Saturday, June 19, 2010

Biking in Brittany






Here I am on the first leg of our biking trip.  We left our suitcases with Bretagne Bikes and filled our paniers with the clothes that we will need for the next 6 days and off we go!  The first leg from Gourac to Caurel was 14 Km which was a nice easy start.

It gave us time to wander around and see the pretty church in town.  There was a very nice walk that started up behind the church and led to a small shrine and calvary.



We also came across this tiny little section of town that was all stone houses built of slate.  The first one was abandoned, and derelict but as we moved on there were two that were obviously well cared for.  And like many houses in Brittany, were enhanced by the climbing roses and hydrangeas.



















This was the magnificent Chambre d'hôtes that we stayed at in Châtelaudren.  And a welcome sight it was after a 50 Km ride in the rain.  Jill Walker, the owner, provided a great breakfast the next day.  And along the way we were warned that food would be hard to get, but when we finally reached a restaurant in Corlay it was filled with workers, and of course, with the shops being shut from 12 to 2 there was a nary a speck in sight.  Thank goodness for granola bars!  We had a very late lunch in the town, and then crashed for a bit.

Here are a few views of the town with it's old waterfall and mill.

Binic was  an 18Km ride.  We started out in the rain, and uphill, but the last 6 km were mostly downhill - a bad sign for the next day's ride!
Here are 2 shots of the harbour - before and after the tide rolling in.

A partial shot of the town, and the coast line.  There is a lovely cliff walk along the top.
To paraphrase Elizabeth Barton, if you've been reading, thanks.  And if you'd like, leave a comment.  More to follow on our bike tour.

1 comment:

Hilary said...

It's lovely to see some of the places you went to after you left us. That Chambre d'Hotes must have seemed even more impressive if you had been riding most of the 50km in the rain! Looking forward to seeing and hearing more. I hadn't realised you had got as far as the coast.

Hilary