Day 16 Flaujagues - Navarre (48km)
Left the lovely Flaujagues and headed alongthe Dordogne to St Foy (where you last heard from us). Didn'tleave town till late afternoon, and spent it riding through plum orchards, surrounded by the beatuiful fragrance of ripe plums. Managed to find a few strays for our bar bags. We decided to stay in a quiet woods - butmanaged to awaken the wild monster/dog thing that made frightening noises and didn't help us settle in. Not much sleep tonight!
Day 17 Navarre - Lagruere (52km)
Got out of the woods quickly and had our breakfast in Duras. Saw this amazing little hummingbird bug drinking nectar through its long rolled up proboscis from the town's flowers. Amazing little thing. Onwards through Marmonde, and we hit the Canal Lateral. Pleasantly surprised that it has a cycle path along the length of the canal (basically from the west to east of France) and we were happy to say goodbye to roads, traffic, and helmets. No steps, maps or intersections to manage - it was almost restful to ride!
Day 18 Lagruere - Lamagistere (74km)
Beautiful hot day today and we headed off for another day of canal riding. Very cute little 'port' towns are dotted along and make it interesting. Especially when the boulangerie is open!! Met a fellow cycle tourer who invited us to stay in the nature with him (Thmas) and his friend David. Thomas was heading opposite direction to us as he had lost a shoe and was going back to look for it. It was a pleasure and we appreciated seeing how the French do free camping. Turns out we had travelled through Thomas' village a few days earlier - improbable given the size of it - and of France!
Day 19 Lamagistere - StNicolas de la Grave (50km)
We said bye to our new friends and headed off. Stopped for a market a few miles down the way and Charlie blew the days budget on cheese. It was good though. Onwards and we found Thomas' shoe! Charlie thinks we ,ust bemeant to be his friend! Turns out Charlie's lost water bottle has provided a handy place for storing wine. We've been enjoying a bottle most nights of late - I find it makes my bed more comfortable! We did a wild loop today due to a missed bridge, but we survived, and woke up the next day rearing to go after a light day on the road.
Day 20 StNicolas de la Grave - Montricoux (67km)
Went fast today and we enjoyed being off the canal path; although easy, is more fun on the (little roads). We headed up the river Tarn and then the Aveyron. Have started eating a whole rock melon each day as they are on sale everywhere and its really hot. Got to Montricoux early and found a nice place to stay. Looking forward to rest day tomorrow - this one seems to have come around fast.
Day 21 Montricoux - Montricoux (18km)
Although a rest day we headed off to nearby village of Bruniquel - apparently one of the most beautiful of France. It was lovely place to look around, and a nice day to spend the day off even with the 18km. Few cars within the town, and lots of small streets with funny little homes and cafes etc. A large chataeu sits at the top of the town - giving it a bold profile as you climb up the hill to the village. Well worth a visit - especially without panniers!!
Thursday 21 August 2008
Saturday 16 August 2008
Day 1 - 15
Hi everyone
So this whole weblog thing isn't as easy to update as we thought. Rural France doesn't have many Cybercafes you see... Anyhow, here's what we've been up to:
Day 1 - St. Malo -> Dinan (38km)
Very cute walled town. Had first stubbling conversation with old French lady eating water melon. Scarey ride over Barrage at Dinard. Sunny!!!
Day 5 - Ancenis -> Clisson (53km)
Very hot day! Lots of grapevines and hills. Jody found a tic in her leg and we saw first hornet - hmm. Clisson turned out to be a really nice town.
Day 6 - Clisson -> Piquet (99km)
Wow, 60kms before lunch! Clouds of minute flies which sqaushed when you brushed them off were an unwelcome addition to the day. Passed through Chateau Fromage (no cheese though) before heading to Piquet. Campsite no longer exists there so we wild camped on the banks of the river Yon. Really nice spot!
Day 7 - Piquet -> Esnandes (58km)
Thuderstorm in the night. Started seeing fields of sunflowers today and lots of buildings with shutters and whitewashed walls. Had been looking forward to mill-pond flat marais north of La Rochelle but mean crosswinf spoiled it! Called it a day in Esnandes and met Misha and Alice - newly wed english couple who invited us to dinner of shellfish and frites. Yum!
Day 8 - Esnandes -> Les Grenettes, Ile de Ré (38km)
Lots of strange, ramshackle private piers on the coast. Crossed to Ile de Ré over 3km long bridge! Jody was worried but bikes have their own lane so all good. Ile de Ré is known as the Paris of the west coast. Loads of bikes as its mainly flat.
Day 9 - Les Grenettes, Ile de Ré -> Rivedoux-Plage, Ile de Ré (8km)
Very sunny so we stayed in the island for another day. Spent most of the day relaxing on the beach. Charlie got quite sunburnt. Bummer.
Day 10 - Rivedoux-Plage, Ile de Ré -> Marennes-Plage (108km)
Crossed bqck to mqinlqnd to pass through La Rochelle. Met Robèrt, a 65 year old french roadie with a dodgy knee. He led us to the city, avoid hills, pointing out dangerous bumps in the path and stopping traffic for us. La Rochelle was beautiful. Struggled to find campground in the evening so kept pushing south. Passed through Brouage, an old fort town, still completely within the original walls. Charlie left his water bottle on one of them.
Day 11 - Marennes-Plage -> Royan (53km)
Late start but lovely day going through the foret de la coubre. The forest has a beautiful western coastal edge. 1000s of tourists on bikes ranging from 1yrs to 100yrs old! Out of the forest in Royan was not so nice but got out to a semi-rural camp ground.
Day 12 - Royan -> Jonzac (70km)
Left Royan quickly and found ourselves in Talmont - coqstql town with 12C church. Very windy! Also looked at Roman villa remains at le Fé. Jonzac is an odd town but cheap camping and disney-esque chateau saved it. Broke 50kmph according to bike computer!!!
Day 13 - Jonzac -> Vacher, River Palais (75km)
Lots of sunflowers today. Gorgeous perfiterole treat from patisserie followed by lunch in supermaché car park - can't have it all aye. Charlie got bitten by something which brought up a baby-sized lump on his forearm.
Day 14 - Vacher, River Palais -> Flaujagues (36km)
Sooooooo many vineyards today! Unfortunately no grapes ready to eat yet. Shame. Stopped in Castillon and had our first glimpse of the Dordogne. Cycled along it for 8km before stopping.
Day 15 - Flaujagues -> Flaujagues (0km)
Restday, hooryay! Camped 20ft from Dordogne so why move?
So, we're currently in Sainte Foy sur Dordogne and continuing south. Not sure, as usual, when we'll next see an internet cafe but we will update again when we do. Heading to Courdes next if you want to try and guess our route (good luck with that, we barely know!) and hoping to tuck into a few bottles of Bordeaux wine and continue the cheese-binge.
Lots of love
Jody and Charlie.
So this whole weblog thing isn't as easy to update as we thought. Rural France doesn't have many Cybercafes you see... Anyhow, here's what we've been up to:
Day 1 - St. Malo -> Dinan (38km)
Very cute walled town. Had first stubbling conversation with old French lady eating water melon. Scarey ride over Barrage at Dinard. Sunny!!!
Day 2 - Dinan -> Forét de Montfort (68km)
Old river port town (also walled). Lots of Tudor-like timber framed buildings. Lunch stop by beautiful lake (etang de neal). Met fellow cycle tourers - Sarah and Sophie, Brits - at a supermarché. They gave us brioche! First night wild camping in the forest!
Day 3 - Forét de Montfort -> Grand Fougeray (66km)
Lunch stop in Messac where we saw moustachioed artists painting canal. Only people on campground in Grand Fougeray. We went out for dinner and had savoury pancakes, coffee and crepe.
Day 4 - Grand Fougeray -> Ancenis (71km)
Aiming for the Loire we got going early and covered the distance by 4:30! Busy campground conplete with gangs of kids on bikes and tough looking guy listening to Dire Straights. Wandered around on the riverbank at sunset. Saw first grapevine, cacti and terracotta tiles!
Old river port town (also walled). Lots of Tudor-like timber framed buildings. Lunch stop by beautiful lake (etang de neal). Met fellow cycle tourers - Sarah and Sophie, Brits - at a supermarché. They gave us brioche! First night wild camping in the forest!
Day 3 - Forét de Montfort -> Grand Fougeray (66km)
Lunch stop in Messac where we saw moustachioed artists painting canal. Only people on campground in Grand Fougeray. We went out for dinner and had savoury pancakes, coffee and crepe.
Day 4 - Grand Fougeray -> Ancenis (71km)
Aiming for the Loire we got going early and covered the distance by 4:30! Busy campground conplete with gangs of kids on bikes and tough looking guy listening to Dire Straights. Wandered around on the riverbank at sunset. Saw first grapevine, cacti and terracotta tiles!
Day 5 - Ancenis -> Clisson (53km)
Very hot day! Lots of grapevines and hills. Jody found a tic in her leg and we saw first hornet - hmm. Clisson turned out to be a really nice town.
Day 6 - Clisson -> Piquet (99km)
Wow, 60kms before lunch! Clouds of minute flies which sqaushed when you brushed them off were an unwelcome addition to the day. Passed through Chateau Fromage (no cheese though) before heading to Piquet. Campsite no longer exists there so we wild camped on the banks of the river Yon. Really nice spot!
Day 7 - Piquet -> Esnandes (58km)
Thuderstorm in the night. Started seeing fields of sunflowers today and lots of buildings with shutters and whitewashed walls. Had been looking forward to mill-pond flat marais north of La Rochelle but mean crosswinf spoiled it! Called it a day in Esnandes and met Misha and Alice - newly wed english couple who invited us to dinner of shellfish and frites. Yum!
Day 8 - Esnandes -> Les Grenettes, Ile de Ré (38km)
Lots of strange, ramshackle private piers on the coast. Crossed to Ile de Ré over 3km long bridge! Jody was worried but bikes have their own lane so all good. Ile de Ré is known as the Paris of the west coast. Loads of bikes as its mainly flat.
Day 9 - Les Grenettes, Ile de Ré -> Rivedoux-Plage, Ile de Ré (8km)
Very sunny so we stayed in the island for another day. Spent most of the day relaxing on the beach. Charlie got quite sunburnt. Bummer.
Day 10 - Rivedoux-Plage, Ile de Ré -> Marennes-Plage (108km)
Crossed bqck to mqinlqnd to pass through La Rochelle. Met Robèrt, a 65 year old french roadie with a dodgy knee. He led us to the city, avoid hills, pointing out dangerous bumps in the path and stopping traffic for us. La Rochelle was beautiful. Struggled to find campground in the evening so kept pushing south. Passed through Brouage, an old fort town, still completely within the original walls. Charlie left his water bottle on one of them.
Day 11 - Marennes-Plage -> Royan (53km)
Late start but lovely day going through the foret de la coubre. The forest has a beautiful western coastal edge. 1000s of tourists on bikes ranging from 1yrs to 100yrs old! Out of the forest in Royan was not so nice but got out to a semi-rural camp ground.
Day 12 - Royan -> Jonzac (70km)
Left Royan quickly and found ourselves in Talmont - coqstql town with 12C church. Very windy! Also looked at Roman villa remains at le Fé. Jonzac is an odd town but cheap camping and disney-esque chateau saved it. Broke 50kmph according to bike computer!!!
Day 13 - Jonzac -> Vacher, River Palais (75km)
Lots of sunflowers today. Gorgeous perfiterole treat from patisserie followed by lunch in supermaché car park - can't have it all aye. Charlie got bitten by something which brought up a baby-sized lump on his forearm.
Day 14 - Vacher, River Palais -> Flaujagues (36km)
Sooooooo many vineyards today! Unfortunately no grapes ready to eat yet. Shame. Stopped in Castillon and had our first glimpse of the Dordogne. Cycled along it for 8km before stopping.
Day 15 - Flaujagues -> Flaujagues (0km)
Restday, hooryay! Camped 20ft from Dordogne so why move?
So, we're currently in Sainte Foy sur Dordogne and continuing south. Not sure, as usual, when we'll next see an internet cafe but we will update again when we do. Heading to Courdes next if you want to try and guess our route (good luck with that, we barely know!) and hoping to tuck into a few bottles of Bordeaux wine and continue the cheese-binge.
Lots of love
Jody and Charlie.
Tuesday 5 August 2008
Fritterly - Day 1-4
Greetings from France! The keyboard on this computer is very strangley arranged so this will be a brief post to let everyone know that we are alive. Also we havent had breakfast yet!
So far we have covered 250km and are currently in Ancenis - a town in the Loire valley, 30kms east of Nantes. In the past 4 days we passed through St. Malo, Dinan, Forét de Montfort (where we camped in the wild!), Grand Fougeray and Ancenis. I think that we have eaten our body weight in cheese and croissants but havent felt our appetite for them wane yet. The weather has been mixed but has been good enough to give me pink knees! Jody just soakes it all up as usual...
We aim to be in La Rochelle by Friday evening where the plan is to not really do any cycling for a couple of days. This should hopefully give us the chance to do some proper blog posts but until then this is all you are getting! We have croissants to eat after all...
Love
J and C
So far we have covered 250km and are currently in Ancenis - a town in the Loire valley, 30kms east of Nantes. In the past 4 days we passed through St. Malo, Dinan, Forét de Montfort (where we camped in the wild!), Grand Fougeray and Ancenis. I think that we have eaten our body weight in cheese and croissants but havent felt our appetite for them wane yet. The weather has been mixed but has been good enough to give me pink knees! Jody just soakes it all up as usual...
We aim to be in La Rochelle by Friday evening where the plan is to not really do any cycling for a couple of days. This should hopefully give us the chance to do some proper blog posts but until then this is all you are getting! We have croissants to eat after all...
Love
J and C
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