The afternoon route to Vitré had a lot of roads which were too busy to really enjoy, especially into a headwind. But there were a few pretty lanes with proper ups and downs and also one scenic and fast stretch on an official voie verte -- where I appreciated both the flat and the quiet.
Stopped to look at the church at Taillis but not convinced I got the right place. The Chappelle du Sacré Cœur was noted in the book (France en Vélo: St Malo to Nice, which I've used for 3/4 of my stages) but the church I saw seemed rather ordinary. The huge church in Vitré was more interesting, for my money, with its faintly gruesome side chapels and peaceful deep blue vaulted ceiling. Not to mention the yellow carved door
It's a steep place Vitré, and having climbed up through the town once to the municipal campsite it was probably a mistake to go all the way down again making a survey of restaurants, especially as I'd spotted a good one up top already. But getting back up the hill gave me a chance to tour the castle ramparts.
When I locked up outside "La Soupe Aux Choux" there was a group of 4 finishing up at a table outside. I asked whether they'd eaten well and whether it was a good restaurant. They assured me yes on both counts, and then came clean that they were in fact the restaurant's owners/staff.
Tonight's apéro was a "Pousse Rapière" (Rapier Thumb) a mixture of Armagnac and sparkling wine. Tasty, and not too sweet at all. Three French cycle tourists from my campsite came in by chance or good judgement. They were on a 5 day tour of the region and seemed pretty serious about their food and drink, though they deferred to one member of the party when it came to choosing the wine. Interestingly they also went for the Chadonnay de Thau, which comes from an area near Sète and which I associate with the Étang, with shellfish and with Picpoul. Delicious, like everything at this excellent restaurant.
When I told the waitress that you don't often see frogs legs in the UK except in Vietnamese restaurants she told me that they aren't so common in France either these days. Dommage!
