Pornic to St Jean de Monts

May 5, 2023

Marshlands, beautiful, wild, wide and endless.

Did we know how much energy our day would be demanding when we gave Jean-Michel’s breakfast the attention it deserved. His homemade jams of which he is deservedly proud really sets us up. And the croissants are not ignored and nor is the yogurt and fruit.

Outside the Collie is involved in a game of football with the cleaning lady. He’s way ahead.

Our 10:00 pm getaway has us on the busy D13 for a couple of hundred metres, until we exit down to Sainte Marie sur Mer. From here we follow the coastal cycle route as much as possible to Pornic. There are a few ‘route barrē’ signs.

First sign of the Atlantic. Cold and grey.

At Pornic we ride around the harbour area. It’s a very pretty, narrow inlet and must be a port which offers a sheltered marina from the open sea.

Great path in places, though difficult to build up a head of steam because of twists and turns.

La Berniere follows as does Les Moutiers. We buy some quiches for lunch and then head for the Vendēe. This area is beautiful, but wide and wild, crisscrossed by waterways. It’s vast and green and for a while you have the sense that it has you in its thrall and there’s no escape. Rain threatens, then down it comes.

At Bouin we shelter in a space in front of a closed apartment. Here we put on our rain pants, eat our quiche and plot the next part of the route. We decide to do a run on the D758 to Beauvoir sur Mer. It’s busy but drivers are good, but it’s enough to get us to some small cycle routes down to St Urbain, before cutting back to down to St Jean de Monts for the final 10kms. Ann does marvels with Komoot, threading our way through a maze of small roads and waterways.

Finally- St Jean. We’re not sure exactly where our bikes will go as host Beatrice has told me there’s only a stand outside that’s not secure. I tell her we’ll bring them in and she does a slight emailed oo la la, without actually saying it. All is good though as we have just enough space to fit them in. Parfait. We don’t let on though.

It’s been a big day, we feast on lasagna and ravioli and salad. Way to go!

Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 666 km (414 miles)

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