Day 18: Nantes to Ingrandes

August 27, 2024

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Poor Josh and the kids were up extra early this morning, for their ride to the airport and flight to Barcelona. Barcelona was part of a clever plan to take advantage of a lower cost Air Transat flight from Barcelona to Montreal, and a low cost hop between Barcelona and Nantes. Air Transat found a way to throw a monkey wrench in this, by delaying their flight by one day. This is costing Josh a night's hotel stay in Barcelona, though perhaps Transat will reimburse this. On the positive side, they have an extra afternoon to look around Barcelona.

The taxi was scheduled to come at 7:20 a.m. , so at 7:21 a.m. we were all beginning to stress. But it did come, and all was well. And I got a WhatsApp from Josh, in Barcelona!

The clock has run out on the kids' cycling trip😒

There are still lots of bikes at the hostel. La Loire a Velo is a big attractant.

For our part, we enjoyed a leisurely and I must say, quiet breakfast at the hostel, before setting off once again along the Loire. It felt very strange now, with no riders sandwiched between us. And when we came to our first cows, we had to stop for a photo, for old time's Joe sake. But we know we can't replace him, and the blog will necessarily revert to the usual boring mix of keen observation and trenchant insight.

First keen observation - there is a gypsy type encampment along the Loire between Nantes and Ste Luce. This might not be so safe for the route, but it has been here for years.

They are wondering what in hell I am playing at.

It is lovely out here. That seems to be a lot of red lettuce in the foreground.

The path continues car free and really pleasant.

The castle of Oudon is the first antiquity along the way.

We did have some special excitement up our sleeves, in the form of a planned meetup again with Michel, our trike riding friend from Ste Luce. Michel had taken his trike in the car to Ancenis, about 40 km down our route, and had begun cycling back toward us. The meetup then happened in Oudon, about 10 km back from Ancenis.

As we stood around greeting each other, and recovering from two weeks since we had seen Michel last, Michel felt he should urgently introduce us to a new word: Sentinelles. Sentinelles, he says, are dog turds that silently stand guard, waiting for any misstep on your part. Here is one by the trike:

Steve, of course, will photograph anything.

Although Michel has often been to Angers, we were not sure he had experienced the Quernon candies. So we brought along some for him and Jeannette.

And then:

This is a sight so familiar and dear to us - following Michel along his native Loire in his Scorpion trike.

This raptor shot is just from the Lumix camera. We were somehow too lazy to pull out the Nikon.

We passed the bridge at Ancenis, and continued up river, through on an on road bit.

At several points, works are underway on the river bed. The idea is to narrow the river a bit to increase the local flow rate and flush sand down river and presumably to the ocean.

Some kms along from Ancenis, Michel proposed a slight diversion in the direction of the river. He wanted to show us the home of Hervé Bazin, a famous French writer from the 20th century. Bazin, apparently, had a fame that might be equivalent to Margaret Atwood in Canada or J.D. Salinger in the US. School kids have to read Bazin's stuff, and Michel says everyone here knows him. His material is about family disfunction and teenage rebellion.

At the Bazin house we met an old lady (same age as us!) who did not know him, but had read his stuff. Bazin died in 1996. The lady said it was actually the building just across the street where Bazin lived, but it was just a summer house. She seemed to say that of late it mainly houses pigs and cows.

Perhaps it was Bazin that put his name in the stone wall of the house garden.

A little further along, we sought out a grassy area that had some picnic tables, where we could take a short break. The area was protected by the formidable fence shown below. But as Dodie passed it, she clipped her pannier on a post, got destabilized, and executed one of her patented slow motion crashes. The thing is, even a slow motion fall with a heavy bike can be a serious fall, and Dodie hit the ground solidly. I must be losing my nerve or focus, because I neglected to photograph the wreck, occupying myself only with lifting the fallen Dodie and bike.

I did get this aftermath shot. In fact the knee soon became quite swollen, and Dodie`s shoulder hurt too. No tears, though.

Once we had made it inside the "fence", we noticed the rig shown below, which was a cargo bike pulling a large trailer. I think the man behind this is shown on the sticker I found.

A main feature of the trailer was a ghetto blaster sitting on top, with music that was panned by Michel. See the blaster over Michel's shoulder.

Michel saw us through to our hotel in Ingrandes, which is called the Lion d'Or

Michel then set off for the 45 km ride back to his car. It was so great to see him again. We hope it will not be years until the next time!

Michel left us with a final bit of local lore. Our hotel, he observed, had a very common name for hotels in France. The reason, he offered, was that in a time when travellers might as easily be sleeping in the fields, hotels put up signs advising that in one of their beds one could really sleep. That is, ici lit (here is a bed) on dort (one sleeps). That is litondors, which became Lion D'Or. Michel suggested I see if the proprietor knew of the origin of the hotel name, and yes, she repeated Michel's tale immediately. Now tell me why every hotel in Germany is an "Adler" (eagle)!

Whatever the name, the hotel provided us with the typical postage stamp French room. But no matter, we still say if it's bigger than a tent it's fine. We do add to this these days that it must have outlets to charge five or more electronic devices, and decent internet. (This had the outlets but fell down on the internet!)

There is a bakery across the street, but still we went for the on-site breakfast. On-site breakfast remains so much fun! It will put us well on our way tomorrow!

Today's ride: 58 km (36 miles)
Total: 431 km (268 miles)

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John FlecknerCongratulations on your ride with the Grands. I'm so glad it went well. A rather brave effort on your part but you all will have fond memories.

Looking forward to your onward adventures, especially the Meuse River. It is one of our remaining rivers to pursue in France.
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2 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo John FlecknerSo far we have only ridden bits of the Meuse. This time we will follow it upriver to its source.It
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2 months ago