Tuesday 10 July 2012

Day 18

The Bridge to St. Nazaire, guide books and locals warned us not
to use it. There is a bus alternative that carries bikes.
Mileage 47 miles.  75 km Total  miles 546 ( 873 km) Pornic to Le Pellerin.  Finally felt dried out after the deluge of yesterday. Cycling shoes were still wet, but everything else was fine.   We headed up to St. Brevin-les-Pins. This part of the route was very pleasant. We left the coast and meandered inland before returning to the coast by St-Brevin. This is still Atlantic, round the corner it becomes the Loire. As we came round the corner we saw the St-Nazaire bridge. We had met a couple earlier in the day and they had said it was cyclable, but dangerous. It looked very long and steep. Apparently it has narrow cycle lanes, only separating bikes from other traffic with white lines. Still we passed under, now on the Euro Velo 6 which could take us to Budapest. This time we are only going to Nantes, before we turn north on the canal up to Roscoff. This stretch of the route was very well signed and great roads and cycle paths all the way. Saw a lot of touring bikes, probably finishing the Loire route. We also saw one very laid back character, riding along quite slowly and then I saw he had replaced his handlebars with a steering wheel.   We eventually arrived at Le Pellerin and found the hotel, L'Esplanade. They did not open until 18.30 so we were forced to try a nearby hostelry and sample a couple of beers. When we got our room, we had views out over the Loire, and the ferry we will get tomorrow to take us into Nantes.

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