Traffic - In Brittany it only rains on the idiots. - CycleBlaze

August 10, 2018

Traffic

Oh how I hate to be in heavy traffic. Even though French drivers are courteous they can still make me nervous. And today if I wanted to visit some of the places along my route there was no alternative but to ride the busy roads with all the other holiday goers 99 percent of them motorized. And so it was that I hardly took my eyes off the road until I got to Concarneau. 

The fortress at the old port of Concarneau.
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The queue to get on this tiny ferry was several blocks long, and the affluence precluded my bike.
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So it was back into traffic for the climb up to the only bridge and then down into the city on the other side of the harbor. 

Concarneau has a small naval base for patrol craft like this one.
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The lines to get into the old citadel were even worse than for the ferry, soi gave it a pass and climbed my way back out of town.

Passing the incoming traffic as I left.
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On the edge of the city I found a rail-trail going my way. Yippie! This got me onto a quiet road at last. Hey, Mr. Michelin: you need to update your map. You still show the railway in place, but its long gone. The quiet road was good, even though it was raining by now. I got my poncho on and continued over a few small hills before the rain stopped and I could remove it. I was getting close to Quimper and the roads were getting busy again. I passed long lines of big trucks pulled off to the sides their drivers all in the local restaurants. Rather than stop to eat myself, I decided to take advantage of the noon time truce and continued down ito the heart of Quimper. I was able to park the bike at a hotel and a restaurant just beside it served me a late lunch of goat cheese salad.

After lunch, I got into a room at said hotel and showered, changed, worked on the journal, the usual. I took a walk to see Quimper a little bit.

Trees wearing sweaters?
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Kathleen JonesYarn bombing. It's a thing, which I quite like. We even have bike racks here decorated by yarn.
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5 years ago
Mike AylingTo Kathleen JonesYes but it seems to have been a passing fad here in the great land downunder.

Mike
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5 years ago
Another tour passed this way not long ago.
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Cathedral
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A house front.
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I worked up an appetite so I went for supper at cafe near the market place. They had a superb seafood dish like a pot pie which they called soupière. 

Lobster, langoustines, and a delicious sauce on the inside.
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I tottered back to the hotel more than satisfied. 

Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 510 km (317 miles)

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