Monday 21st May. Redon (3) to Le Pellerin (4)
52.4 miles 4hrs 48m riding time. Average speed: 10.9mph Total: 157 miles.
It lashed down with rain all night and it continued until early this afternoon.
My budget waterproofs have proved to be very budget and not at all waterproof.
Jane the GPS-lady came into her own today as she saved me having to mess
about with soggy paper maps. I took the D102 to Guenrouet then the D100
as the roads dried out south to Savenay. It was as I was cycling along the
D93 on the low-lying marshlands on the north bank of the Loire that the
rain set in again. I sought refuge in a bus shelter until it eased a bit.
My second bac of the trip was a vehicle ferry that constantly crosses the
fast- flowing tidal river Loire between le Port-Launay and le Pellerin.
The toll-free crossing only took a few minutes and saved me from having
to detour into the centre of Nantes to cross the river.
When I booked my room at the Hotel La Belle Epoque I was told to telephone
on arrival and someone would let me in as reception would be closed on a
Monday afternoon. I arrived just as it started to rain again; I rang the
hotel from my mobile as instructed but just got an answer phone. Thoroughly
miffed and soaking wet I cycled around the village looking for another hotel
to stay in but there wasn’t one. Several increasingly irritated phone
calls later Madame finally answered and let me in.
My room is nicely appointed, although it looks a bit like a Chinese laundry
now with my rain-soaked kit sharing drying space with my washing. The restaurant
is OK too I suppose… All dogs smell but… Max the hotel dog smells
a great deal more than most. He’s a St Bernard dog the size of a pit
pony. He’s very old, very wet, and very slobbery. He’s panting
like a steam train and he’s lying underneath my table.
I had a little stroll along the quayside before deciding to turn in for
the night.
It’s 9 o’clock now and there seems to be a tidal bore rushing
up the river crashing its way along the banks, the bac looks to have moored
up for the night… It’s raining again.
The bac at Le Pellerin
Crossing the Loire by bac at Le Pellerin
4 Tuesday 22nd May. Le Pellerin (4) to La Roche - sur -Yonne.(5)