As flat as a crêpe

June 3, 2025

The Rider of Rohan hits the canal

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To the casual observer, the above graph clearly shows a hilly ride. Look at those peaks, stretching skywards! In reality - and you'll know because you've read the title, and possibly spotted the 'x' axis scale - there was very little upanddowning to be had. We'll come back to that.

Breakfast started quite late, at 0830, so I trotted downstairs to find that the landlady also started late. So I wandered back up, finalised my packing, and headed back for breakfast at 0845, by which point she was in evidence. A lovely lady, she'd taken the continental breakfast concept about as far as it could go, with lovely fresh bread, home made jams, local pressed apple juice, dried fruits and cheese. Really good quality stuff, topping off a lovely stay in Rohan. By 0915, we were on the road.

Well... I say road. Path, really. Today Komoot had decided it was time to introduce us to the Nantes-Brest canal path, which all in all was pretty good. I understand that the canal was commissioned by Napoleon, who wanted a safe inland route between his major Atlantic ports. Which probably explains the scale of the thing, with a very wide channel to complement its length of almost 400 km. Barring a couple of short gravelly bits, the accompanying path was pretty much metalled surface all the way, and we were only going to wholly leave it around the 40 mile mark. There were lots of cyclists riding this route, although Raven was sporting the only drop handlebars that we saw. And it was certainly picturesque. But by 30 miles, the satnav showed that we'd achieved 77 feet of climbing, or two feet per mile (!!): we'd done our share of bumpy surfaces, and we had skirted most of the interesting settlements along our route. So although enjoyable for a while, I was glad to leave the canal behind and get back to those fabulous french roads.

This, for miles. (Let's face it, there are far worse crosses to bear. I was enjoying a beautiful start to the day).

In the interests of accuracy, I should concede that sometimes, it bent round too.

The castle at Josselin, which was the first sign of canalside life that we encountered. And what a great example! Apparently it dates from the late fourteenth century, although a previous iteration was on the site just after the first millennium.

The first section of route did divert from the canal for a short while: another brilliant cycle path, through the countryside towards Malestroit. Smooth surfaces, and deserted.

First break of the day was 30 miles in, at the town of Malestroit, which sounded as fabulously medieval as it looked. Not being a Monday, the shops were open, including a boulangerie artisanale (ie, posh). Apparently posh bakers - sigh - don't dirty their hands with flan, but I found a great replacement, and a substantial sandwich to boot, which I put into Raven's luggage for later.

The central square at Malestroit. School groups were in evidence, and it certainly looked like a history trip kind of location.

The flan replacement service. Some kind of blackcurrant tart, and an exceptionally good one. That's what you get if you frequent artisan bakers.

I knew I wouldn't be able to manage a midday lunch stop to fit with normal French timings, having had such a late start. It was already half eleven at cake time. So the sandwich was eaten canalside at the fifty mile mark, because even our road route was closely tracking said canal. Sixty miles in, we hit the planned lunch stop of Plessé, and here I availed myself of a coffee instead. I felt like a bit of café culture was in order. Also in Plessé, I encountered our first bike shop, and took Raven in to have her gears adjusted, as they were slipping a little. So much easier to do on a proper stand. The guy was very thorough, even to the extent of taking her round the square for a quick test spin. I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about that. It was her first time being unfaithful. But it was a very brief fling, and I guess holiday romances do happen. (Not to me, darling, if you're reading this).

Café in Plessé. Might not be the most picturesque, but it did feel fabulously french. I love this country.

After this, it was long quiet roads all the way. Another thirty miles or more to reach Nantes. The route was undulating now, but nothing steeper than 3-4% climbs, and nothing of over a mile. So I was able to make good time, with a final average for the day of around 15mph. I entered Nantes at about half three, and a half hour or so before actually reaching the centre. That's the sign of a big city! We were encountering traffic lights for the first time, and as I approached the centre things got steadily more confusing. Cobbled side stretches, central bike lanes, tramways embedded in the road, and buses from all directions. Plus a throng of beeping cars and pedestrian crossings every few yards. Fortunately, there were lots of other cyclists, and I largely followed them, taking my time to navigate safely through the urban jungle.

And then we found ourselves in the centre.

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(Website glitch, again).

And in the centre, they have bakeries. If you're interested, I awarded this flan an 8/10. I ate it whilst watching about 16 riot police combing the bushes in front of me by way of entertainment. Either a criminal type had discarded something, or they'd lost a contact lens. I didn't like to ask.

The paved central area, just away from the traffic chaos. That's the edge of the bushes in question . Do message me if you can see anything of note.

From here we took a slow meander onto the island which sits in the middle of the river. I'd been here many years before; they have great steampunky model animals roaming the streets, giving rides and making a nuisance of themselves. Not today, sadly, so no pics, but you can see more about them here. I guess it's just possible that the enormous elephant was hiding behind a lamppost, but on balance... probably not.

Crossing the Loire - or some of it - to get to the central island.

The merry go round was part of the same installation series as the elephant. Two stories high, and populated with some fearsome beasties that I couldn't entirely get into shot.

I took a slow wander round the island, knowing that check in wasn't until half five. And as I pulled up, I found that the satnav had stranded me half a mile away. So I'm calling this a 98 mile day, because the pic below doesn't cover quite all of the cycling action.

We did get a few feet of climbing in by the end, I guess: but not much over this distance.

For the record, also: flan count - two. Things are going great.

Today's ride: 97 miles (156 km)
Total: 190 miles (306 km)

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Mike AylingExchange rate of Euro. OK for you as one Euro is about 90 P
For us downunda Euro is about AUD 1.80.
But we just paid up anyway spending the kids inheritance.
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