September 3, 2022
Day 3: Vitré to Chalonnes sur Loire
When we started planning this route, we were hoping to keep the daily rides between 60-80 kilometers a day. However, there are a few times that the villages just weren’t in the right spot. Today was one of those days … long. The weather held beautifully for us. Heavy cloud cover with cool temperatures until noon. Then the skies became mottled with clouds and blue sky. When the sun poked out, it warmed up quickly.
The clouds were dark, but all weather apps said no rain.
Continuing along we started passing through race horse country. We rode past several hippodromes and lots of pastures with lovely looking horses. Properties were immaculately groomed and the roads were in great condition.
We rode through the small village of Mondevert (translates to green world), and stopped by a square where they were setting up for a village celebration. We pulled over to watch and the village maire walked up to us and explained that it was a celebration for the liberation of the village. He insisted we come and join in the festivities and listen to the Celtic music of Brittany. We still had 90k to ride, but we didn’t want to miss this opportunity. The corp consisted of drums, bagpipes, and bombardes.
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I tried to post the video of the band playing, but it didn’t work! Sorry!!!
Moving along, we enjoyed quiet roads winding through the departments of Ille et Vilaine and Mayenne.
We stopped and checked out the architecture and acoustics of quite a few churches throughout the day. The church architecture is so different from the churches in our area of France.
We met two groups on the road that left Saint Malo the same day as us and are headed to Nice. One couple will do the trip in 18 days while the group of 4 gentlemen are doing it in 22 days. We wonder if we’ll cross paths again.
Our accommodation tonight is another chambre d’hôtes - Maison Beausoleil in Chalonnes sur Loire. We walked around the small village before dinner at a cafe alongside the Loire.
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Stats: 104.9 kilometers 976 meters elevation
Today's ride: 105 km (65 miles)
Total: 514 km (319 miles)
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