Become a supporter
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!
No real rain during the night, good to pack away a dry tent after the first camp. Made tea using the Trangia meths stove, less than 5 mins to boil the water. Lovely cup of Darjeeling but maybe I could have afforded the weight of an infuser to save spitting out all tea leaves.
Two croissants from the nearest Boulangerie for breakfast. I don't think that's enough protein, will work on that.
After leaving town I strung up my clothesline but it's not really the weather for drying and in fact after an hour it started positively raining, so abandoned that attempt.
Citroën specialist:
Got to the Botanical Garden near Coglès at 11. An excellent find, well worth a detour or even a special trip. After a huge restorative pot of Earl Grey I toured the large and very varied and well organised gardens. A big Japanese area, a lovely walled garden / potager with spectacular climbing and rambling roses.
Also amusing ornamental planting of green and red lettuces.
You could easily make a day trip of these gardens and the restaurant on site looks very good.
After that my route to Fougères (thank you cycle.travel ) included some really old ways, almost overgrown in places
No shortage of protein in my picnic lunch overlooking the castle at Fougères. I now have a substantial saucisson on board, which will last for a few lunches.
Arrived St Malo around 8.30am, pretty much on schedule. We left Portsmouth late but clearly during that time they were able to fix the technical problem which had caused the boat to run slow earlier in the day.
There was more jolly chitchat with other cycle tourists as we gathered on the garage deck to retrieve our bikes from the pile of maybe 40 bikes. No racking at all is used, bikes are just propped together in a line of about 6, perhaps 7 deep, all leaning up together. Not an adequate system as components and accessories can get dislodged or even broken. Had a good chat with a Swiss couple in their eighties who are on a trip back home from Sweden ( via the South Downs ). They haven't felt the need to go electric just yet.
Despite having had a good breakfast on board (particularly the apple juice and fresh grapefruit) I stopped for elevenses at the Cancale oyster market.
I got a sampler of 4 types raised with different techniques and for varying ages.
Much preferred those with a fresher sweeter flavour rather than for example the "pied de chaval", which I found toodark, chewy and earthy, and the market vendor characterised as nutty.
After a slight inland wiggle, passing impressive fields of cabbages, a long stretch following the huge "Bay" with its multiple rocky out crops and islands, with the Mont Saint-Michel itself just a tiny triangle in the distance.
Loads of restaurants and retailers specialising in oysters and other fruit de mer. "Si t'aimes la mer, t'aimes la musette " read one blackboard. The musette turns out to be a small crab from “the Baie". 
A stretch of wiindmills along the coast, mainly converted to residences now.
The soil here looks like ash or cement, pale grey and dusty. I wonder if it's rich or whether the farmers are using a lot of additives? 
Saw some huge delicious-looking cabbages being harvested and some cabbages under cloches. Quite a few of the workers looked south American. 
Lovely route up to the Mont St Michel up farm roads on the west side of the canal, the tourist facilities all being on the east side. 
Cross the barrages and then south on the east (touristy) side to Pontorson.
Train from Bristol to Romsey.
Easy journey from Romsey to Portsmouth. Nice to locate the HQ of Tentbox, a brand name you see quite a bit in Bristol.
Refreshment at the upmarket boathouse on the Hamble at Swanwick. 
Lots of kite surfers in action on the lovely Meon Beach. 
I wonder if the hovercraft museum gets busy. I'm told there's still a hovercraft operating to the Isle of Wight?
Lots of bike riders at Portsmouth for the ferry to St Malo. Including a group of 10 from Reigate affiliated with the YMCA, a couple on 20 year old Thorns just emerging from childrearing. There was also a group of youngsters on road and gravel bikes with pretty light luggage but I didn't get to talk with them. I did end up sharing a table in the restaurant with a young French man returning to Rennes after a trip to Cardiff to watch Rugby. He'd made the 400km trip to Cardiff in 3 days, camping, with quite a bit of luggage. Makes my 75km per day average sound very achievable. 
A short push onto Lechlade for the first stop, by the Thames at this historic "inland port".
No kids jumping off the bridge into the water. Too early in the day probably.
Excellent sandwich and tea at the Tea Chest cafe next to the Riverside pub. Highly recommended! Very fair prices (contrast Burford, see later ).
Continued north, skirting Eastleach and crossing A40 to Little Barrington, then right on the idyllic Route 57 along the Windrush in to Burford. What a culture shock following a few hours of bucolic tranquility to run the gauntlet of this chocolate box town invaded by cars and tourists. £21 for a slice of tart and a side salad, WTF! Burford get a grip!
Tamarisk heading north from Burford:
Now a slow and weary haul up to Long Hanborough and a pause at the little train station. 
Next heading south downhill through Cassington to meet the A40 for a final 20min slog along the dual carriageway footpath in to North Oxford.
By 6pm I was revitalising on mugs of a special Booth's blend of Lapsang/Earl Grey
Made in the Cotswolds. Published by Éditions Système D Ltd.
Log in with your cycle.travel account:
| Password |
Or simply use your account on:
