Please forgive any unusual spellings or what appear to be mistakes, I am writing this on a French keyboard in a library, hiding from the thunderstorms) and the letters are in different locations. If I were to write the cat sat on the mat using where the keys would normally be on a UK keyboard it would look like, “The cqt sqt on the ,qt”
It’s also a little bitty as I am rushing a little. I need to get more organised on this side of things!.
Bike was finally ready..
Looks a tad heavy
Things have been going great since I set off, got off to a flying start:
Wednesday – Devizes to Portsmouth – ride link here
Arrived at Portsmouth
I made good time to the ferry in Portsmouth, and had time to make a cup of tea and something to eat at the top of the hill. while I was there, I spoke to a nice couple out walking their dog who looked a little surprised to see a lycra clad cyclist sat on the top of the hill cooking up noodles and a pot of coffee.
Boarding went all to plan and I settled down for a sleep using my sleeping bag and mat rather than use the uncomfortable reclining chairs.
Time for something to eat before the ferry
Thursday – Caen to Mayenne – ride link here
Arrived in Mayenne
The first night in Mayenne I stayed with Patrice Gouallier and his Family whom I had contacted through the warmshowers website, they were excellent hosts and after a wash we had something to eat, Patrice cooked up a BBQ whilst his wife made some excellent potatoes, with lashings of butter!
Patrice then took me into town to see a bit of the local area as Devizes is Twinned with Mayenne. There had been a ceremony and trees planted for each of the towns twinned with Mayenne, unfortunately the Devizes one had died. After breakfast in the morning with the family I continued my journey.
Friday – Mayenne to Villeveque – ride link here
Setup in Jean and Annie Grilles Garden
I stayed with another host fro, Warmshowers, Jean and Annie Grilles and their dog Caesar. When I first arrived, Jean was in town, and Annies English (better than my French), we had fun trying to communicate, I think Annie was relieved when Jean arrived.
Annie cooked up some fried potatoes and eggs and Jean and I talked about a lot of subjects throughout the evening. My tent was in the Garden, and I slept well.
Saturday – Villeveque to Malô-st-Du-Bois – ride link here
First wild camp location
Hidden by a hedge to an electricity sub station.
Hot, Hot, Chaud!
Too hot for cycling, time for tea and a read
Too hot to cycle – time for a cup of tea!
Eurovelo took me over this bridge ferry, although, it didn’t as it was closed until 14:00
The Ferry Bridge I was supposed to have gone over, but was closed.
So I went over this one, very scary..
Instead I went over this one, it was a bike lane but scary
On the road to Montalivet, the sand was encroaching the town, whereas in the UK we have none of an erosion problem, the sand was taking over.
The Desert… no its the road to Montalivet
The dunes were slowly swallowing the whole area, buildings and all, attack of the killer dunes!
I met a couple who were touring on the Royan ferry, they were both very nice and Christian talked me through some nice routes on the direction I was heading.
Christian and Lisa who I met on the ferry from Royan
I decided to use a municipal campsite, bargain only 7.50 Euros.
Setup in a Municipal Campsite – Due to rain so I setup undercover
Riding out of Bordeaux I met Julien, who must have seen I was tired and allowed me to draft him, I ended up going back to his house and meeting his lovely Family, wife Marie and daughters Nahia and Mila.
Julien, who I met on the way out of Bordeaux
The view from here over the city was exceptional.
