet on a one on one basis, people still greet each other (and us) in the street. In the case of the flat, Michel apologized to the people whose house we were in front of, explaining why we would be hanging around there for a brief time. The repair operation also became a very minor community event, as other neighbours checked in to see the action.

Get Dodie to diagnose the injury to the tire

A 1.75 20 inch well used tire comes off without much of a struggle.

Michel had agreed to our Lake excursion request, but he had misgivings about possible flooded conditions due to recent rains.

We began with some fairly minor mucky conditions.

In some conditions the trike is more stable than a stand up bike.

This is a spot along l'Ognon, a river that feeds the lake.

There was a dolmen at the spot, which has been deemed the "stone ladies". A tale is presented about how in the 6th century they turned to stone, in a version of the "don't look back" mythology.

We continued, in slightly rough conditions, and with no "I told you so's" from Michel.

We just lifted the bikes over obstacles.

Finally, very close to the bird watching sites, it was clear that we were going no further!

We turned around, and headed for Michel's place in Ste Luce, about 30 km distant, east of Nantes. This is where we will spend the next couple of nights. While pleasant, the ride had no idyllic roads, quaint towns, or even bakeries. I shot the photo below to illustrate how it was just basic suburb riding. Always fun to follow Michel anywhere, though.

We were following a branch of EV6, and eventually crossed to the north over the Loire, to reach Ste Luce.

Michel identified these houses by the shore as Ste luce, but to me the heart of the place will be bakery, which we will only visit tomorrow.

Jeannette, Michel's wife, is a particular expert with crepes. In the evening she came up with one course of smoked salmon crepes - really tasty. These were followed by sweet crepes, with a wide variety of possible toppings, like Nutella, caramel sauce, powdered sugar, chocolate powder, whipped cream, and others. With fresh bananas and strawberries, it was a great reward for people who had managed to cycle 66 kms, Nantes to Ste Luce, a journey that is given by Google Maps as 7.9 km, if you know what you are doing!

Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 3,379 km (2,098 miles)

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