After completing our ten day bike tour of Brittany with Kathy and Roy Bukstein, we are off to our last destination of our France 2023 adventure. This was one of our longest transition day drives which is always a grind.
The first challenge was to retrieve the car from the train station parking area. The early morning twenty minute walk was invigorating, and rewarded when our car was still there with no parking tickets on the windshield. Navigating back to the hotel was easy with our GPS guiding around one way streets and multiple round abouts. Finally got to the hotel and a waiting parking spot that Kim was defending with her life.
Loading the bikes is getting easier now that we won't need to do it again. Hopefully we will remember the technique for the next trip. Quick breakfast and goodbyes to Kathy and Roy and we were on our way.
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| All transitions require a stop at the market to stock up for the next location. To our surprise there was a Leclerc on the way out of Guingamp so breaking from tradition we did our shopping first. Again, the vitals come first. |
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| Our last town located on the eastern side of the Loire Valley. It has the obligatory church and life sustaining boulangerie. We became locals in no time. |
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| Scouting quiet traffic free rides is a top priority. This chateau was on a wooded road of seven straight miles of flat riding. Great way to start - way to go Alan. |
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| Towns here look like towns anywhere. |
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| And all routes lead too and from the local church. |
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| We stopped at this grassy area in front of a school (Ecole) then noticed the sign which designates a safe gathering area for students in case of an emergency. Never had one of these when I was in school. |
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| Great coffee stop especially when there was no other option in sight. We were befriended by group in the background who spoke/understood enough English to have a conversation. Our beverage of choice was coffee while theirs was a bit stronger. |
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| Villeny was one of the towns we passed though on several rides, either deliberately or just by accident. |
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| Kim was infatuated with these elevated platforms but we could not decide on their purpose. They were spread throughout the fields in the countryside and came in many different styles. |
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| Uh Oh! This was not part of the plan. Without the boring details it is some times difficult to determine when a road is a road, paved or not. When the pavement turned to gravel we figured we could handle this. When the gravel turned to dirt and the road was a track we had to decide whether to turn back or push on. With the help of Google Maps and my iPhone compass I determined we were not far from our house so on we went. After crossing one field to the next, over a foot bridge we eventually came upon the extension to the paved road which I mistook for a fully paved route. Cross this off of any future rides. |
