Day 2: Pontorson to Vitré

September 2, 2022

After a great night sleep in Le Grenier du Jardin in Pontorson (we highly recommend this place if you ever visit here), we enjoyed a nice petit déjeuner of the standard French fare that included rhubarb jam. Croissants, great baguettes, coffee (or hot chocolate as Chuck prefers) with fromage frais and apple sauce - what more could you want?!!

After breakfast we took a few minutes with a pail of water and a rag to wash yesterday’s sandy muck off the bike. Then Chuck masterfully (he’d make Sunnyside proud) adjusted a couple of things on the bike before we set off. But first things first … what’s the weather report say? Thunderstorms around 2 pm … okay, today should be good.

The book “France en Vélo” says that today is a relatively flat day. We decided the key word was ‘relatively’. There wasn’t anything steep, but it definitely wasn’t flat. Fields of corn everywhere and trees full of mistletoe were seen as we rode up and down on quiet country roads.

Beautiful skies match the beauty of the scenery

Temperatures are great - maybe just 20C. No wind. No traffic. The makings of a great day on the tandem.

A lovely church that was locked tight, but had a sweet garden.

We continued on until we entered Fougères where we immediately stopped at the first boulangerie to buy a couple of pizza like pastries and a chausson au pommes for our picnic lunch. We continued along waiting to see the Chateau de Fougères that we’d heard so much about.

We’re trying to figure out how to get in

We decided to not spend the time exploring the chateau today. But we have started a list of places to come back and visit when we can stay a little longer.

The gardens below the old city of Fougères

This view solidified the fact that we must come back someday to explore the town. Just too beautiful to miss!

When we arrived in Billé, we found a great lunch spot to enjoy our fougasse and dessert.

The church that had a bench for our lunch spot

Across the street the neighbor’s great gates

The next 30 kilometers were nothing to write home about and seemed to take way too long … but the entry into Vitré made up for it.

Street scene with the chateau across the river

And I just couldn’t resist this shot … the villain (river is named Le Vilaine)

After checking into our hotel room and parking (& locking) the tandem in the garage, we explored town. Two churches and a chateau.

Sadly there was a gentleman sitting in here so we didn’t think it was appropriate for Chuck to sing.

An extension added to the Église Notre Dame

The acoustics weren’t quite as nice as earlier today. But onward we went and walked around the remaining ramparts and finally ended up at the Chateau de Vitré. It’s quite impressive.

As we finished walking along the rampart remains, we came across this stunning tower

This entry building currently houses the city hall, known as the Mairie

View from within the courtyard of the chateau

One of the various towers that still remains

The remains of the Tower de Madeleine that housed the duchess

After viewing the chateau we roamed around through the old city center for a refreshment before dinner. Tonight’s dinner was quite a find. We’d hoped to squeeze into the restaurant suggested by the book “France en Vélo”, but we were turned away since we didn’t have reservations. I wanted to check with TripAdvisor, but Chuck wanted to wander. Wander we did reading this menu and that. We walked by a place where we could see the chef grilling over an open fire and the smell won us over.

Our waiter asked if we wanted French wine or something different … it didn't matter to us. Then he asked if we liked fruity or intense. Intense, of course. Then he brought out the board and explained the few red options. This bottle screamed Chuck all over it! Delicious!

It didn’t take Chuck long to decide on having the smocked (yes, spell check didn’t correct that word) pulled pork. It was served with a baked potato- we haven’t had one since moving here! The flavors were amazing!!

I asked for the cote de boeuf, but the waiter pointed out that the smallest piece was half a kilo and should be shared. Yikes! The other items included prawns and veal kidney - yuck to my palette. So I ordered the fish of the day. OMG, it was a white fish grilled and served on a bed of grilled julienne vegetables with Asian seasoning. It was incredible!

We walked back to our hotel with a feeling of complete satisfaction. And then we saw this sign.

Too cute!

Stats: 68.5 kilometers 756 meters elevation my

Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 409 km (254 miles)

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susan maaschvince has been to fougères just a “few” times—it’s a contrôle in PBP. two visits every 4 years…
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1 year ago

susan maaschyour pictures and commentaries are great. 💕
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1 year ago