Day 55: Casson to Redon

May 20, 2018

Our gite owners, Guy and Josiane had to go somewhere and left last night. So Josiane set us up with breakfast supplies. Since our little cottage had a kitchen, we could just make breakfast on our own. That is actually more pleasant than being served it in a sort of formal setting. We also had our bikes right outside our door, so when we were ready we just slid back the main gate and were off.

The gite was also directly on the bike path, so the whole thing was as slick as could be. Within a few hundred meters the bike path then joined the Nantes-Brest Canal, where it would stay for the rest of the day. The canal was smooth as glass in the early morning and really pleasant to ride beside. The path too, was ok. It was packed clay with fine gravel - really quite fine for cycling if not quite as efficient as asphalt. Later, it must be admitted, the fine gravel became coarser, making the ride more tiring. But still, it was fine.

Since it was early morning, we came upon one of the canal residents - Mister Ragondin, obviously just waking up. He rubbed his eyes, and tried to get his fur in order, before diving in for his day's activities. He was not the only one to plan a day of messing about in the canal. We later saw boaters, kayakers, and even swimmers.

Canal riding often does not offer a lot of distraction, or supplies, so you €have to go off route to find that in any neighbouring towns. There were only a few along this stretch of the canal, the first being La Chevallerais. We are continuing to look for a Michelin map of Brittany, but no luck in this town. There was, however, an open bakery. We are truly in Brittany now, as evidenced by them having Kouign Aman. Kouign Aman is a sticky, butter based "danish" that is a well known specialty of this region. we actually encountered it first in Montreal, where there is a bakery named Kouign Aman. The one we got in La Chevallerais was really super, and better than Montreal, as far as we can remember it. However, at €1.60 for a small one it was quite costly. A "pain aux raisins" would have been €1.00.

Also of interest in La Chevallerais was the church, with a unique steeple design clad in slate, and with field stone construction.

Kouign Aman - the first of hopefully others we will try in Bretonne.

Stone construction like this seems common

The unique church steeple, and stone construction.

Back on the canal, our main entertainment was watching boaters. There are also of course many fishers on the shore, but we seem to be ignoring them now. If one would actually catch a fish, it might spark our renewed interest!

Rental boats like this are on most canals.

I think they could use a little more air.

Looks like a really fun activity for kids.

The biggest town in the area is Blain, and we went in, still looking for a Michelin map. We found the drivers in the town strangely aggressive. One had a run at Dodie while turning left, and one would have run me down - in a crosswalk - had I not stopped. That driver had to stop for "real" traffic in another 10 feet, so I addressed him through his open window and said (the equivalent of) "Hey mister, look, I'm here!". He just looked at me blankly. To boot, the map store in Blain was closed, though they had what we wanted in the window.

Blain also has a chateau, and we had more luck there. The place used to have about a dozen towers, and a number of buildings inside the defensive wall. We picked up an info sheet detailing when each piece was created and destroyed. Basically, the first castle here was built in the early part of the 12th century. It was developed and improved until reaching a peak in the 16th century. By that time it was larger and more luxurious than the Duke of Brittany's castle in Nantes.

The Wars of Religion then took their toll. In 1591 4,000 Spanish soldiers landed in Brittany. The castle took more than 2000 cannon ball impacts, and a lot of parts collapsed. In 1598 the war apparently ended, and there was some reconstruction. However in 1628 more pieces were pulled down, removing the castle's military capability. It then became just a luxury residence - until - the Revolution. In 1793 the place was looted and ransacked, and it remained in ruins during the 1800's. Restorations began in 1918, and in 1977 various parts received "Historic Monument" status.

What remains are two towers and a major building that was the king's residence. That building is now privately owned, while the rest of the site has been acquired by the town. We think the private bit actually contains the 200 euro a night accommodation which was one of the ones we did not choose.

I climbed the tower and got shot photos from up there, plus some in rooms that were at various levels in the ascent.

The remaining main bit of the Chateau de la Groulais

Two knights like this guard the entrance

The king's residence part of the chateau, now in private hands

An example of dress from the 15th century

The next major town along the line, and our stopping point for today, was Redon. This town is large enough to have a pedestrian street, a closed Tourist Information, and our hotel - the Asther.

As we cycled in we saw really a lot of cycle tourists, as we had along the path all day. The Asther, we found, is really cycle friendly, with a nice locked bicycle garage. The lady who runs it was friendly and helpful, and the room reasonable. The hotel is also across the street from the indoor market, and we have high hopes that it will be open when we wake up tomorrow.

Bonus: Mystery Crop Quiz

Mystery crop - growing near the Sevre Niortaise - Day 48

Double Bonus: Today's cow and stork pictures.

Today's ride: 81 km (50 miles)
Total: 3,670 km (2,279 miles)

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